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Paper is a printer, scanner & copier.
Based on the question why printers in general can be so frustrating and why they’re able to turn every room they’re in into an office, Ludwig Rensch questioned the general appearance of common printers and decided to start from scratch, rethinking the whole product.
Paper is part of Rensch’s diploma thesis Interacting with things and explores how today’s machines can be used intuitively. Despite being a connected device (Internet of Things) it hasn’t got a screen but uses physical controls and simple light signals instead, to take advantage of the human fine motor skills.
Paper does also exist in the virtual space and can be operated by an app or a website. Thus, it brings together the analogue and the digital world and transfers visual content from the one into the other.
The result is an entirely new form. Paper is printing on an upright paper roll and therefore is compact, space-saving and mobile. Rather than being a grey necessity for working environments, Paper is a aesthetically pleasing creative tool. The user interface was designed following the Pareto principle, which states that 80% of the time, we only use 20% of the features. To achieve this, Rensch defined a printer’s key functions, analyzed the required procedures and simplified these until the result was an easy to understand, pleasant and minimalistic product.
"MAKE IT DO SOMETHING, NOT EVERYTHING"
– Tom Uglow
"PHYSICAL FEEL MATTERS. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, BIOLOGICAL CREATURES."
– Don Norman
Printing from a paper roll saves space and is more flexible. The machine is small and compact. One can identify the function just with looking.
