Renowned Japanese designed and founder of nendo studio, Oki Sato, has unveiled the L door key, a revisitation of traditional key design. Standard door keys consist of the blade, which is inserted into the keyhole, and the bow to be gripped to turn the key, but the relative symmetry of a key’s shape makes its orientation difficult to discern at first glance.
In order to tackle this small but significant problem, Oki Sato has molded the bow of the key into an L-shape, allowing the principle of leverage to enable users to turn the key effortlessly, just like a hex key. Further, its asymmetrical shape allows for easy identification of the key’s top and bottom, front and back, so users with low vision can feel the key’s correct orientation in their pockets or in unlit areas with only their fingertips.
Overall, the design is so simple that instead of adding new elements to standard keys, the L door key structurally shifts the bow off-center for the operation. This means the key is neither wider nor bulkier than usual. brass was chosen for its durability and bacterial and viral resistance.
