BITES · PHYSICAL DESIGN
Occupied: rebuilding the prayer room door hanger so it stops breaking
Telda’s prayer room is shared by men and women, one group at a time, and a hanger on the door tells everyone who’s inside. The paper version kept breaking, so I rebuilt it in acrylic. It’s been on the door ever since.
COMPANY
Telda
INITIATIVE
Side project, self-started
MATERIAL
Double-layer acrylic
STATUS
Still on the door
WORKED WITH
Telda brand team, my wife
The acrylic hanger on the prayer room door. Each side shows who’s inside; flip it to switch.
01
A sign that couldn’t survive the door
The prayer room at Telda can be used by men or by women, but not both at the same time. To make that clear, the brand team designed a door hanger with one side for each. Whoever goes in flips it to their side.
The hangers were printed on paper. The door opens and closes all day, and the hangers kept tearing at the hook. People patched them with yellow tape until they had to be replaced. Again.
Exhibit A and B: held together by yellow tape and good intentions.
02
Same design, a harder material
It was a small thing, but it was a bad experience that happened every day and nobody owned it. So I took the initiative.
I asked the brand designers for the original files and kept their illustrations exactly as they were. The only change was the material: acrylic instead of paper, because it’s rigid and doesn’t tear.
My fiancée, now my wife, helped me get it made. We produced two acrylic pieces, one for each side, and glued them back to back, which makes the hanger even stronger. Using it didn’t change: flip it to your side.
The brand team’s two sides, as they handed them over for production.
03
The door wouldn’t close
We found one problem on the first day: the hanger sat around the door’s big lock, and the door couldn’t close.
We sorted it out the same day with Shivadi’s clear, heavy-duty self-adhesive hooks, and the door has closed fine ever since.
The fix: Shivadi’s clear, heavy-duty self-adhesive hooks. No drilling, and the door closes.
04
Still on the door
The hanger has been on the prayer room door for my whole time at Telda, and it’s still in use. No tape, no reprints. All anyone has to do is flip it.
How it looks today: the acrylic hanger on the prayer room door, ready to flip.