Scissors

Personal Selection:

Scissors are a tool everyone has used at least once in their life if not countless times. Probably the earliest memory we all have of them is of are mom telling us not to use them because they are too sharp. Or even her screaming not run to with them. Scissors are an incredible tool that eventually just becomes another everyday item in the background of our lives. For me personally, scissors are a major part of why I make art. I used scissors for every art project I did.

History:

No one knows who exactly first invented scissors. The invention of them is given to Leonardo DaVinci, but evidence of scissors goes all the way back to ancient Egypt. They started off as two pieces of metal that are connected by a thin handle. They were basically used like sharp tweezers.

Function:

Scissors are used for one simple thing really, to simply cut something. You can use it to cut paper or cut out a shape or part of a paper. There are scissors to cut meat. There are scissors made for cutting hair. There are heavy duty industrial scissors that are used for cutting big materials.

Users:

People of all ages (preferably above the age of five) are users of this tool. There are child-safe scissors that have been made to have a duller edge so the child does not injure themselves. Past that point, scissors have been made to be used by people of all ages and genders.

Material + Production:

Scissors are all basically made the same; two stainless steel sharp edged pieces of metal screwed together at a center point to enable them to open and close. Handles are at one end that are made to fit the thumb finger in one hand and three fingers in the other hand. These handles are used to open and close the blades as an object (paper) are placed in between the closing blades.

Affordance:

However, that simple design has changed to fit different people and purposes. Scissors have mainly been designed for right-handed people, now there are scissors specially made for the left-handed. Comfort grips have been added on the inside of the handles to make it easier to cut with them for a long period of time. Almost every time I see a pair of scissors in a store there seems to be another feature added to them to make them more useable.