Security through Honor
Portfolio > Grasping GestaltExploring Gestalt design principles.
What began as an application of Gestalt design principles across a series of three-dimensional packaging for house keys developed into a study of ambiguity, line relationships and a corresponding system design. The final product pays homage to the guilds of craftsmen dedicated to key design in Medieval times. Their pride and secrecy within their craft inspired replacing the house key with a cipher key that decodes the phrase “security through honor”.
The Boxes
Each box was crafted with exclusively hand tools, forgoing more modern technology, to pay respect to the key craftsmen. The boxes are made of rosewood, lined with black velvet and inlaid with brass wire. On each lid is an inlaid variation of a base design made of the letters “K”, “E”, and “Y”. By following the lines to see how they overlap the center point, they will lead to a specific pin that must be removed in order to open the box.
With all three boxes open, the ciphers can be laid out and decoded. The design used for the lids is also used as a custom variation of a classic pig pen cipher. This cipher (in which the symbol for any given letter is the bounding lines of said letter) reads as “security through honor,” inspired by the fact that any lock in Medieval times was only as secure as the honor of the craftsman who made the key.
The Book
Following the completed physical project, I made a process book to contain all that I documented about the project. And to tie everything together, the grid layout of the book is based entirely on the same design used for the box lids and the cipher keys.
