The ‘Role’ of Tape
Scotch tape was once a cherished product. Invented in 1930 during the great depression, it empowered people to prolong the life of objects they couldn’t afford to replace.
Now commonplace, it lives in junky drawers, and disposable dispensers add to growing landfills instead of keeping products out of them.
This version orients the tape roll horizontally to increase stability and create a lower visual profile.
In the printed model, the guide inside the lid crushed the tape instead of helping it to rotate 90 degrees.
Repurposed Technology
Newspaper production lines use angled rods to move and redirect delicate material without damaging it.
This transportation method inspired the new mechanism I used moving forward.
Two rods crunched tape
Rod was too fat and crunched tape
Elevating the back of the roll helped
Rod angle was too drastic
This configuration worked well
The pin is near parallel to the back
Cutting edge is elevated
