FISKARS SCISSORS: 8 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know
In this week's video, we’re going to talk about 8 things most people probably don’t know about the Fiskars’ scissors!
Similar to 3M’s Post-it (previously featured on our channel) the story behind the Fiskars scissors’ design also involves a healthy dose of serendipity...
#1 Invention
and it all started in 100 A.D. when the Romans invented something similar to what we call today: the pivoted scissors.
Being the most common type of scissors around, the pivoted scissors, have (as their name suggests) a pivot point between their blades’ tip and handles that creates a cutting effect by allowing each blade to slide past each other.
#2 Evolution
70 years before the Fiskars brand creation (1830), in 1761 Robert Hinchliffe made the pivoted scissors capable of being mass-produced by manufacturing them out of steel.
#3 Rollout
Nevertheless, it would take 200 years for these to roll out into all our kitchen drawers… a feat only achieved by the Fiskars’ scissors designed by Olof Bäckström in 1967.
Building upon the Ergonomic design and plastic material’s post World War II momentum, Bäckström made the pivoted scissors more user-friendly, potentiating them to be present (as of 2007) in more than one billion households.
#4 Design
Their brilliance lied as much in their ergonomic design as it did in the materials chosen for their production: rather than being forged from iron, like many of their predecessors, the Fiskars’ scissors blades were made out of pressed steel and held together by a single piece of metal situated between their blades’ tip and cheaply plastic cast ergonomic handles.
#5 Affordability
Fiskars’ approach to the pivoted scissors production process made these quite simple and inexpensive to be produced making what was previously reserved for high-end Taylors, affordable enough for the masses to enjoy.
#6 Color
As with the Post-It notes, so too was the Fiskars’ scissors ergonomic handles’ color, a matter of chance.
Being a backburner project for Fiskars, Bäckström’s scissors ended up inheriting the bright orange plastic left in the machine, by an orange juicer at the time in the makings within the design department. However, Fiskars employees ended up liking this original look so much that they ultimately voted to stick with it.
#7 Curious quality control process
Fiskars owns a very peculiar way of determining its product quality. Each finished pair of scissors is assessed by listening to the sound as they’re closed. According to Jay Gillespie, Fiskars former Vice-President of Marketing: “The two pieces of metal and the sound they make is an indicator of how well they’re honed together”.
#8 Symbol
These aspects cement the reason why Fiskars’ scissors are considered one of the most important symbols of the postwar industrial design movement.
From its Invention to its Postwar industrial design movement symbol status, going through its evolution, roll-out, design, affordability, color, and curious quality control process; these were 8 facts about the Fiskars scissors that you were probably not aware of.