You would have to be a tad bit nutty to attempt to memorize all the various measurements that go into standard human factors design considerations –– otherwise known as anthropometry. While keeping a reference guide handy –– such as the indispensable The Measure of Man and Woman –– for nailing those dimensions right the first time is a no-brainer, what if you memorized parts of your own body and knew exactly the distance between your thumb and pinky finger…among other units of reference available to you 24/7?
Such is the premise behind a clever new Kickstarter project from Brooklyn-based design duo Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy of CW&T.
Consisting of a series of diagrams of body parts for penciling-in 17 useful measuring positions, the Personal Body Unit Index poster is not only incredibly useful for designers and engineers to help memorize their own body measurements over time –– it also serves as a sort of functional art piece for your wall thanks to the duo’s high standard for print quality:
“Che-Wei’s Mom often does this weird finger walking thing along the edges of furniture, fabric or random stuff,” explain the designers. “She knows that the spread of her hand from thumb to pinky measures 18cm. So she can quickly size things up. We always thought this was funny until we realized that it is GENIUS and we started to copy her.”
Seriously –– it is genius.
Get yours for just $25 bucks over at Kickstarter and never find yourself without a measuring tool ever again.
