MyLeoNes™

Texture can help us use an object — Design, 4–6 years

Smooth, rough, ridged and soft surfaces can give our hands useful information. Texture can show where to press, hold or turn.

Feel can be a clue

A designer can change a surface so your fingers notice something quickly. Ridges may tell you where to turn, while a rough patch may help you keep hold of an object.

Why use texture?

A person may not be looking at an object while using it, or the light may be poor. Texture gives a quiet message through touch, so hands can find and use important parts more easily.

Find the lid by touch

Put a smooth sticker on one jar lid and a bumpy sticker on another. Close your eyes and ask for the bumpy lid. Run your fingers over the tops, find the bumps, and choose that jar without looking.

The texture trap

It is easy to think that a rough surface always means “hold here”. Sometimes roughness is only decoration, or it may be meant to stop slipping. We need to notice what the whole object is asking us to do.

Texture in everyday design

You can find this idea on pencil grips, shoe soles, bottle caps and buttons. Their surfaces help fingers or feet stay in place and tell us which part to touch or turn.

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