Outcome

I find that my hands get tired very easily when holding umbrellas because their handles (especially collapsable umbrellas) are usually very small – as shown below. During rainy/snowy days that are also windy, I need to exert extra effort in my hands just to keep the umbrella from flying out of my hands. 

So, my umbrella handle design is centered around the goals of how to make the grip a lot more comfortable and sturdy. I sketched two designs with these goals in mind. Because I also wanted to focus on the ergonomics of the handle as well, I thought of how the hands interact with the handle and what form the handle should take on to allow the hands to fit to the shape of the handle. 

I ultimately decided to go with the bottom left design. Because everyone's hand sizes are different, the hole in the top right design could have posed as a drawback if it was too big or too small. 

Using high density foam, I used a handsaw to cut out what would act as the basic form of the handle. I made sure that this form was a lot smaller than what I sketched so that when I packed clay onto it, I would have more to work with.

From there, I started adding clay to this form. I first wanted to focus on getting the body of the handle to feel comfortable and forms to the shape of a hand. I created a dip inwards where the thumb would go to create a resting spot for it. It could also acts as a spot for the a button if the umbrella were to be one of the automatic ones. Using the potters needle, I outlined this part to create a more manufactured look. The handle would also have a curvature to it that would allow the palm of the hand to fit comfortably. 

After that, I began focusing on the part that hangs off. Here, I ran into the problem again of not knowing how much room to leave in between for the index to pinky fingers to sit. Because everyone's finger sizes are different, I decided to make that part a duck head instead, where it would have the same function as what was intended, but removes the need for a part that would wrap around the index to pinky fingers. This part can keep the umbrella more upright and sturdy especially when dealing with wind. It also allows gravity to do some of the work for you in terms of keeping the umbrella up, so you can loosen your grip just focusing on keeping the umbrella balanced and upright, and let gravity do the rest of the work for you. Making the handle into a character would also add to the aesthetic value of the handle. 

Next, I created the hole for where the umbrella would insert into the handle. I took apart an umbrella handle on one of my own umbrellas so that I could figure out what would be the right dimensions for the hole for my handle. I proceeded to dig a hole into the handle for where the umbrella would be inserted into. I added more clay to the parts surrounding the hole to give more support for holding the actual umbrella in place. 

Because adding the bump to the head of the duck looked a little bit awkward, I added a little crown to it. The remainder of the work revolved around just smoothing out the clay across the handle.

With the crown marking the finish of my handle design, below are some photos of the final product.