Vector Scissors

When I was very young, I always loved making things out of paper. I’d build models, cut out shapes and make cars or buildings out of paper, anything I found exciting at the time. A4 office paper was always available at home, so it naturally became my go-to material for creating things. And with that came scissors. I remember we had this big kitchen scissors with long blades, and I used that for everything. I made so many paper models with it that I’ve lost count.I got pretty skilled at using scissors, especially for papercraft, but one thing always bothered me, cutting a straight line was difficult. No matter how careful I was, I’d always get a bit of wobble. Then one day, my father brought home a paper guillotine because he needed to cut photos and printed sheets. Of course, I immediately started using it for my projects too. It was a game changer, suddenly I could cut clean, straight lines, much faster. So I adapted my workflow and started using both scissors and the paper guillotine together. My paper models instantly looked better.Fast forward to university. I was studying industrial design, and our first assignment was to research and redesign a pair of scissors. The brief was very open and we could take any direction we wanted. At first, it felt impossible. There are so many types of scissors out there, and I was unsure what could I possibly add.But I kept coming back to this one experience from my childhood, cutting straight lines with regular scissors. It still wasn’t easy. Why do we need to draw a line first, grab a ruler, use a pencil, and then carefully follow that line with scissors, just to get something clean? I started wondering, isn’t there a better way of doing this?That’s when it clicked. I remembered how efficient the guillotine was and started breaking down both tools, scissors and the guillotine, into their core functions. That’s when I realised that the paper guillotine is essentially a pair of scissors, just laid out differently. One blade is just a flat plate and you only control the other one. And then it hit me: what if the edge of a table could act like that bottom blade?That was the moment everything slowly came together. Most people cut paper on a table anyway, so why not design scissors that could be pressed along the edge of the table and guide your hand for a straight cut? That was the original concept behind Vector.What followed was months development, cardboard prototypes, testing different mechanisms and shapes. I had to figure out how to make it work. The first working prototype came together by the end of the assignment. The handle was made from wood, the blades were mocked up in plastic, it looked rough, but it functioned. Sort of. It still had plenty of flaws, and the cutting performance wasn’t proven yet. But it was a start.What came next was years of refining it on the side, alongside my university studies. It became one of the longest and most challenging projects I’ve ever worked on.

The shape of Vector evolved over many iterations. I was essentially designing the scissors from the inside out. I began with the core function, figuring out how the handle could rest against the edge of a table while still allowing the blade to move freely and cut. Once I locked in the blade orientation and handle angle, I had something that worked mechanically, but it was far from comfortable to use.From there, the next challenge was to develop a handle that actually felt good in the hand. That process took months and probably around 40 physical prototypes to get right. I started with cardboard models, then moved to polyurethane foam, clay, and eventually plaster handles that I cast in silicone molds. I sculpted and refined each version by hand, following the natural shape of my palm and how it wanted to hold the object. Then I’d mold and replicate those shapes, iterate again, and slowly evolve the design into something that felt truly ergonomic.Every part of the handle has a purpose. Every radius, every curve, it’s all there for a reason. Even the space between the handles, the size and angle of the thumb rest, and the width of the grip were tested and refined until the scissors just felt “right.” You don’t realize how bad a handle can be until you use one that pinches your fingers in all the wrong places. So I paid close attention to every contact point.I also learned a lot from the scissor craftsman I partnered with during development. Their focus was strictly on the blades. I had to understand how scissor blades are shaped, how and when the edge is forged, and how they fine-tune the closing tip to achieve cutting precision. There’s a tiny protruding bump near the tip, and I learned how critical that is to the mechanics, it controls where and how the blades meet.So the final form is really a fusion of that blade craftsmanship and months of ergonomic sculpting. Once everything came together, the mechanics, the comfort, the proportions, it just felt right. And that’s when I knew the shape was finished.

The main frustration was how hard it is to cut paper in a straight line with regular scissors. Your hand naturally shakes, and it takes a lot of patience and coordination, not everyone has that. Once I started looking into this, I realized there are many people who could benefit from a tool that makes straight cuts easier and more intuitive.For example, people with shaky hands or less refined motor control can achieve much better results with Vector, because the table edge guides their hand. And the learning curve is surprisingly quick, you don’t need to be precise, the product helps you be precise.Even when using a hobby knife, there are so many steps. You need a cutting mat, a ruler, a pencil to mark the line, then carefully follow it with the blade. It’s a whole setup. A paper guillotine simplifies that, you just place the paper and cut, but those tools are bulky and not very convenient to store or use casually.So with Vector, I wanted to bring the same clean-cut simplicity into a compact, handheld tool. It’s faster, easier to use, and much more convenient for everyday tasks while still offering the precision people need.