Door Hanger: customisable door signs

The project

Indicating whether a room is ready for cleaning or housekeeping should move on: this is the function explored by Door Hanger. The campaign brings together hangers designed and produced by Archicercle, material trials and customisation options, taking a familiar item from hotels, apartments and hostels as its starting point.

The starting point was an enquiry about whether we could reproduce this type of hanger. At the studio, we had already made versions combining laser-cut MDF with applied vinyl. Building on that earlier work, we tested laser engraving on leather to explore another material for the piece.

The series also includes EVA foam hangers made using laser cutting and engraving. Their elongated shape incorporates a circular hole at the top so they can hang from a door handle. The messages ‘CLEAN’ and ‘DON’T CLEAN’ express their signalling function, with the lettering as the main feature.

The final selection brings together variations in shape and finish within a single family of hangers. Archicercle’s contribution covers both design and production, rather than simply presenting a product idea.

The campaign offers scope to adapt the hangers with an establishment’s logo, bespoke wording and variations in shape, colour or finish. Alongside leather, EVA foam and MDF, felt and acrylic are presented as possible materials, rather than all being documented as manufactured versions.

Laser engraving on leather was one of the campaign’s material trials.

For the EVA foam version, both the outline and the lettering were produced using a laser.

Processes and materials: fabrication services · available materials · studio machinery.