'Tom': Design Language for Object Personality

Mike Minerva ’26 MFA (industrial design) took a mundane, everyday object — a pencil sharpener — and gave it a mind of its own for his thesis research project.

What happens when a pencil sharpener has a personality? “Tom” cooperates with pencils and resists pens, with behavior that escalates the more it is provoked. It rewards patience, and when pushed to its limit, it spews shavings and graphite across the desk.

The project explored how mechanical processes could express character honestly, through thermochromic paint that shifts color as it heats up, apertures that snap shut defensively, and air pressure that grumbles. It makes the case that personality is something designers can shape, and that it grows out of the relationship between an object and the person using it over time.

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Photo by Elizabeth Lamark

Three variations of the "Tom" pencil sharpener designed by RIT industrial design MFA student, and RIT School of Design faculty, Mike Minerva. The sharpener is made out of aluminum and brass.

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Photo by Elizabeth Lamark

Mike Minerva's "Tom" pencil sharpener in use. Minerva created it for his RIT industrial design MFA thesis project.

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Photo by Elizabeth Lamark

The full range of prototypes and material studies carried out by Mike Minerva for his RIT industrial design MFA thesis project.