We're always thrilled to see, for one, how active the Core77 discussion boards can get and secondly, how creative and insightful some of the conversations going on can truly be. There are also always great sketches and challenges to get inspiration from, which is precisely what arose a couple weeks ago when our moderator cwatkinson wrote this:

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"Thought this could be a fun [design challenge].

Problem: How do you tell which way a door opens

Challenge: Generate a concept of a door handle/s that clearly communicate to the user if they need to push/pull or either."

Here are some the results of the aforementioned challenge:

Sketch by: yo

"Quick concept.... maybe it flashes when it senses someone is trying to push." — yo

Sketch: Andy MC

"Pull Side:
Hard and sharp edges on the front surface and soft on the rear to promote pulling. Handle shaped like arrow shaped to indicate direction. What if the front was textured to look filthy so that people automatically grab the back surface?

Push Side:
Soft edges all around and nowhere to grip onto. Concaved inwards towards door to indicate pushing direction.

Afterthought: I forgot to add the push/pull text onto it." —Andy MC

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"Pull motion to unlock. Not sure if such a planar surface will work well but i think it looks good.." —Rodrigo

Sketch: AV Club

"I didn't spend a ton of time, but this was fun! A slot/thru-hole is routed through the door, and then the "handle" has the grab portion fed through, and then the push aspect is attached to the door. My thought was things that you push and never pull (A Button, generally speaking), and something you pull and never push (A rope, tug-of-war style)." — AV Club

Sketch: KenoLeon 

"Thought of a minimal icon outside for the push side plus a pull handle inside, both covered in copper which is antimicrobial,( skipping the locking hardware), nice challenge." — KenoLeon

Contribute to this design challenge—how would you tackle the "push, pull" dilemma? Add your sketches or comments to the thread below or on the original discussion board post!