After Häfele, I walked over to Simon's on 3rd Ave. Simon's is a distributor for many companies like Håfele so I think I'll have more choices there to source hardware for my desk. Here, I found something that made me think about my thesis… A chrome handle, vs one wrapped in leather.
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It's really a shame that we can't feel materials through the internet yet. Of course chrome felt cold and leather felt warm. Chrome also gives the impression of being "new". The leather with darkened metal looks sophisticated… like something that would belong to an old-school athletic club.
Here's another set of handles.
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Sure the styles are different, but the perception of these two handles judging by their materials where our hands would touch is also different. Are we more likely to want to touch the one with the natural wood color? or painted plastic?