Wear Has a Map Prompt pack

About this prompt pack

Give an aged object a clear pattern of use. These 8 prompts take you from polished grip areas and chipped edges to rain trails, mixed materials, repairs and readable lettering. Each prompt names where the wear belongs and where the finish stays intact, so you can carry the method into your own props and product concepts.

What you'll learn

• Contact polish — Start with a wear location and a cause. Two grip areas become smoother and brighter while the protected paint stays intact.
• Edges before flats — Let raised edges lose paint first. Large intact panels make the small exposed corners readable at gallery size.
• Protected recesses — Use opposite surface states on one object: polished contact areas and darker protected recesses. The contrast makes the use pattern visible.
• Let the word survive — Add a legibility constraint to the contact map. The cream word survives above the worn palm area.
• Follow the runoff — Give every streak a source and a downward route. Cleaner shelter beneath the overhang explains the exposure.
• Follow the grain — Keep the material's structure continuous through the damage. Contact rounds the seat edge while small splits follow the visible grain.
• One history, four materials — Give each material a different response to the same use. Leather creases, plastic scuffs, metal scratches and foam compresses.
• The repair has an edge — A repair creates a local reset in colour, gloss and scratch density. Keep the older wear outside that clearly bounded area.