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Trois Cheese Knives Set
The art of cheesemaking has been a highly valued process that could date back over 4000 years. To appreciate the culture and experience of cheese cutting, I designed the Trois Cheese Knife set.
DELIVERABLES
Duration
User experience
Industrial design
Ergonomic evaluation
Product prototyping
14 Weeks
Year
2022
Soft Cheese Knife
Maple Wood Handle
Designed for soft cheeses like Brie, Camembert, Roquefort, Muenster, and others, with a thin surface area for clean cuts.
Semi-Hard Cheese Knife
Zebrawood Handle
Ideal for semi-hard cheeses like Cheddar, Emmental, Monterey Jack, and others, with a forked tip for easy serving.
Hard Cheese Knife
Wenge Wood Handle
Designed for hard cheeses like Parmesan, Old Amsterdam, Grana Padano, and others with pointed tips to pierce the cheese easily.
Hard Cheese Knife
Color
Material
& Finish
Color
Material
& Finish
Color
Material
& Finish
How Color & Time blended in User Experience
Aging of Cheese
Depending on the style, cheese could be aged anywhere from a few weeks to up to 12 months and longer. Fresh cheeses often have little to no aging time, soft cheeses are usually aged for between 2 weeks and 2 months and hard cheeses have longer aging periods starting at a few months and spanning out to 2 years, or more.
As a result, I use three different kinds of wood to reflect the characteristics of cheese and also serve as signifiers to help users to identify the right knife at a glance.
Hard Maple
Zebrawood
Wenge
Soft Cheese Knife
Most soft cheese tends to have a shorter aging time, a softer texture, and lighter color. As a result, I choose the subtle natural pattern of maple wood and its color to reflect soft cheese.
Semi-Hard Cheese Knife
Semi-hard cheese has a perfect balance of moisture and aridity. Zebrawood reflects its firm, slightly springy texture with the right about of wood grain and color tone between maple wood and wenge.
Hard Cheese Knife
Hard cheese develops a flavor personality with a longer aging process. It loses the smoothness of youth but gains more interesting textures and flavor. The coarse but playful wenge wood grain is perfect to represent the complexity of hard cheese.
Metalworking
The Beauty of Patina & Aging
1095 High-Carbon Steel
Professional chefs often have a preference for high-carbon steel knives. These knives can be honed to a very sharp edge and are generally more wear-resistant than stainless steel. High-carbon grades hold a finer edge even against tough regular use.
Moreover, carbon steel form patina over time. It is a thin layer of corrosion that protects carbon steel from further oxidation and rust. It is also a sign of aging and gives the carbon steel knife a unique matte finish.
High Carbon Steel Cut with Portable Band Saw
My Design Process
My project started with a simple idea. How can I design a better knife? I began with concept development and research first so I have a basic understanding of what direction to go. After having a solid direction to design cheese knives, I went back and forth between researching, prototyping, and sketching to test out forms and ideas.
Concept Development
I begin my project by generating various ideas to understand the potential and unfulfilled needs before researching.
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