Noir

Team

Noir was a true team effort. Reed M. fabricated the handles and the server, and fired the handles. Claire drew up the templates and roughed out the material. I built the metal press, tested the wood firing with a torch, and acted as team lead.

Problem statement

Design three beautiful and useful hand tools which share a cohesive visual form language.

Research

We gathered feedback on pizza tools from professionals as well as home pizza oven owners. Their pain points: plastic melts quickly, metal gets very hot and burns users, tools need to be hung up between uses, and too many holes, slats and moving parts. Their needs: ambidextrous, large handles for grip, a peel handle that can bend to an angle, easy cleaning and sturdy construction.

Design statement

The current market of pizza tools is crowded with cheap construction, poor quality and neglected ergonomics. Nothing high-end. We set out to design high quality, durable, beautiful pizza tools, centered around the user's comfort and ease of use: strong metal surfaces, sturdy wooden handles, a way to hang them up, and easy cleaning.

Sketching

Sketch models

Cardboard and foam models tested the size of each tool, and a series of handle iterations tested grip.

Fired maple handles

Firing the handles is at the heart of Noir. Each handle is shaped from maple and then fired with a garden weed torch, turning the pale wood a deep black while leaving its grain visible. The fired maple gives all three tools their dark, matching handles and ties the set together into one visual family.

Fabrication

The metal blades were cut and pressed in the shop, then the fired maple handles were riveted on.

Final model

A peel, a rocking cutter and a server, joined by the same fired maple handles, polished rivets and brushed metal.