Description:

The Beauty of Everyday Things is a family of ceramic tableware that creates a more enjoyable social eating experience, and makes this experience a more conscious act.

In a world and an industry that revolves around throwaway culture, consumerism and obsession with the ‘new’, I wanted to create a design interaction that shed light on underappreciated, everyday objects. The Beauty of Everyday Things stemmed from my desire to create more meaningful connections between people and the physical things we own. It is an exploration into how a conventional set of objects that we use every day can be re-interpreted to allow for a more engaging and intimate experience.

Through the use of porcelain - the traditional tableware material - the vessels look and feel as you’d expect. However, due to the design of the surface between vessel and saucer, they behave in unconventional ways and disrupt the everyday act of eating.

Each of the three vessels provide more affordances than traditional tableware: for example, the bowl’s scalloped underside and flared lip provide more support when it’s being held or carried.

The bases are no less considered; both the bowl and cups bases act as food safe vessels for saucers or snacks and the plates base can act as a stand for salad servers. A vessel is an object designed with a void that can be filled. Through their ability to change and transform, these vessels fit user's needs beyond the act of eating, creating a deeper dialogue between product and person.

The Beauty of Everyday Things is a project that stemmed from my desire to better understand how to create more meaningful connections between people and the physical things they own. It is an exploration into how a conventional set of objects that we use every day can be reinterpreted to allow for a more engaging, intimate experience.