Silke Cheese Utensils

Raadvad asked me to design a set of cheeseboard utensils. As always, my process was guided by a poetic image. That might sound lofty, but in fact, it is very straightforward: I love cheese, in all its stages of ripening, which offer a symphony of sensory experiences. To me, a cheeseboard is like an orchestra of flavours. With this image in mind, I set out to translate the orchestra metaphor into a set of practical utensils. I experimented with drawings of musical notes, which morphed into exclamation marks, and eventually, the collection found its form as a diverse set of utensils. Next, I went from free-hand drawing to modelling. I began to cut out elements in cardboard and used brass and paint to perfect the expression and strike the right balance of weight and elegance. To me, the modelling phase is not just a realization of 2D drawings but an innovative part of the design process. The main focus at this stage is on how the pieces look and feel in three dimensions. The final models looked so realistic that Raadvad’s then Product Director Erik Thorø Lauridsen asked me to make ten pieces of each to be used in photos that Raadvad could send directly to the buyers. And so, overnight, my studio turned into a production site with an assembly-line set up where the cheeseboard utensils were painted, sanded and finished