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Studying Joseph Joseph
2021. 12 weeks.

Summary

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In Alvaro Uribe's Kitchen Tools class, we were asked to design a product that fits into Joseph Joseph's future product lineup. I chose to study the Microplane because I was always curious why most of the ones in the market all look and function the same. I began by studying the brand and its philosophies. 

Form Language

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  • Basic geometric shapes with soft curves

  • Matte finishes for main body and glossy for secondary body

  • Cut lines only at material changes

  • Products of similar architecture can be nesting

  • Symmetric hole pattern of pill or circular shape

  • Visible feet only on products that have to drain water

  • Screw parts have one big thread only

  • Sharp objects are hidden away or made to look non-threatening

  • Every seperable part has a second function

  • Handles are integrated into parts/lids

  • Fillets

  • Debossed logos

Color Vocabulary​

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  • Single color and material if possible

  • Material and color changes at point of human contact

  • Accent colors for feet

  • Nesting items have a color progression

  • Items in a set have a monochromatic progression

  • Moving/removable parts are a third color

Based on my own tests, and customer reviews from induvidual websites, and amazon, I was able to find current pain points.

TOO SHARP

EASY TO CLEAN

OXO

MESSY

Rosle

Boska Holland

Cusinart

Alessi

Microplane

Blomus Navetta

OXO

Sweet Spot

Spring Chef

TOO DULL

GOOD QUALITY & CONSTRUCTION

Sweet Spot

Rosle

Spring Chef

OXO

OXO

Blomus Navetta

EFFICIENT

UNWIELDY

Boska Holland

Microplane

Cusinart

Alessi

WEAK & FLIMSY

A lot of the issues brought up are out of my control due to things like budget, manufacturing constraints, and appealing to the broadest customer group, so I decided that the features I could improve were:

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  • Food waste

  • Compact-ness

  • Ease of cleaning

  • The holding position

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So with that, I started testing out some ideas.

This idea appealed to me the most because I had the realisation that every Microplane or grater tends to come with a guard and one of the problems I noticed was that no matter how you grate something, you often have spillover onto your surface. So if the guard could double as a container to catch your food, nothing would spill, and you could store excess gratings in the fridge. This key point led the rest of the process.