Elisa Pyykkönen

Trivet design.

Client / Company in co-operation

private person

My role

I was in sole charge of the whole project.

About this Project

I was commissioned to make two wooden trivets that could be possible to combine/intertwine into a one bigger trivet. After sketching and presenting my ideas to the client we decided to go with a simple hexagon shape because there was no need for the pieces to interlock.

My client gave me free hands with the colours and elements. I came up with an idea of images that would go together in various ways. Even though my client asked for two trivets, my idea needed three to fulfil its potential – two would have felt little underwhelming. Knowing my client, I knew that wouldn't be a problem. I wanted to make a design not fixed on a season, so I chose colour combination that would suit all seasons and had no connotations, for example when red and green are Christmas colours and pastel colours make you think of spring etc, also keeping in mind of my customer's tastes. I also knew my client likes flowers and I wanted to include them in my design, but to minimize the seasonal feel it was necessary to keep the design simple.

The set is made of plywood and painted with acrylics that withstand heat. The design would also work on ceramics if these were to be produced industrially, but for only three handmade pieces plywood was an easy and cost friendly option. It's also easy to add more designs into the collection later if necessary.

What I learned

During this project I learned a new art style and making interlocking design. I also found good paints that withstand heat. Now that time has passed and trivets have been in use for a while, the paint still holds and hasn’t adhered to the hot pans or pots.