Craft Work: A chat with Andrew Klimecki
What does the future hold for the Craft range?
How does tableware set the tone at a venue and what does Craft say about a place?
Craft continues to be incredibly successful and popular. It is still loved by restaurant operators and their customers alike. A ten-year run is a long time in hospitality for any product, and it shows absolutely no signs of abating. Craft resonates as much now as it did when we first launched it. I guess being the originator and early into the hospitality market with a range that was destined to redefine how best to present food at any level means it has ultimate integrity. No one else can claim that (even though they try). Obviously, we have broadened its appeal by adding new colours as trends shift and merge, and this will continue. We may also add new shapes as menus change, and requirements alter. The new Raspberry colour is an excellent example of this. Throughout the development of Craft, we have been extremely careful. We have taken great pains to ensure that the colours we use to amplify and enhance the presentation of a wide variety of cuisines
I always aim to design products that elicit a positive emotional response. I find this engages a dialogue between the product and its user, whether through comfortable familiarity or the surprise and delight of the ‘new’. Tableware is obviously incredibly important to the message the venue is trying to get across and can often make or break a menu.
Andrew Klimecki has been responsible for all aspects of design at Steelite International since 1993. Among many other things, his work to develop the Craft range in the late ‘00s and early ‘10s has changed tableware forever.
How has the Craft range evolved?
What food trends have inspired the Craft range over the years?
The range has grown to encompass several more colours. It hasn’t evolved aesthetically as it hasn’t needed to. It was conceived from the start to be sympathetic with long-term trends, including heritage, authenticity, hand craftsmanship, individuality, and eclecticism. These are as important now as they were back then. Probably more so.
The success of Craft lies within
Craft was developed to best showcase menus that extolled the virtues of a more honest and respectful approach to ingredients. Farm-to-table, organic, plant-based, and vegan trends all contributed, but I wanted to develop a range that made the food the hero, whatever the type. I wanted a range that would be easy to use at all levels of the market but also said something to the diner about the quality of what it was they were about to enjoy, whether it’s a simple sandwich or a complex signature piece connected to a Michelin Star (or three).
its ability to say different
positive things about a place depending on its usage
and implementation. In practice, this can be everything from, ‘the coffee in this Craft mug is deep, rich, warm and satisfying’, to ‘the chef has taken great skill and pride in preparing this dish from the very best locally-sourced ingredients and wants you to enjoy this as much as they possibly can’.
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