How Selena Liu's Serving Friends Board came to life through paper cutouts.

Paper cutouts by Selena Liu, Photo: Selena Liu

Inspired by paper cutouts that I used to make for my friends, the Serving Friends Board shape and design was made to encourage play in the kitchen and used for shared meals with loved ones. 

Sketches of Serving Friends Board, Photo: Selena Liu

The outline of the board was very important to me, balancing the right amount of surface area for actual cutting but also utilizing curves as an ode to my paper cutouts.

Serving Friends Board, Photo: Areaware

The board can be turned over for cutting or used to serve out your favorite snacks; the indented center holds jams, small bites, bowls, what have you. With this design, there are no rules! Use it, flip it, serve it.

Serving Friends Board and Serving Friends, Photo: Emily Simms for Areaware

My biggest goal was to have a board that could be displayed even when not being used. As a designer, I had a lot of fun adding one more friend to the table. Serving Friends has been about finding connections in simple things, and reintroducing joy into people’s homes.