Neighife
Overview
The Neighife functions as a multi-purpose home kitchen knife, able to spread sauces and condiments like cream cheese as well as cut through cheese. To bring this to life, we designed this in Illustrator, and sold these at the Student Exhibition at the end of the CCS School year in May.
The Neighife functions as a multi-purpose home kitchen knife, able to spread sauces and condiments like cream cheese as well as cut through cheese. To bring this to life, we designed this in Illustrator, and sold these at the Student Exhibition at the end of the CCS School year in May.
Type
Woodworking
Year
2026
Role
Co-Designer
COLLABORATORS
Nidhi Srikanth
ECHO Charlie
Douglas La Belle
PROCESS
Throughout the process of coming to the final design, we studied all many different artistic directions that helped shape our understanding of what designer products are and could be. Through presenting about different topics like Scandinavian Design and doing field research at Eastern Market and flea markets, we designed what a sleek, modern, and practical mass-produced designer product could look like. We made 200 sketches and 50 cardboard prototypes of what these items could be, and narrowed it down to animal related items, from which we chose the Neighife for its simplicity yet creativity, and functionality in the home.
Throughout the process of coming to the final design, we studied all many different artistic directions that helped shape our understanding of what designer products are and could be. Through presenting about different topics like Scandinavian Design and doing field research at Eastern Market and flea markets, we designed what a sleek, modern, and practical mass-produced designer product could look like. We made 200 sketches and 50 cardboard prototypes of what these items could be, and narrowed it down to animal related items, from which we chose the Neighife for its simplicity yet creativity, and functionality in the home.
GOALS
The goal of this project was to explore the woodworking process and get hands on with real physical materials when assembling a creative project, to understand the limitations of real practical product design and not whatever we wanted to live on just a screen. The Neighife is aimed at homeowners with a love for home made items, specifically a similar audience to Etsy.
The goal of this project was to explore the woodworking process and get hands on with real physical materials when assembling a creative project, to understand the limitations of real practical product design and not whatever we wanted to live on just a screen. The Neighife is aimed at homeowners with a love for home made items, specifically a similar audience to Etsy.
CONCLUSION
The final Neighifes was made with Cherry Hard Wood and cut with the help of Josh Damesworth at ECHO Charlie’s Design Studio. They are a local design studio in Michigan, based in Ferndale, who have a state-of-the-art laser cutter. We operated the table with the help of Mr. Damesworth, and applied the food-safe finish on all the horses with the help of esteemed woodworker and craftshowman Douglas La Belle. Because of their efforts, we sold these beautiful Neighife products and the CCS Student Exhibition in May 2026 in limited quantities.
The final Neighifes was made with Cherry Hard Wood and cut with the help of Josh Damesworth at ECHO Charlie’s Design Studio. They are a local design studio in Michigan, based in Ferndale, who have a state-of-the-art laser cutter. We operated the table with the help of Mr. Damesworth, and applied the food-safe finish on all the horses with the help of esteemed woodworker and craftshowman Douglas La Belle. Because of their efforts, we sold these beautiful Neighife products and the CCS Student Exhibition in May 2026 in limited quantities.
