Design Story: Serving Friends

Selena Liu shares the design process behind our new pals, Serving Friends.

Flowers Serving Friends by Selena Liu on a cream kitchen countertop beside a stick of butter, a carton of eggs, and a bag of granulated sugar. Hands, Flowers, and Wavy Serving Friends by Selena Liu in a green ribbed crock on an orange chair, with a checkered towel and two orange tomatoes.

I love sharing a meal with friends but to be honest, I don’t like to cook. I designed these servers as an incentive to help get me into the kitchen. Being a very tactile and nostalgic person, the concept of the Serving Friends was based on the urge to use one’s hands instead of proper utensils to grab food.

I fluctuate between 2D and 3D sketches and in this instance, I took a piece of maple straight into the shop and cut out the shape of a hand almost based on impulse. The resulting shape intrinsically made tossing spaghetti or salad more entertaining.

Selena Liu's pencil concept sketches for Serving Friends, exploring hand, wavy, flower, and clover-shaped serving utensils, some drawn over construction lines.

A collection of concept sketches exploring the form and design of Serving Friends.


Six white 3D-printed Serving Friends prototypes by Selena Liu in hand, wavy, heart, flower, and organic shapes, marked up with handwritten design notes such as "deeper scoop" and "thinner handle."


3D prints reviewed by Selena to refine every detail of the design


Serving Friends were designed in 2019 with the intention for dinner parties but once COVID hit, the idea of sharing food with friends and family seemed unlikely. With that in mind, I wanted to create a larger collection that could reintroduce joy and connection into people’s homes. Serving friends all have different characters and shapes, which encourages users to pick their favorites to use depending on what they’re eating.

Serving Friends fully realized.

Areaware was the perfect partner to develop this series. Every curve was critiqued and designed so that every server would be just right for every silly impulse.
–Selena Liu

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