Zwilling.com

Modernizing a centuries-old culinary icon for a digital-first audience. Zwilling J.A. Henckels has a deep history in craftsmanship, but their multi-brand platform needed a complete design overhaul to keep up with modern e-commerce. I worked with the team to lead a transformation that unified their brands across a single, intuitive platform—spanning web, CRM, and connected appliances. By focusing on a clearer, more approachable visual language, we delivered a 51% increase in sales and added over 50,000 new users in just three months.

Screenshots of a cookware store app displaying various pots, pans, and cookware accessories with prices, discounts, and product descriptions.
Homepage of a kitchenware website featuring a large banner with a skillet of cooked vegetables, a red cooking pot, and promotional offers. Below are sections for product categories, top sellers, and a promotional image of a crepe pan set. The site has a clean, organized design with navigation menus and a footer with contact and social media links.
A collage of multiple mobile screens displaying various pages of a cookware brand's mobile app and website, mainly featuring blue cast iron cookware, recipes, cooking tips, and product categories on a red background.
Collection of blue cookware including pots with lids, a frying pan, a grill pan, and pot lids, set against a white background.
A Staub cast iron cocotte in blue on a webpage for purchase, with product details, specifications, related accessories, and usage images, including a hearty vegetable stew being cooked in a similar cocotte.
Screenshot of an online store page featuring Dutch ovens and cocottes. The page displays various models in different colors, including red, blue, green, black, and brown, with prices listed at $324.99. The section header reads "Cocottes & Dutch Ovens," with a banner promoting a 20% sale on Dutch ovens.

Concept Design

Fortunately, we nailed the look and feel in the pitch. From there we got to work exploring gestural designs and mood boards, honing in on the final design system. Our visual language embodied the precise products with approachable messaging and a warmer color palette.

Screenshot of a kitchenware website showing a Thanksgiving dinner with various dishes, a section advertising a chef's knife with a price reduction, and a black-and-white image of a kitchen knife with a description of a Santoku knife.
Color palette with six swatches labeled with names and hex codes: red (#EE1C25), soft black (#27221D), soft gray 1 (#9E9186), lighter soft gray (#C6EB8), lightest soft gray (#EFECEA), and white (#FFFFFF).
Collection of kitchen and food-related items including a radish, frying pan, cleaver, wooden spoon, table set, smartphone displaying a recipe, bowls of food, a pot with vegetables, fresh herbs, a chef's knife with meat, a paring knife, a can of food, and a serving of spaghetti.
Collage of food preparation and kitchen tools, including a pot with carrots, a piece of raw meat with a knife, eggs in a pan, fish fillets in a pan, and radishes with a knife.
Advertisement with a close-up image of a gray electric iron on the right side. The left side contains text and images promoting kitchenware, including a cast iron Dutch oven, a wooden spoon, and a pair of scissors, with prices and descriptions.
Close-up of a person placing uncooked ravioli pasta on parchment paper, with text overlay about voice evolution and culinary expertise.
A collage showing four images with video game voice attributes. Top-left: A man with a focused expression reaching out over a meal on a wooden table. Top-right: Two hands clinking glasses of iced tea or soda outdoors. Bottom-left: A plated gourmet dish on a black textured plate. Bottom-right: Two men in a factory or workshop examining a device or machine.

To truly understand the brand, we started with a full immersion at Zwilling’s headquarters in Solingen, Germany. We spent our days sharpening knives and cooking together, which gave us a firsthand look at the precision and quality we needed to translate into the digital experience. Those early sessions didn't just teach us about the products; they helped us build the trust and collaboration necessary to overhaul a 400-year-old brand. (And for the record: karaoke in German is a losing battle.)

Immersive design starts in the kitchen.

A large red brick building with multiple windows on a cloudy day, with a sign in front that has the Zwilling J.A. Henckels logo.
A group of people gathered around a table in a kitchen showroom, engaged in a discussion about cookware, with display shelves of pots and pans in the background and a large digital display of vegetables on the wall.
People seated around a long conference table in a restaurant, engaging with their phones, with coffee cups, water glasses, notebooks, and snacks on the table, and a waiter serving in the background.
Group of seven men in a kitchen taking a selfie. They are smiling and making various gestures, with shelves of cookware and kitchenware in the background.
Group of people participating in a cooking class in a bright, industrial-style kitchen with large windows and hanging lights.

My Role – Creative Director
Ricardo Salema – Executive Creative Director
Design – Yoonjee Kang, Lisa Lee
Copy – Karen Kelley
UX – Sasha Giacoppo, Matt Drazin
Motion – Aj Kolb

Team