vimzs

Concept for Breville — 03

The Ritual

A gooseneck kettle reimagined through the lens of matcha preparation — where precision meets tradition.

The Ritual kettle seated on its base, water visible through the window and the LED ring lit.

The brief

Breville make precise kitchen appliances. Matcha asks for precision too — water off the boil, poured slowly enough not to clump the powder. The two ought to meet, and mostly they don't: gooseneck kettles are built for pour-over coffee and priced for enthusiasts.

How might we design a more compact, precise and ergonomically tailored gooseneck kettle that supports the ritual of matcha preparation?

Research

Four people who make matcha every day.

Three interviews and an observation session. I sat with people who make matcha daily and watched where their kettles got in the way — what they reached for, what they had to do twice, what they had learned to put up with.

What mattered

  • Precise temperature control, to the degree
  • Spout pour rate affects the quality of the matcha
  • Compactness matters in a daily ritual appliance
  • Safety comes from visible, intentional actions

What got in the way

  • Kettles are often too large for enthusiast users
  • Larger kettles take longer to heat
  • Small openings are harder to clean inside
  • Traditional lids need two hands when pouring

Ideation

Silhouette, spout curvature, thumb reach.

Form exploration sheet: nine kettle silhouettes annotated wide/low body, traditional form, taller body, sleek body and zen form, water levels shaded in blue.
Form exploration — traditional, tall, zen
Pencil study of spout and handle profiles, a concave grip section called out, and 20 and 10 degree exit angles measured against the body.
Spout curvature and handle section
Pencil sketches of kettle bodies exploring a front-hinged lid, side handle placement and where the balance sits when the kettle is full.
Body proportion, lid hinge and balance

Physical development

Built in foam and card before it was built in CAD.

Foam and card models tested proportion, lid placement and grip early, on the benchtop where the kettle would actually live.

  • Card and blue foam mock-up standing on a benchtop, used to judge overall proportion and where the lid sits.
    Card and foam — proportion and lid placement
  • Rough blue foam model of the kettle, spout and straight handle carved as one block, seen side-on.
    Rough foam model
  • Refined foam model with a smoothed tapered body and a resolved handle profile.
    Refined foam model
  • 3D-printed model of the kettle, used to check the form and control layout at full size.
    3D-printed model

The handle

Users had told me round handles were uncomfortable and bulky ones worse. I mocked up a row of profiles and held every one of them.

The one that won tapers for thumb support and aligns with Breville's existing minimal form language — enough to grip confidently one-handed, without the slab of plastic most kettles give you.

Ten handle profiles carved in foam, laid out in a row for comparison.
Every profile, mocked up and held

The spout

Inconsistent or fast pours disrupt matcha and lead to bitterness and clumping. I carved the ideal shape, length and curve out of foam, then took it to CAD and 3D-printed a prototype to make in metal.

I tried brass first — too malleable — so the final is steel. The exit angle sits between 75 and 85°, with a10–25° downward pour angle from horizontal: a slow, steady stream that swirls water into sifted powder without splashing.

Six spout profiles laid out in a row: blue foam, two white prints, a brass tube and two bent steel tubes.
Spout profiles — foam, print, brass, steel

User testing

Two rounds. The first one hurt.

Round one

  • “The button is too high”
  • “Handle feels very bulky”
  • “The dial is very generic”
  • “Add some presets for convenience”

Round two

  • “It feels very comfortable and easy to pour”
  • “The button under the thumb feels natural”
  • “The temperature precision is so useful”
  • “The LED ring is very helpful”
A foam handle mock-up being held to test grip.
Round one — foam and card, in hand
The metal appearance model being lifted from its base on a kitchen benchtop.
Round two — the appearance model, on a real bench

Resolved

Precision meets tradition.

  • The finished kettle on its base, water level lit through the side window and the base reading 80 degrees.
    Effortless performance
  • Close view of the base: an 80 degrees readout beside green tea, oolong and boil presets, with the LED ring lit red.
    Temperature control to the degree
  • The knurled steel temperature dial set into the brushed base, photographed close.
    CNC-milled steel temp dial
  • Water pouring from the gooseneck spout into a matcha bowl, the stream landing in a clean column.
    Precision you can pour

Appearance model

Made, not just rendered.

  • The underside of the base, its black foot plate and central contact set into the brushed silver rim.
    Bottom of base
  • The base from above, showing the temperature dial, preset buttons and the red ring around the plate.
    Base and controls
  • The appearance model off its base, side on, with the gooseneck spout and black handle.
    Kettle
  • The appearance model seated on its base, spout left and handle right.
    Kettle and base

Project specs

Client brief
Breville
Heating range
60–100 °C, to the degree
Dial
CNC-milled steel
Spout exit angle
75–85°
Pour angle
10–25° below horizontal
Lid
Soft-open, damped hinge
General arrangement drawing with top, bottom, side and section views.
General arrangement
Exploded isometric drawing with the bill of materials.
Exploded isometric and bill of materials

Where it lands

Every complaint from round one came back as praise in round two.

The button sitting too high, the bulk of the handle, a dial people called generic, and the missing presets — those were the four things raised in the first round of testing. They were the four things people singled out in the second.

It stops at an appearance model: form, proportion and control layout resolved, nothing that heats water. The thermal design and the electronics are where this would have to go next, and that is the line between a concept and a product.