CRKT Onion Kitchen Knives | On the Edge

The On the Edge campaign for the Onion Kitchen Knives was conceived as a premium visual exploration of a culinary tool, treated not just as functional equipment, but as an object of art. Designed for a design-forward home chef inspired by high-end kitchens, the imagery aimed to elevate the knife set into the realm of editorial storytelling, confident, restrained, and timeless.

Rather than emphasizing utility or lifestyle narrative, the work focused on craft, form, and materiality, positioning the knives as collectible objects that feel equally at home in a gallery, a design magazine, or a refined home kitchen.

Context / Challenge

The target audience for Onion Kitchen Knives was a well-heeled, culinary-savvy home chef, someone closely following fine dining and professional kitchen culture and recreating that world at home.

With a higher price point and more discerning audience, the creative needed to feel elevated without becoming sterile, aspirational without feeling inaccessible. Internally, we framed the challenge with a simple question:
If these images appeared as a full-page spread in Forbes, what would they look like?

The work needed to communicate quality, confidence, and taste with restraint, favoring quiet authority over overt selling.

Creative Approach

The visual direction drew from both kitchen lifestyle photography and traditional still life, intentionally pushing into a hybrid space between the two. Rather than focusing on food preparation or function, the goal was to present the knife itself as an object, elevating it beyond a tool and closer to a piece of art.

Settings and props were sourced from an aspirational home-culinary environment, then abstracted to shift focus toward form. Shape, color, texture, and light became the primary storytelling elements, allowing the product to exist in a more editorial and conceptual space rather than a literal kitchen scene.

A high-key lighting approach paired with controlled shadow reinforced this abstraction. Contrast was used to accentuate edges, surfaces, and material quality, with shadows acting as compositional elements that pushed the imagery toward a graphic, art-forward point of view while maintaining realism and tactility.

Outcome & Use

The imagery was used across the website, social channels, internal presentations, sales decks, and launch materials. To extend the visual language, the photography was paired with texture-heavy stock imagery and integrated into our internal modular design system, allowing the campaign to scale while maintaining a cohesive, refined tone.

This approach helped the set feel larger than a single moment, building a broader visual world around the Onion Kitchen Knives and reinforcing their place within a collector’s kitchen and personal tool collection. By combining original imagery with abstract textures and modular layouts, the storytelling created a complete atmosphere rooted in craft, restraint, and elevated taste.

This modular approach ensured the work could evolve across touchpoints while preserving a consistent, premium sensibility.

Role & Responsibilities

Art direction and visual concept development

Photography and image creation

Editorial tone and visual language definition

Lighting, composition, and shot design

Final image selection and refinement

I led the project from concept through execution, shaping the visual approach and ensuring the imagery aligned with the premium expectations of the audience.