A collaboration.

About

BAER Ceramics began when husband and wife Jess Baer and Zach Hastings finally decided to make the objects they couldn't find for their own home. Both graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2007, Jess in Illustration and Zach in Industrial Design, and those two backgrounds shape every piece they make. Zach drives form and usability, thinking through how each piece feels in the hand and fits into daily life. Jess drives color, bringing every piece to life in the studio and exploring glaze and surface along the way. Together they make functional, modern ceramics meant to be used every day.

Process

Every BAER piece starts slowly. We spend much of our time at the very beginning: sketching, holding everyday objects, and thinking about how something should feel in your hand.

Once a design is settled on paper, Zach brings it into three dimensions with CAD software. We 3D print plastic prototypes to test the size and proportions until they feel just right. Zach then returns to CAD to design a slip-cast mold around the finished form, and that mold is 3D printed too.

From there, Jess takes over in the studio. She makes a silicone mother mold from the printed mold, and uses it to cast the plaster production molds. Each final piece is slip cast in those molds, bisque fired, and then glazed.