Joe Burrow

Joe looked at many different designs for his custom chess set. Early exploration was wide-ranging, from classic styles in wood, metal and stone to more modern, abstract shapes. One consistent element was the inclusion of some sort of crystal in the pieces. Here, they’re showing up as disks weighing the pieces down.

Joe called out the striking black minerals agate and onyx early on in the design process, hoping to use them for chess pieces and board design. Both these stones are related to quartz and are exceedingly hard, making them tough to work with (but excellent for fine details.)

One mineral that immediately stood out to Joe was malachite. Malachite is a green copper carbonate hydroxide mineral that’s historically been prized as a protective talisman for warriors and royalty - perfect for a strong chess piece like a knight or a rook.

To get the shape perfect, each piece is hand-cut by experts using specialty tools like this angle grinder. Some crystals, like fluorite, are quite soft and hard to carve at the sizes needed for a chess piece, so backup materials were always on hand in case of cracking.

Joe's chess board is as unique as the pieces. With a base made from walnut on a steel frame, each square is an individually cut piece of marble.

“I first started playing chess in fourth or fifth grade. Somewhere around there. I kind of fell in love with it ever since.”

- Joe Burrow

Joe’s continued love of chess comes in many forms, including reading classic chess strategy books like this.

“For my materials, I think natural stone, gems or crystals are cool. Something strong but purposeful.”

- Joe Burrow

The first design Joe really felt spoke to him featured stone and crystal-like elements in striking colors.

Joe uses Chrome to easily and quickly visualize what different material and piece combinations might look like. With Gemini in Chrome, he can take his designs and explore different creative combinations without ever needing to switch tabs.

“I'm really into crystals lately.”

- Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow’s recent interest in crystals evolved from his long-term love of fossils and other minerals. When thinking about a high level concept for his chess set, pairing crystals, with their interesting colors and properties, with modern chess piece design, was immediately appealing.

Joe worked with a designer to draw hand sketches to start visualizing his ideas.

While exploring early on, Gemini in Chrome was invaluable for quickly generating multiple chess piece designs, so Joe and his design team could narrow down shapes and styles before moving onto more labor-intensive hand sketching.

Testing stones and different sizing for each piece, and marking where the cuts should go for the first prototypes.

A chess set should feel as good as it looks. Testing the texture and weight of different crystals helped Joe choose which materials to add to each piece.

Using Chrome to dive deeper into mineral information on many sites, Joe explored the properties of the crystals he likes, giving him a much stronger concept for his chess set.

Renderings for the board design to test aluminum or synthetic stone framing, walnut exterior and waterjet-cut stone inserts.

Different base designs change the color and weight of the pieces. This render shows a smaller crystal base for a sleeker design. Ultimately, Joe chose a bolder, more crystal-focused design.

The Knight piece was originally designed using fluorite. In production, fluorite was found to be too soft, cracking when worked. As a late fix, malachite, a similarly vibrant green crystal, was used.