Gallery: A Reinvented Skillet, From a Cookery Guru and Obama's Logo Designer
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Cast iron pans have been in use for at least 2,500 years, but a startup called Finex, based in Portland, Oregon is bringing modern design to your grandmother's kitchen. *Photo: David Lewin Industrial Design*
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Finex is raising money on Kickstarter to fund production and the pan currently exists as a 3-D print. *Photo: David Lewin Industrial Design*
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"For the past two years I’ve been hacking my personal cookware—cutting it, machining it, grinding and polishing it as well as running some metallurgical tests," says Finex founder Mike Whitehead. *Photo: David Lewin Industrial Design*
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Cast iron aficionados are known to hang their frying pans like paintings, to reveal artfully drawn logos. *Photo: Finex*
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Mike Whitehead developed the Finex concept, but he turned to industrial designer [David Lewin](http://www.lewinindustrialdesign.com/) to refine the form. *Image: David Lewin Industrial Design*
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The six points on the perimeter as spouts to pour sauces or drain the pan and stablize the pan when washing it off. *Photo: Finex*
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Non-stick pans offer convenience, but Whitehead believes a cast iron pan with a precision milled surface can be equally easy to cook with and makes the Finex skillet a pound lighter than traditional pans. *Photo: Finex*
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"Design is to Portland what country music is to Nashville," says Whitehead.
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Whitehead says collectors often hunt for pans with [beautifully molded maker's marks](http://www.etsy.com/listing/127977109/wagner-ware-no-3-pie-logo-cast-iron) and hang them like paintings in their kitchens—the Finex logo was crafted by Aaron Draplin, a Portland-based designer who has created logos for Ford and President Obama in the past. *Photo: Finex*
