Research.

I've been looking into future toaster design for this project, and i've stumbled across this fun article from the Huffington Post showcasing different toaster designs that are in the realms of the possible. A lot of them are going for the sleek, steel look, as well as integrating a conveyor belt system in one way or another. A few of them also have a lid system. It starts by saying toasters are usually made with shoddy plastic, and not a lot has gone into the design, and they have been looking the same for a very long time. I'm not designing a toaster, but it is a bread contraption, so its going to have to stick to the realms of that, as well as bread dimensions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/futuristic-toasters_n_1974758.html#slide=1652686