Nowadays, product innovation is becoming more difficulty, so more and more designers turn to pursue external appearance result, the innovation, and shape for putting development way of thinking in the material. As an up-and-comer industrial designer, Luca Nichetto not only designed products, but also worked as a consultant on new materials research and product development. Mirage collection of bowls and kitchen utensils is the result of his three years’ research into perfecting a glassy effect with plastic by using bi-injection technology. Luca Nichetto designed it for Guzzini Company in 2008, and they are rewarded for the Mirage series with “IF Product Design Award 2009”.

Mirage series, made ​​of high-quality plastic, brings the visual of the transparency of glass and a movement game of shades. These bowls are white inside and outside in the version of red, green, orange and gray. Mirage is currently the best performer of the Guzzini Company’s technology, by the way it combined the material and shape and beauty to give a new appearance to a common object. This new collection is dishwasher safe, and it is also including spoon, salad bowl and bread basket. Mirage series will produce more products as time goes by.

Luca Nichetto grew up in Murano, an island near Venice and rich of glassware, where his grandfather was a Glass Master and his mother was a glass decorator. Grown up in this type of environment, made Nichetto quite familiar with create something glassy. To work out a unique visual effect, he did research about many kinds of glass craft effects such as milk glass, seedy glass, incalmo coloring techniques, cutting and grinding, clear changes of angulations, spiraling bands, murrhine effects, submersion and the ribbed method. At last, he gets a wavy surface by placing glass rods side by side and melting them together. That method was found to be the most suitable way to convey the transparency of the material. Since the external layer’s intensity is modulated by the changes in thickness necessitated by the ribbed motif, put the white of the concaved part of the object together with the color of the external layer contributes significantly to the glass effect. Also the glass effect is enhanced by the choice of keeping the white part slightly lower than the external colored one.

The choice of effect determined the form and compelled Nichetto to work with the archetype of the object, the half sphere, so as not to overpower the richness of the texture. The holes in the bread basket and the cutlery follow perfectly the glooved texture. For this solution the designer drew inspiration from bicycle helmets.

The transition from plastic to glass, at least as a perceived effect, is also translated for this material. The grey color is decidedly in line with the spirit of the project, which was flanked by acid green and orange, as well as the traditional Guzzini red. One thing is sure that the Mirage series can sit comfortablely on an elegant table without lowering the tone.

Reference

Exclusive Interview with Luca Nichetto | Delood. (n.d.). Design Magazine | Delood. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.delood.com/design/exclusive-interview-luca-nichetto

Luca Nichetto Design Studio Official Website. (n.d.). Luca Nichetto Design Studio Official Website. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.lucanichetto.com/ita

Mascheroni, l. (2008, October). from glass to plastic. Domus, 918, 122-125.

Virginio, B. (2010, Apr. – May.). Ride the Tide: Crossing the Laguna with Luca Nichetto. Damn, 24, 66-70.