Gorgeous plastics – circular aesthetics

Few materials can compete with plastics when it comes to functional versatility, but the same can also be said for creating aesthetic expressions with plastics. At a time when they are often associated with low-grade disposability and generally negative press most consumer brands want to shy away from it is a material family. It has an image problem and needs to readdress the balance and play to more durable, higher-value stories. Understanding the opportunities from the exhibitors at K 2022 will give designers an invaluable depth of knowledge to build compelling arguments for using plastic.

From trend leaning colours to seductive surface textures and composite structures, the plastics family of materials offer an increasingly wide set of parameters for designers to explore beautiful user experiences. From a sustainability perspective, the beauty of plastics is that often these combinations of effects can be achieved with a single material, streamlining the recycling processes.

Italian theorist, and one of my heroes, Ezio Manzini described surface 'as the location of the points where an objects material ends and the surrounding ambient begins'. It’s a provocative, inspiring starting point to explore what plastics can bring to a rewarding long-lasting consumer experience. In terms of transparency sharp, geometric patterns in the surface of transparent materials will distort the light that is transmitted through the material and bouncing off its surfaces, while a matte, frosted texture will add a warm, internal glow and gently blurring anything behind it.

Take colour as another example. Colour is light, bouncing off surfaces, so beyond specifying a pigment and dosage to use with a base polymer, different in surface textures will add subtle changes to the appearance of a colour, making it look lighter or darker depending on the type and intensity of texture.

Combining different surface textures can be effective for adding product features such as branding and interfaces. A polished, reflective surface contrasted with a rougher, matte one will give clear visual and tactile cues about where to focus your attention while using a product, while a more articulated, three-dimensional texture can alter the appearance of a part quite radically, as well as providing added functions such as improved grip or comfort.


The beauty of plastics is that these texture-based effects can be achieved in the surface of a single plastic material, without the need for additional coatings or material combinations, either as in-mould textures applied directly onto an injection moulding tool, or with a secondary process such as laser etching or micro-machining.

Beyond surface texture, combining different forms of the same plastic material can generate rich and beautiful effects. On the most basic level, transparent and opaque grades can be combined to provide radiance and depth, but other material properties are also open for exploration. Some rigid plastics can be paired with soft, elastomers that share the same basic chemistry to allow for over-moulded soft-touch details without negatively impacting the recyclability of the part. The same is true for synthetic textiles, where woven textiles or loose fibre can be combined with their rigid plastic counterparts to create composite structures with a wonderful level of detail and vibrancy.

While circularity is something that we all need to take into account when designing with plastics, recycled raw materials are also an opportunity to explore new aesthetic directions in plastic. Rather than adding black or dark grey pigment to mixed colour plastic waste to give the recycled material colour consistency, we could embrace variations in colour and pattern as a strength rather than a weakness. Experimenting with material ratios and forming processes can give very different results, from abstract swirls to more controlled streaks and speckles. In other cases where fibres, powders and particles are mixed with plastics for improved performance, these could be allowed to form the basis of new visual and tactile experiences, as well as fulfilling their functional role.