Of all the existing materials in this world, how do designers know what to choose for their creations? And why choose one material over another? The first answer that springs to mind is rather common: every object is made of something we are used to, in a word, traditional uses for existing materials and objects.

But following this principle only, we would be deprived of ingenuous designs and people would never dare to leave the traditional paths.

Examples come from the works of industrial designer Mark Newson, hired to think out of the box. His designs are considered among world’s hottest designs and are being sold for record prices (the sculptural “Lockheed Lounge” is the most expensive piece of furniture ever to sale at an auction).

What does a man who already designed (almost) everything, think about choosing the right materials? “It’s the same skills you apply in design, just the material changes”.

We don’t know exactly the process from idea to the object, but his objects are bravely approaching various matters: fiberglass, plastic, metal, wood, marble. Mark Newson is playing with expensive materials like Carrara marble to design mass-made lookalikes, endowed with a particular kind of desirability.

So the whole selecting process speaks about the unspoken things that make the artist an artist: perception, intuition, imagination and other unpredictable factors?

Obviously, choosing the materials mainly depends on the effect the designer wants to create. Maybe the secret behind being different in a world of sameness is changing the perspective.