Unwrapping CMF Design on Material Camouflage 拆招CMF設計談材質的偽裝術

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Ch.35 拆招CMF設計談材質的偽裝術

^{CMF is a specific discipline within industrial design that focuses on the development of a product’s color, material, and finish. Unwrap CMF shares bite-sized stories of CMF Design to inform and inspire those interested in this niche yet fascinating field, with digestible contents for anyone and everyone. Comments and inspirations are welcome!}

What happens when a group of CMF Designers gather for dinner?
“Look at this amazing napkin holder!”
“It’s not real wood, is it? It doesn’t feel like it…”
“Maybe using in-mold texture on plastic?”
“But there is no parting line…”
“Well, *jokingly* we can only scratch it to find out!”

For the rare chance to gather together between CMF Designer friends, our dinner often started with a how-it’s-made discussion for what we can find in the restaurant. The more delicate it looks, the more curious we became.

In order to improve the perceived value, it is not uncommon for a product to do “material camouflage” simulating another more premium material through manufacturing processes. In some cases, material camouflage is intended when the original material is unable to pass testing requirements. For example, as leather cannot pass peeling or stain-resistant tests in some electronic product categories, if the design intent is to “look like leather”, often we would use plastic injection with leather-looking in-mold texture to mimic the look of leather, and added with soft-touch top coat to mimic the tactility of leather.

During design stage, designers always strive to pull up the perceived quality of the applied materials, so let’s think in reverse: when we see a product with an excellent quality, how could we identify the actual material of the product?

To spot a well-done “material camouflage”, we need to ? for every little details, and don’t just look. Pick it up (if appropriate) to feel it: does the surface feel soft or hard? Does the top layer feel thick or thin? Does the material feel cool or warm?

Nowadays, in-mold tooling are capable of achieving extremely natural-looking textures. That being said, the texture on the tooling would normally have a hard time transitioning across complex corners, and therefore when the surface folds or cuts into a different angle, most patterns would be disconnected and stops at the cliff. Also, the hardness of the plastic is relatively consistent (by human touch), but when we touch real leather or PU leather, we could usually feel an elastic-ky thin layer, and see the rounded corners when it wraps around the sharp edge.

And of course, there is always an ultimate solution for the curious mind: if you have already possess this item and not afraid to tear it apart – a simple scratch on the surface always help to uncover the mystery (๑◔‿◔๑)

All of above are few of the tips that can be used to spot a “material camouflage”. The more we observe, the more CMF knowledge we can accumulate from the success of others. And that allows us to propose better and greater CMF solutions in the future!

^{CMF為Color Material and Finishing，屬於工業設計旗下專注於產品色彩、材質、及表面處理工藝的關鍵一環。Unwrap CMF彩材拆拆圍繞著這個主題，以淺而易懂的小故事拆解CMF設計的日常。歡迎留言分享！（本篇內容啟發自工業設計Line群之提問，謝謝大家在問答之間提供的靈感。）}

當一群CMF設計師聚餐會發生什麼事呢？
「這個餐巾架好好看！」
「不是真的木頭吧？觸感不太像…」
「還是用塑膠的模具加木紋？」
「但它沒有注塑痕跡欸，做這麼好嗎？」
「刮刮看就知道啦～」
「ㄟ不可以辣～」

同為CMF設計師的好友們，明明難得聚在一起，卻經常會因餐廳的擺設開始七嘴八舌地討論它們的製作工藝。越是精緻、越令人忍不住鑽研。

為了提升檔次，產品的材質經常進行「偽裝」，通過製程手段，進而模擬另一種更高昂的材質。有很多時候，也是為了通過產品所需的性能測試。比如皮革因脫皮或玷污，無法通過某些產品的摩擦測試規範，這時候如果還想做出仿皮革的視覺效果，就會用塑膠注塑射出，以模具紋理來偽裝皮革的外觀，再加上手感噴塗模擬皮革的觸感。

置身於設計階段，我們往往想要將材質呈現的質感往上拉，那麼反向思考：當我們看到一件呈現質感極好的產品時，應該如何識別該產品的材質和工藝？

想要識破優秀的「材質偽裝」，免不了近距離的停、看、摸，除了用眼睛觀察眉角，也別忘了用指尖感受表面的觸感、肉厚、溫度等五感細節。

雖然當今的模具能做到極為仿真自然的紋理，但模具的紋理較難順延至複雜曲折的角落，所以在切面轉角會形成斷崖式的不接軌紋理。除此之外，塑膠的硬度較為一致，但無論是真皮或合成皮在觸壓下，卻能感受到一層薄薄並微帶彈性的「肉厚」，甚至在邊緣會出現「包覆」的鈍角。當然還有一個終極辦法：如果你已購入這個產品也捨得的話，那就刮開表面一探究竟吧（不負責任的走投無路建議 ๑◔‿◔๑）

以上都是能用來識破「材質偽裝」的其中幾個小技巧，觀察越多優秀的作品、累積對材質偽裝的認識之後，未來在設計時也能提出更兼顧呈現質感和可行性的CMF設計方案喔！

CMF學無止境，善用CMF關鍵字在網上深入鑽研，歡迎大家留言補充。
Enjoy learning? Use the CMF terminologies mentioned above and continue on with your own research journey on the web. Comments and inspirations are welcome!
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