Italiano 
Making a name for yourself in the crowded eyewear industry isn’t easy. Innovation is key to success. But what does innovation mean in real terms? And how important is the relationship between art and technique? Find out what Corrado Rosson, the Lightbird designer whose forward-looking vision has become the mantra for his brand, had to say about this.
Standing out in an overcrowded marketplace
The eyewear industry is overcrowded. There are more than 500 brands. And, with the big names commanding a large chunk of the market, standing out in the crowd is no mean feat.
«How do you make a name for yourself? By coming up with something new» Corrado Rosson tells us. Corrado is a designer at Lightbird, the brand he created in 2018 which is synonymous with innovation.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? At least on paper because, as he explained while sharing his experiences with us, you’ve got to come up with something no one has thought of before. What you need is a mixture of creativity and production savvy, the trademark of real industrial design.
A fusion of art and technique
Nowadays everyone talks about design: «The word ‘design’ is vastly overused. Everything’s design, nothing’s “normal” anymore. A bit like the word “gourmet”: you just add it to the name of your dish if you want to make it sound tastier».
Design, on the other hand, is something very precise and complex: «For me design means “industrial design”: a highly complex process involving different artistic, technical and economic disciplines whose purpose is to improve the aesthetic, usability and saleability of a product».
«The design process must keep up with evolutions in industry and marketing, another key aspect for businesses today, especially as the advent of the Internet and social media have exponentially increased opportunities for visibility».
«In my opinion, designing eyewear is a combination of art and technique. Creativity and feasibility are just as important. If you give free rein to your imagination, you see thing that don’t exist, amazing things. But if you lose sight of technique, you risk designing things that can’t physically be made».
What do you need to be an innovator?
«Innovation means coming up with things that didn’t exist before, like we did with Light_MATTER and Light_MIRROR, where we combined acetate with aluminium or copper and brass with acetate, using adhesives from the aerospace industry. We’re the only ones who’ve done it and we’ve patented it».
«I liked the idea of making a frame using a combination of materials which actually looked like one, so we decided to combine metal with acetate. Previously this had been done mechanically using hooks or screws».
Innovation is never an easy ride. «It’s a tough process because you have no previous experience and there’s nobody you can learn from. When you innovate, there’s no shortage of problems you need to solve quickly».
A partner that helps you achieve the impossible
How do you overcome your problems? How do you turn a design into a product? «With a production partner who shares your goal and brings experience and professionalism to the table. Even if the result sometimes seems out of our reach, when we put our heads together, we can make things happen».
The design must be able to be translated into a product. «That’s why it’s so important to find someone who can help you overcome these hurdles and turn an idea into reality».
So what do you look for in a partner-supplier? «As well as experience, you need someone who is interested in your project, who wants to give it a shot and try. For instance, we had an issue cutting a very small detail in one of our glasses and DF suggested using the laser – problem solved».
«For a designer, finding a partner like this is a great bonus because a company’s success is down to the team, never the individual, and all the best ideas come from a team of people who aren’t afraid to dare».
«At the end of the day, all the best ideas come from a team of people who aren’t afraid to do, think, rise to and overcome new challenges. And that’s when things start getting interesting. DF is the ideal partner for this».
Corrado Rosson, Lightbird owner and designer
WE GIVE SHAPE TO YOUR IMAGINATION
We love it when someone comes to us and says «We have an idea» because that’s when the creative process begins. There are no rules, no blueprint to follow: by combining our technical expertise with your ideas, we come up with the winning formula for your product, and the result often exceeds all expectations.
LAB is our laboratory where we help our clients develop high-end eyewear, constantly raising the bar and creating unique design objects.
