Moire

Moire is a side table that showcases the moire effect, caused when too overlapping meshes create optical illusory patterns. It features two surfaces that overlap to create a moire pattern. When the top surface is spun, the pattern shifts and changes.

Process

I serendipitously discovered the moire effect when experimenting with spandex. I had placed some layers of the material over each other and noticed that it produced interesting patterns on the surface.

I wanted to make use of the effect in a product. I tested a variety of overlapping meshes to see what patterns each one produced. I realized that the angle of rotation made a big difference in the size of the pattern.

Initially, I had planned to make a pillow, with interchangeable covers that created different moire effects. However, the pillow felt a little tacky with the spandex and didn’t do justice to the beauty of the moire pattern. I decided to approach the problem in a more abstract way. I made a processing sketch that allowed me to quickly test a variety of patterns. The sketch continuously rotated the pattern and added motion to an already spectacular effect.

I created a physical version of the processing sketch. This prototype was a good way to make sure that the patterns I liked digitally also worked physically. Based on the success of the prototype, I created the final design of the Moire table.