The design by Raffaello Galiotto arrives in the kitchen. We asked the designer to tell us about the genesis of the project

Specialized in the production of household and garden products, the Vicenza-based company Veca launches the new Blim+ brand, an innovative line of kitchen accessories designed by Raffaello Galiotto. Interested in materials and technology, Galiotto has always made design conducted through experiments and new solutions (both with "artificial" materials such as plastic and with "natural" materials such as marble) his distinctive mark. Professor of Design at the University of Ferrara, he collaborates with various companies creating products, collections and experimental exhibitions, especially in the stone sector where he has introduced important innovations thanks to the use of digital technology. He is the art director of Nardi and since 2014 curator of The Italian Stone Theater, the experimental pavilion of Marmomac Verona.

We asked the designer to tell us about his design idea and how the Blim + collection was born.

How would you define your design, your way of designing?

I prefer manufacturing companies because I have always been interested in how things are done. I try to arrive at the design solution after studying the material and the production process because the greater knowledge helps me to better solve the various aspects of the project, suffering less from the technical limitations. In summary, I love design more with shapes or solutions that also solve a technical challenge.

What characteristics must a design object have in 2021?

Design represents, sometimes anticipates and could guide the characteristics of society. The complexity and variability of contemporary societies often distinguish the design product in a different way, but we increasingly understand that ours is a single planet and cultural diversity does not justify waste and senseless consumption. Today's design object should be less ephemeral and more lasting, more attentive to the needs of the person, to sustainability, balanced in dosing the various aesthetic, functional and environmental needs.

How was the Blim + collection born and what is new and different compared to other similar products?

Blim + was created to give new impetus and greater characterization to the products of the Blim di Veca brand that produces household items. My meeting with Bruno Vallarsa, president of Veca S.p.a, led, after some design experiences, to identify new opportunities and to create a catalog of design household products. The collection (in high quality polypropylene, high thickness, totally recyclable and long lasting) is characterized by an essential design that solves the usability of the items with a hint of irony, bringing to the kitchen, even through a varied color palette, the agreeableness necessary to make cooking even more enjoyable. The collection is constantly evolving and already at the next editions of Homi Milano and Ambiente Frankfurt will present numerous further innovations.

How important is the sustainability of an object and respect for the environment during the design, development and production phases in your way of designing?

There is no doubt that the environmental aspect is affecting and will affect more and more deeply the customs of the past. Sustainable planning and design will be an increasingly widespread practice, the product design will have to take into account the life, maintenance, recycling or dematerialisation at the end of the life of each production. Life cycle analysis (LCA), which design cannot escape, implies a broader vision than the usual one, very often limited to costs and revenues.

The Cosmo colander, the Stand ladle rest, the Battigia sponge holder, the Oblò citrus squeezer, the Skateboard cutting board, the Stop roll holder, the QB jug, the UFO citrus squeezer, the Dolina funnel, the Gocciolo cutlery drainer and the Bauletto lunch box are the evocative names played on the irony of the first Blim + products, offered in different nuance and combinable with each other in order to create a complete and coordinated family. Blim + is a brand of Veca Spa: 25 thousand square meters distributed between six factories and 44 injection and rotational systems with high technological know-how and specialized in the production of plastic items, which are totally recyclable and non-toxic.

A collection that has two years of design and mold production work behind it. It is difficult to innovate objects of this type, whose functionality has been tested for a long time, but for each one particularities given by the shape have been studied, made possible thanks to the knowledge of the characteristics of the plastic material and of the molding technology. It is a collection of objects and accessories for the kitchen and food that aims to respond promptly to daily needs, with intuitive, aesthetically pleasing, durable and recyclable solutions.

Each piece has been thought out in detail, as well as the packaging, in fully recyclable FSC certified cardboard, designed to highlight the characteristics of the product and use as little as possible from a sustainability perspective. Therefore, not only aesthetic research, but also a careful study of the ergonomics of the products in which beauty and function come together to give life to cooking elements.

Research, innovation and challenges are part of the DNA of the new brand that wants to convey a new idea of ​​plastic accessories for kitchen and food: aimed at a medium-high market segment, the collection embraces different kitchen and user ideas, making it versatile. , iconic, pleasant to the touch and characterized by new and captivating desaturated and opaque colors.