Pastel-coloured gradients cover the surface of Korean designer Saerom Yoon's Crystal Series tables.Â
The designer added dyes directly to the resin, painting different parts of the furniture in contrasting colours. Blended colours are created at the joints of the table, where pieces have been glued together.
Yoon maintained the material's transparency to create a resemblance to crystal – further emphasised by the furniture's sharp edges.
The collection includes two tables, both featuring a T-shaped support and a rectangular tabletop made of a thick slab of resin. The tables have gradients of blue and pink, somewhat reminiscent of Pantone's two-tone Colour of the Year selection for 2016.
"Through this process a dyed acrylic resin causes optical illusions, and produces distorted shaping through refraction and reflection while maintaining its transparent state, like crystal," said the designer.
Yoon has also experimented with wood, using it to create a segmented chair that arches around the sitter like the shell of a beetle.
"Blended colours also give a natural effect of gradation through different angles of refraction and reflection," he added.
Korean artist Wonmin Park has created comparable visual effects with resin, in a collection of furniture constructed from slabs arranged in contrasting colours.
The material is popular with designers for its versatility, which allows it to be used on its own or combined with other materials.
Italian design collective Nucleo created blocky new furniture by immersing a classic bentwood Thonet chair in the material, while Moreno Ratti suspended marble shapes in resin to create a collection of vases.
By combining it with petals and then carving out pieces, Marcin Rusak used resin to create a collection of furniture and lighting with floral cross sections.