TCL ECORA: Porcelain based plastic

Chris Lefteri Design x TCL

Our collaboration with Adobe Substance brought to life a collection of sustainable polymers, translated into the digital realm with precision and imagination.

The aim of this collaboration was to celebrate the plethora of sustainable polymer options available on the market today. With such a broad range comes a wealth of visual potentials. Gone are the days of sustainable materials only being available in brown and green. Material and manufacturing innovation in 2025 now allows us to celebrate sustainability in a joyful way leading to unique aesthetic and application possibilities across industries. In order to celebrate this new age of sustainability, we opted to create plastic composites with a strong sustainable story in 3D.

The Substance apps made it possible to do things that, due to practical constraints of the injection moulding process, would have been very difficult to evaluate to the same level in a physical way.

For instance, seeing in real time the percentage of bio-filler in a plastic being increased or decreased, viewing how different colour tones merge and interact with one another and finally how imperfections in recycled plastic flow when injected into the mould. With the substance tools the guesswork of what an effect will look like in real life becomes lessened.

As well customising the sustainability story and visual, we also wanted to explore how surface finish and form can be used as a secondary CMF design element, resulting in a layered, multi-dimensional effect. How for instance, does shifting from an ultra-matte surface texture to a high gloss finish change the look and feel of the base polymer? Might it even change how such a sustainable material is perceived? Alternatively, how might an in-mould linear geometric pattern look when added to an organic marbled base? With this level of customisation, the joy of material experimentation became available to all.

Natural stone fillers; Here we wanted to experiment with the percentage of natural stone fillers present in a bio-polymer. By increasing or decreasing the percentage, the intensity of the speckle is altered in real time. Finally, a high gloss surface finish shifts to an ultra-matte, before a linear micro texture is added in-mould.

Bio-based masterbatch colour added to a polymer; We wanted to explore how a bio-based masterbatch colour, often seen in muted pastel tones, can be added to a bio-based polymer. During injection moulding, these tones shift and merge to create a marbled finish. Finally, a dotted 3D pattern is added resulting in a layered multi-dimensional effect.

Imperfect flow lines commonly seen with recycled polymers; Here we wanted to explore how flow lines, often seen as an imperfection and therefore something to avoid, can be embraced and celebrated as a unique tone on tone marbled aesthetic. By using the Adobe Substance software the user is able to see how the marbled pattern will shift and move, flowing from the injection point outward during the moulding process. Finally, we explore how an such an organic effect is enhanced with the addition of a linear 3D surface pattern.