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| MARC NEWSON - AUDREY - FRANCO BERETTA |
By Marc Newson - “To be asked to design for Beretta, one of the oldest companies in the world with its roots in the Italian Renaissance, was a great honour. One of the things I like most about my jobas a designer is the opportunity I get to immerse myself in different industries and acquireknowledge about their manufacturing processes, materials and technologies. I aminterested in the way things work – it’s a technical obsession.
The main focus for mydesign of the 486 was to simplify and rationalise all the surfaces. Specifically streamliningthe area of the action. During the manufacture of my design in the Beretta workshops Igot to observe the fascinating mix of traditional skills employed by Beretta's craftsmen inconjunction with the most impressive state-of-the-art engineering processes including theuse of intricate x-ray equipment, sophisticated laser technology and robotics. With thesestandards of ingenuity I believe that my vision to create an innovative and modern designwhile respecting the DNA of the product typology has been spectacularly achieved .My initial source of inspiration came from the idea that pheasants originate and are native to Asia, before being widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. For me it was
important to somehow pay homage to this and incorporate a subtle Asian influence into
the design. Of any country that I have visited (and lived in) Japan still holds the most
interest for me. I am fascinated by Japanese culture and in particular the different
comprehension of scale and detail. With this in mind I started to look at Japanese tattoos
and the craftsmanship involved in creating complex engravings as a means to compliment
the surfacing of the action.”
Marc Newson
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| AUDREY INTERVIEW NICK FOULKES - GURU OF STYLE - THE FINANCIAL TIMES JOURNALIST |
