Iron Eyewear Design · 2025
Carbon Craft Eyewear
- A' Design Award 2025 Iron Winner in Eyewear Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: VOOC Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 48,423
- Verification code B0DDE53A60 · Verify this award
About Carbon Craft Eyewear
Carbon Craft is an exceptionally durable and reliable product. The eyewear frame is produced using 3D FDM printing combined with manual surface polishing. This design embraces a classic style by completely eliminating hinges and metal framing. No screws are used. The components can be easily assembled and replaced. It applies a unique shaping technique from carbon technology, enhancing the material's structural integrity and load-bearing capacity.
Carbon Craft Eyewear by Duc Nguyen Vu engages with the enduring tradition of circular eyewear design, a form language that traces its lineage through centuries of optical innovation and cultural adoption, from early pince-nez configurations through the iconic round spectacles associated with intellectual and artistic figures across diverse historical moments. The work demonstrates accomplished formal restraint and geometric clarity, anchoring its aesthetic achievement in the proportional relationships between frame diameter, rim thickness, bridge width, and temple extension, all calibrated to create visual harmony and structural coherence. The substantial rim thickness establishes a bold, confident presence that distinguishes these frames from delicate wire constructions, instead asserting materiality and dimensional weight as central to the design vocabulary. Chromatic choices prove particularly considered: the warm brown primary tone evokes natural materials, handcraft traditions, and organic warmth, while the contrasting dark temple arm introduces visual complexity and suggests thoughtful attention to detail variation within a unified composition. The color selection demonstrates sophisticated restraint, avoiding chromatic exuberance in favor of earth-tone grounding that suggests versatility, timelessness, and compatibility across diverse contexts and personal aesthetics. Technical execution reveals precision manufacture, evident in the clean joinery where temples meet frame front, the consistent rim thickness maintained around both circular apertures, and the smooth finish quality across all visible surfaces. The three-quarter presentation angle selected for documentation purposes proves particularly effective, simultaneously revealing frontal frame character, dimensional depth, temple construction, and the overall sculptural presence of the object as it occupies space. Material expression suggests either high-quality acetate or composite construction, materials valued in contemporary eyewear manufacture for their capacity to hold color saturation, accept precise shaping, maintain structural integrity, and offer comfortable wearability. Thematically, the design explores tensions between geometric abstraction and human-scaled functionality, between timeless archetypal form and contemporary material innovation, between bold statement and versatile neutrality. The circular lens openings carry rich cultural resonance, suggesting wholeness, cyclical continuity, and the framing of vision itself as a fundamental human interface between self and world. One might observe how eyewear occupies a unique position among designed objects, simultaneously serving optical correction needs, functioning as facial architecture that reshapes appearance and identity expression, and operating as symbolic marker of intellectual engagement, creative sensibility, or stylistic affiliation. How does an object so intimately positioned between the eyes and the world participate in both literal and metaphorical acts of seeing, framing, and presenting self to others?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- VOOC Carbon Craft is designed with a classic aesthetic, No screws are used, completely eliminating hinges and metal framing.
The components can be easily assembled and replaced.
By applying characteristic shaping techniques of carbon technology, it increases the formability and strength of the material.
The shape structure has high stability. - Dimensions & Packaging
- 1. The frame: width 143 mm x depth 155 mm x height 49 mm weight: 29 g, material: Nylon Carbon
2. The hinge: width 10 mm x depth 19 mm x height 2 mm, material: TPU
3. The box: width 154 mm x depth 58 mm x height 60 mm, material: PETG Carbon - Tags
- Simplicity, reliability, durability, lightweight
- Production Technology
- 1. Modeling in Rhinoceros 3D software.
2. The components are printed using FDM 3D printing technology. Carbon fibers are mixed with Nylon resin in various ratios to create the perfect material to replace metal frames, reducing weight. Properly programming the 3D printer enhances the material's strength and improves the surface quality of the print. The hinge part is printed from TPU material. The structure is created from multiple layers of stacked plastic fibers.
3. Surface smoothing is done by manual grinding and polishing techniques. - Design Challenge
- Eliminating some types of machinery, reducing the variety of input materials, reducing CO2 emissions, reducing water pollution, and reducing costs for factory space. It can support customers remotely. The durability is beyond imagination; you can rest assured to fall asleep while reading, spend more time with your two-year-old daughter. Don't worry when accidentally bumping into a car door. When the force is too strong, the TPU hinge can absorb the impact.
- Project Duration
- The project started in Ho Chi Minh city after a visit to Sabae, Japan in the summer of 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The replacement joints are pre-installed in the cap. The replacement process is very simple: slide the temples perpendicularly out of the fixed mount on the frame front. Remove the TPU joint from the fixed mount on the temples. Replace with a new TPU joint in the fixed mount on the frame front. Finally, hook the entire mount on the temples and the TPU joint, adjust the TPU joint to slide into the pre-existing groove on the temple to complete the process.
- Research
- For conventional classic eyeglass frames: the Temples are shaped by an inner metal rod and connected to the Frame Front through metal hinges and screws. This structure is easily deformed when subjected to strong forces. Customers find it difficult to replace parts by themselves for repairs.
Following the global development of technology, 3D printing technology has become more popular at a lower cost. Carbon fibers are mixed with Nylon resin in various ratios to create the perfect material to replace metal frames, reducing weight and optimizing costs. - Inspiration
- Starting from my habit of wearing glasses all the time: working, cycling, playing with my two-year-old daughter... I want to create a design that boasts superior durability, optimizes production costs, allows for easy replacement of parts, and maintains a fashionable look suitable for external activities.
- Image Credits
- VOOC Design
Colors of Carbon Craft Eyewear
Get Carbon Craft Eyewear
Grand Interview about Carbon Craft Eyewear
In our previous eyewear projects, we had the opportunity to work with a variety of materials such as bamboo, wood, buffalo horn, natural fibers, and carbon fiber. Each type of material has its own unique crafting process and specific type of hinge. These fundamental elements have, to some extent, influenced the purity of our creative expression.Additionally, in recent times, while spending time playing with my young daughter, the shortcomings of traditional methods for crafting eyeglass frames have begun to reveal themselves—particularly the metal structural frame and the easily deformed hinges.
A new starting point emerged from 3D printing technology in general, and from the limitations of FDM technology in particular. We had to find a way to establish the optimal physical state of the object during the 3D printing process to enhance structural strength. The unique design of the frame also contributes to increased flexibility.3D printing technology helps minimize production steps, raw materials, time, and cost. Choosing to hand-polish and finish the surface was a brilliant decision, enhancing the smoothness and tactile quality of the materia
As someone who frequently wears glasses and takes on many roles in a day—from designer to sports enthusiast to parent—previous frames often couldn’t withstand unexpected impacts and rarely survived unscathed. The key point of Carbon Craft’s design is that we embrace the bending of traditional hinges and seek a new approach that is cost-effective and easy to replace.
The development process leading to the current TPU system took over six months—and a bit of luck. Initially, we experimented with various high-stiffness materials known for structural stability. Ironically, that very rigidity turned out to be a weakness, similar to other products already on the market. We came to understand the core of the problem and began seeking solutions rooted in flexibility—something akin to a meditative approach.Our first replacement idea was elastic cords of various sizes and elasticity levels. However, they failed to meet expectations due to poor elasticity in smaller dimensions. TPU became our final option—if it didn’t work, our original vision would have to end.Fortunately, we discovered that TPU was fairly common on e-commerce platforms for FDM 3D printing. The 3D printing process using TPU formed a solid structure resembling rope, made up of hundreds of tiny, interlinked strands. This successfully preserved the integrity of our original design. On its own, TPU offers excellent shock absorption, strong chemical resistance, and remarkable elasticity.
Our visit to Sabae, Japan, gave us a panoramic view of the peak in aesthetic and technological advancement achieved by Japanese—and global—eyewear brands. It raised a crucial question in our minds: is there still room for us in such a fiercely competitive market?The classic aesthetic sensibilities of Sabae clearly reflect the evolving needs of the global market.The next step was to deeply consider the limitations of traditional eyewear frame manufacturing technologies. We are not trying to discredit the remarkable achievements and craftsmanship of masters . Yet, deep down, we are on a journey in search of freedom.
Carbon Craft adheres closely to a systems-thinking approach rooted in sustainable design. It features a modular structure combined with a TPU hinge system—using a tough, flexible material that can easily be replaced with recycled alternatives. Metal components are eliminated entirely. The design stays true to a timeless, classic aesthetic.
With its flexible component replacement system, Carbon Craft Eyewear represents the missing piece in the eyewear frame manufacturing industry. Eyeglasses are a daily essential for individuals—and when viewed at a global scale, the numbers are staggering. A broken hinge often means having to replace the entire frame due to simple yet frustrating reasons: lack of repair skills or difficulty in finding service locations. And when the frame is replaced, it can sometimes require completely new lenses as well—adding to the cost and inconvenience.We personally don’t want to worry about our own frames. We trust fully in their shock-absorbing capability and feel confident knowing we can repair them ourselves.
Carbon Craft is truly a multifaceted breakthrough by Vooc Design and a milestone for industrial design in Vietnam. To embody the iconic ‘Freedom Spirit’ form, we chose eyewear frames design as our starting point.On the materials front, carbon fiber is blended with nylon in a 40:60 ratio. As for the design language of Carbon Craft Eyewear, it draws inspiration from polygonal architecture: the stress-bearing cross sections are polygonal, the internal structure is polygonal, and even the molecular structure of carbon itself is polygonal.By taking control of both our raw materials and design language from the beginning, we’ve made it easier to switch to recycled materials or alternative production methods in the future.
This is our first time participating in the A’ Design Award. We truly appreciate the professionalism of the organizers and the way they value design philosophy and creative vision. In our view, being recognized by the A’ Design Award is a multidimensional success. It expands our media presence, with important questions from the organizers our design thinking was sharpen and awaken long-term vision.
Classic design inherently carries its own timeless appeal—it reflects the enduring stability of consumer taste. When combined with advanced material technologies, it extends product longevity and reduces costs for customers. These two elements work in harmony, empowering consumers to choose Carbon Craft Eyewear confidently and comfortably, on their own terms.