Chroma Key by Studio Minale-Maeda

Studio Minale-Maeda
Chroma Key, 2008

Chroma Key is a collection of conceptual furniture pieces by Minale-Maeda, created in 2008. Upholstered in a distinctive blue fabric, the series references the chroma key or “blue-box” effect used in photography and cinematography, where a subject can be digitally placed into any background. The fabric itself reinterprets a classic upholstery pattern, generating its vivid blue tone through a moiré effect created by finely woven white and blue stripes.

The collection includes a chair, cabinet, long stool, and low table, all defined by simplified, box-like forms and exaggerated details that appear both familiar and strangely artificial. Through these objects, Minale-Maeda explore the influence of visual culture on contemporary design, particularly the role of image editing, packaging, reproduction, and media representation in shaping how objects are perceived.

The intense blue colour, optical distortion, and generic silhouettes transform the furniture into ambiguous visual objects — simultaneously present and elusive. By translating a digital image-processing technique into physical form, Chroma Key questions authenticity, perception, and the growing dominance of the image over direct experience, turning everyday furniture into a critical reflection on contemporary visual culture.