Project The YinYang Tray is the table accessory of the Roby’story collection, designed to bring the narrative of "action and image" to the ritual of serving tea or coffee. Like the mirrors, this object is deeply rooted in the study of ideograms, specifically playing with the dualities of emotion—happiness and sadness, within the context of a social interaction.

Challenge The challenge was to embed a hidden message within a functional object. I wanted the tray to do more than just carry cups; I wanted it to reveal something about the user. The design needed to integrate the "Happy" and "Sad" states into the physical structure of the tray in a way that felt like a natural discovery during use, rather than a forced gimmick.

Design I designed a compact, deep tray (350 x 350 x 80 mm) made from coloured PMMA that plays with positive and negative space. The form is crafted so that the visual graphic changes depending on how it is held or viewed, revealing an ideogram that signifies either a happy face or a sad face. This duality, representing the "Yin and Yang" of daily emotions—is unlocked through the user's interaction with the object.

Results & Impact The YinYang Tray transforms the mundane act of serving a drink into a playful communication game. It creates a surprising moment of connection between the host and the guest, as the tray "speaks" its mood. It perfectly encapsulates the Raro Design ethos of reinventing tradition through new gestural expressiveness, proving that even a simple tray can hold a complex emotional narrative.

material PMMA

colours orange / yellow / sky-blue

dim 350 x 350 x 80 mm

Ph Matteo Anatrella