NeoFidelity
Some objects carry more than what’s inside them.
Some objects hold a lot of weight. The weight of history. A moment that mattered, that should be remembered through an object that conjures the artistry and meaning. When NeoFidelity came to Macroscopic, that’s what was at stake.
Sector
Arts & Culture
Services
Conceptual design
Materials specification
Object & craft design
Bespoke production
The Problem
NeoFidelity had invented a genuinely new medium. The objects that housed it had to be worthy of the room, the artists, and the prices they would command.
NeoFidelity developed the Ionic Original — a hybrid audio medium combining nanotechnology and material science into a single format that delivers superior sound, archival durability, and future-proof compatibility. Not a reproduction. Not a digital file. A one-of-one object, as singular as a painting. Each Ionic Original contains a single recording that exists nowhere else in the world.
Their first commission was Bob Dylan’s 2021 recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The only copy ever manufactured, and when sold set a new record at Christie’s. The technology was extraordinary, the precedent was set.
With more recordings on the way, NeoFidelity needed to deliver a system of artistic housings that reflected the gravity of what they contained, or the objects would tell the wrong story.
The Bigger Pattern
The Ionic Original is a new category of object — and new categories need objects that make the argument for them. When the medium is unprecedented, the design can’t be generic. Every material choice, every surface, every detail either earns the price or undermines it. Our job was to make sure the object told the right story before anyone heard what was inside.
Two projects, one through line
The Dylan Commission
We began in close collaboration with NeoFidelity and the production artist, working through the conceptual design together to ensure the object honored both the technology and the cultural weight of the recording inside. From there, we moved into materials specification — balancing the ambition of the design against a defined budget without losing what the object needed to be.
The result was a cabinet handcrafted in California walnut and rift-sawn white oak, with a brass disc platter housed in a push-front drawer and an etched titanium plaque. The wave pattern carved into the lid is a direct visualization of the song itself — the form is the content. The metal case housing the disc sits inside the wooden outer box: industrial precision held within something warm and handmade.
The Series: Ringo Starr & Willie Nelson
NeoFidelity came back. This time, a series of five — one Ringo Starr, four Willie Nelson. One song each. One of one. The design language evolved.
Where the Dylan box was built to stand alone as a singular monument, these five were designed to exist in two ways simultaneously: as individual art objects complete in themselves, and as a collection meant to be displayed together, wall-mounted as a series. Each one holds its own. Together, they become something else. The same close collaboration, the same commitment to craft, the same trust on both sides to do the work well.
What it’s unlocked
- $1.77M auction result at Christie’s for the Dylan Ionic Original
- Series of five Ionic Originals designed and delivered for Ringo Starr and Willie Nelson
- Ongoing partnership with NeoFidelity as the Ionic Original format grows
