Matt Johnson's got it made with the shades

Matt Johnson's newest creation is detachable magnetic hinges. The eyewear designer says he's inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ferraris, Brad Pitt in "Ocean's Eleven," and football facemasks. (Dominic Chavez/Globe Staff)

Matt Johnson is a visionary. Where most people would walk through a Home Depot and see, say, plain old sheets of copper flashing, Johnson sees a new material for his eyewear designs. Wrap a slice of the thin, malleable metal around the arms of the glasses and voila! - a new creation.

"A lot of metals feel cold, but copper and bronze have so much potential - they're warm metals, more organic, and go well with skin tones," says Johnson, an eyewear designer at Eye-Q. The 32-year-old has helped develop three of the six exclusive lines the retailer has launched since 2001.

By day, you can typically find Johnson manning Eye-Q's South End outpost (there are also shops in Jamaica Plain and Harvard Square). But by night - most nights, he professes - he's either sketching or tinkering at Carl Zeiss Vision Northeast, a lab down the street from the Newton apartment he shares with his wife, Renee, an assistant buyer for Talbots.

From the industrial environs, dynamic, boundary-breaking designs emerge. The frames can involve anything from exotic wood inlays to semi-precious gem insets. (He's taking lessons in gem setting from a jeweler.)

He finds inspiration in everything from video games like Call of Duty 4 to the facemask of a football helmet ("It's big and chunky with lots of horizontal lines") to the curves of the human form.

"In something so unrelated to eyewear I find things in common," he says.

One of his latest designs? Detachable magnetic hinges for glasses. The eyewear looks and folds down like a normal pair of glasses, except that you can pull off the arms. The idea was, in part, prompted by the iPhone. Johnson is fascinated by the gadget because it essentially sells itself.

"I've never heard one person tell me they need a phone, iPod, GPS unit, and video screen in one. It's just so damn cool. The downside? Anytime someone sees it they want to play with it," says Johnson. The iPhone's inspired him to create something that would sell itself. He's trying to get a patent.

He sat down with Style recently to discuss his design philosophy, his influences, and where to go for a shot of whiskey.

Design philosophy: "I have a primitive approach," he says. "Designers don't create, they only discover." He also follows any instinctive draw to particular materials. "If I like the look of a metal, I'll find a way to use it structurally."

Perennial influences: On Frank Lloyd Wright: "Stone, wood, metals, water - you name it, that guy used it." On automotive designer Luigi Colani, a pioneer in merging biodesign, aerodynamics, and functionality: "When he started, everything was straight lines and sharp corners. He worked more with aerodynamics and curves. His influences are the human body and art deco. His lines were inspired by natural shapes that follow us through life." Colani's work influences the custom lenses Johnson carves. Designs have ranged from simple beveled edges to elaborate flame shapes.

On the wall at home: A poster of silhouettes by illustrator Ty Wilson, whose work he describes as "squiggle art." "He does so much using so few lines. His simple, clean lines represent so much more than what's actually there. It was the first thing I hung up in my first apartment. It's followed me around for 15 years."

After-work haunt: Icarus and the Butcher Shop. Delux in the South End with its vibrant walls of collage is a spot for a ritualistic whiskey shot because "you can't stare blankly anywhere," he says. Johnson's inclined toward any place where raw or vintage elements play a starring role, whether they're high end or hipster cool. He and Renee got married last year at the Biltmore, a long-standing Newton dive bar recently refurbished.

Style ambition: Johnson traffics more regularly in technological equipment than formalwear, but he's made a promise to himself to "do more suits" this year, "especially playful stuff, like Brad Pitt's character in 'Ocean's Eleven.' "

If he had the time he'd design: A sink that does the dishes for you.