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Press Releases |
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Sony is a global brand that has long entered the popular psyche. A press release is a common media tool to let the public know of its new products. |
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Design and Inspiration
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Remember the time when fashion and industrial design were pastel-like in color and geometrical in form? When hi-fi stereo was high-tech and Brigitte Bardot was one hot babe? Well, forget about the former French sex kitten turned pooch-lover because I’m talking about the time when our old folks were going gaga on every industrial gadget. From clunky toasters and bulky washing machines to gigantic stereos and oversized TV sets.
Functionality played little in the design process on those days. What was en vogue was to showcase the intrinsic technicality of the unit thus the use of sharp corners and boxy forms. Nevertheless, these were considered as items of social stature and hence highly coveted by the moneyed class. This trend in industrial design persisted well into the 70’s. It was only around the past two decades when ergonomics came into the fore. Ergonomics is the science and art of designing materials (furniture, clothing, appliances, etc.) in a manner that complements the human form to maximize functionality and ease of use.
Now there’s a new revolution in design and major players in the field are taking their cue from Mother Nature, visual arts and what-have-yous. Indeed, it’s not unusual to see insect-shaped cars (though the classic VW Beetle do look like the bug) and unconventional materials used to build houses. Manufacturers seem to be have bitten by the design bug, so to speak, and multinational companies like Sony are churning out gadgets that defies the traditional shape and use.
Call it renaissance (apologies to Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello) but designers are only to happy to create masterpieces that consumers devour with much enthusiasm. And the rapid advance in technology invariably helps in the process. Finally, it has become possible and inexpensive to make objects more lightweight and sleek, and flat instead of boxy. With new developments in engineering, some of the obstacles have been taken out of a designer’s way. Now the artist has more freedom to translate his or her inner vision into reality.
When architect Hani Rashid, co-founder of the design firm Asymptote, began to conceptualize an ultimate workspace, he and his team didn’t waste time studying coffee machines, copiers or org charts to figure out how an office should work. Instead, they strove to create a more stimulating, fluid and organic environment—utilizing computer programs which compared an office PC network to—don’t breathe—human cells and insect swarms. Rashid says that they were inspired by the idea that work environments are really like biological organisms.
That inspiration became the A3 office system for the furniture maker Knoll. Each station consists of translucent saddle curves, inspired by the double helix shape of the DNA. The idea is for the worker to see people slip in and out of view without turning the head or swiveling the chair, thus not risking interrupting the task at hand. This is especially useful for concentration-intensive workplaces like call centers where the employee’s full attention is needed whenever a client calls in.
Thanks to decades of advancing technologies—flatter screens, stronger plastics, smarter machines—have given designers more leg-room to stretch their creative muscles with everyday objects. Instead of recycling what came before or using new takes in design, they are turning to art, nature and fashion for ideas. The painting of an abstract artist even had a role in the A3 workstation’s look. Talk about out-of-the-box thinking.
Another unlikely inspiration for Asymptote when designing a cabinet is the airplane’s interior. Rashid says that they did away with a jet-set style just for the sake of it and employed the “form follows function” credo. Instead of positioning workstations against the wall, an A3 can stand freely in the middle of the floor. This means that the traditional wall-flushed file cabinets can now be placed in jet-inspired overhead bins.
Like Rashid, designers at Sony are taking advantage of developments in technology to create products that define, rather than simply inhabit, an environment. Recently, they realized their vision of a new concept in TV—a unit takes up little space, but appears as a window into an alternate reality. Because of a new glass screen, people will not just see images appear onscreen but see them as floating before their eyes.
While working on the next generation of Sony XBR Plasma Wega televisions, the company found out that advances in circuitry could lead to the possibility of a 50-inch screen with a thin bezel—only inches deep—if certain internal components, like the cable plug, could disappear. The solution was to move those extras to a separate box, which could be hidden out of sight.
Further advances in the XBR brought together innovations in both aesthetic design and basic TV functionality. Even the core light-producing technologies were substantially improved, resulting in superb picture quality. To wit: Sony’s ground-breaking WEGA Engine system, which utilizes revolutionary signal-processing technologies. Sony’s proprietary technologies and cutting-edge design change the way a viewer interacts with their plasma display.
There’s even what designers are calling “Psycho-Aesthetics” which is defined by Ravi Sawhney (founder and CEO of RKS Design) as the study “who you are, who you would like to be, and how a thing can help you become that”. With a definition stripped to its very essence, expect the results to be nothing short of emotional and personal.
To achieve this feeling, designers are increasingly turning to a more modular construct in their works. When RKS was looking to build a just-for-fun concept guitar, the designers realized just how many types and styles of guitar there are. Playing on that fact, they created a product featuring detachable plastic faces which allows the instrument to transform into the “right” guitar for almost any player.
Embodying the same philosophy, Sony’s designers are developing adaptable, versatile products with a range of functionalities. Its latest is the all-in-one VAIO W desktop computer series. Slim and sophisticated, the VAIO series—housed in pearl white and gray cases—carries performance into the realm of art—a statement of pristine elegance. Its exclusive features include foldable keyboard to minimize desk space, a flat screen mounted on a sliver-sized CPU, and built-in stereo speakers (which plays even when the keyboard is docked). With features like that, the VAIO series function not only as a PC, but as a clock, stereo system and wide-screen LCD for watching DVDs.
With these interesting developments in the design field, no wonder there’s a renewed faith in science and technology these days. Indeed, the trend now is to create technologies that complement man’s modern lifestyle which has grown increasingly fast-paced but still result-oriented. There’s also the call for ecologically-conscious material objects which if successfully marketed to the people will become treasures of the 21st century. Now that’s what going gaga over something should be. |
