I’m looking to add a side project to my portfolio to demonstrate what I’ve learned in my two post grad internships and to showcase my desire to work in consumer electronics. I also want a project that is a little more light and fun to better balance against the more serious projects I currently have in my portfolio.
I’ve found a couple projects on behance that are similar to what I want to achieve with my own.
I guess if there’s one common thread between these projects it’s that they took a brand/identity and pushed that brand into a new product category while retaining and evolving the brand values… Ultimately its a pretty straight-forward process and will let me develop my form and branding skills.
One of my ideas is to do a Leica Smartphone that would be geared towards photography and might utilize more classic and traditional materials. It’s not really ideal since I’m looking to add something a little more fun like the Vespa camera project. Another idea was to revitalize the Braun brand that used to make everything from radios to razors. This might be an opportunity to make a Braun smartphone, portable speakers, or other CE product.
I guess I really just wanted some help coming up with brands/product categories that are sort of iconic and would have some opportunities to move into new product categories and further develop/adapt their brand and form identity.
Hey I’m back with a couple project ideas that I want to bounce off these forums before I commit to one of them.
The first is to design an action cam like the GoPro or Polaroid Cube. I would be designing this through the lens of the Nike Sports Wear brand. I think there’s an opportunity in between the very high end, professional, tool-like GoPro products and the fun, less serious side that the Polaroid Cube projects. I was thinking about targeting this more towards athletes (cyclists, team sports) with more of a sporty and slightly fun brand language.
My second idea is a smartphone concept. The problem I see with most smartphones is that they are beautifully designed and detailed but you’re forced to cover up all of that beauty with a case or risk damaging your beautiful phone. Most cases are simply a shell that covers up your phone with plastic. I want to design a smartphone that is better integrated with a case and the protection it provides. I want to have the protection and customization that a case allows while not covering up the premium design and materials of a high end phone like the HTC M8 or iPhone 6 but instead integrating them together into the form of the phone. A good example, along the lines of what I was thinking, would be the dot case for the HTC M8.
Let me know what you guys think and thanks ahead of time!
I think the camera is a better idea as well. Smartphones, as beautiful as they may be are very constrained by the fact that they are mostly just a screen on one side and some garnishes around the outside. It can be a nice project, but from a form perspective I don’t think it offers the level of exploration the camera would, since it’s much more about subtle details, finishes, and graphical elements applied to a block.
I think this sounds like a great project. Although a phone would be cool, Cyberdemon has a lot of good points.
Another project you might enjoy is one they set students in my old design school. They set us the brief to imagine what a camera would look like if a certain brand (that has nothing to do with cameras) were to make them. It’s a good/fun project because it involves understanding a brands attributes/DNA and then applying that to a product with a known function - it’s then all about styling and portraying the appropriate message.
Here are some examples of projects from various years, including my own: