Why aren't these manufacturing shops in the US? I consistently hear of difficulty working with offshore manufacturing plants like this - skimping here and there, poor quality build, etc.
I often hear people complaining about how expensive US-based engineering services are. I always think, just wait till you find out how expensive it can be to outsource!
This is an article written for the sake of writing an article. I'd question if the author even knows what the role of an Industrial Designer is, considering they labelled the engineer as the guy who builds the functionality, and the designer as the guy who makes it pretty. The fact that you drone on about not choosing an "angular box" isn't as amazing as you think; it's actually basic design semantics (i.e.; curvy is fun and straight is boring). The entire article is complimentary masturbation for a company that thinks it's the next Apple.
Industrial Designers are concerned with environment, business, usability and manufacturing. We're not just stylists. Look up Yves Behar's profile on The Verge if you want to begin to understand Industrial Design.
The only example of industrial design and mechanical engineering being fused given in the article is the heat vent one where you took the vents off the top of the sweat-lodge shaped computer and put them on the bottom because it looked "like a large salt shaker"...
But doesn't heat rise? And now the vents are in the thermodynamically opposite place they should be, and simultaneously sheltered from crosswind by the gumdrop shape? That doesn't sound like much of a field-mesh rather than an intentional crippling of the engineering portion...
They come off a bit biased towards the design fetish, and how the engineer had to deal with the knowingly uncompromising dream designer.
Scott’s mission was to reinvent the look, feel, and even
personality of a computer, without limits. He worked to
capture an idea and a feeling without worrying initially
about the execution of that idea.
The Engineering Challenge: Realize the Design
For George, he sees his role as one to challenge
assumptions and do his utmost to realize Scott’s design.
“My role as the Engineer is to take what the Industrial
Designer says is the Bible and try and put that into
production, more than coming back with “we have to change
this and that,” George says. “Because wherever possible,
we don’t want to compromise on our vision. We’ve made
every step necessary to manifest the industrial design
and try to reflect the creativity and personality of the
product.”
Design is great, but this just reminds me of design by Homer [1]
6 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 19.8 ms ] threadIndustrial Designers are concerned with environment, business, usability and manufacturing. We're not just stylists. Look up Yves Behar's profile on The Verge if you want to begin to understand Industrial Design.
The only example of industrial design and mechanical engineering being fused given in the article is the heat vent one where you took the vents off the top of the sweat-lodge shaped computer and put them on the bottom because it looked "like a large salt shaker"...
But doesn't heat rise? And now the vents are in the thermodynamically opposite place they should be, and simultaneously sheltered from crosswind by the gumdrop shape? That doesn't sound like much of a field-mesh rather than an intentional crippling of the engineering portion...
[1] http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/the-homer-in...