To stand out, I had to depart from visual minimalism and embrace visual intricacy, prioritizing emotional design
Starting with the question: How might we (in Asia) target American teens?
During my time in Hong Kong, I was tasked by the business to design a home telephone, expanding VTech's Telecommunications Lifestyle Product Portfolio. To keep costs down, it was necessary for the design to accommodate their existing PCB internal components. Living in one continent, designing for another, presented the challenge of understanding cultural trends in the target market. Drawing inspiration from Swatch's youthful and vibrant design language, as well as its popularity among USA teenagers, I created two phone designs tailored to their dynamic, individualistic worlds. Each design embodied elements of personality, affordable fashion, and fun, offering teens a sense of self-expression in use.
The end result was a fresh, iconic and distinctive lifestyle product that sparked curiosity and prompted senior leaders to consider bold, innovative possibilities. Drawing from influences like 'jellybean' shapes and transparent designer classics, I achieved a design that was both unconventional and visually captivating. Allowing it to distinctly stand out in a market crowded with competition.
Process
Over several months I did a range of hands-on activities to ensure high quality industrial design, such as, sketches, generate several design directions, visual renderings, CAD build and refinement using 3D Rhino, physical prototype ergonomic testing, colour material finishing (CMF), artwork model making documentations and tech specs.
