CMF Speaker - (1) [concept]:
Key take-aways:
This self-directed CMF Speaker project is designed to be handheld and portable. I used a colour scheme of grey with orange highlights to be inline with the CMF brand colour scheme.
The actual mesh of the speaker has been pushed to one side so that the users thumb and hand can hold it easily without interrupting the sound.
The shape and controls were inspired by dslr cameras and vintage cassette players.
Development:
Research:
One large area of research I did was; portable vs stationary. This meant to looking to the price points and use cases for both. Then what both would entail from a design and manufacturing standpoint.
I also looked into the design of a physical speaker and what space they can fit into. Considering they fit into ear buds, I discovered that they are very versatile.
Goals:
The main goal for this project was simply to create a speaker in the style of CMF, a tech and electronics design company.
As always, another goal was to make it as simple as possible to use, a person should be able to instantly understand how to use it from a mere glance.
Direction decisions:
From my research I decided to go in a portable speaker direction as I feel this fits more on brand with CMF and my personal design style.
I chose to base my overall shape on a combination of vintage cassette players and dslr cameras with their large “shoot” button. That’s why the main play button is so attention grabbing and large.
Controls:
To make the controls as simple as possible I only put on what was necessary, but avoiding making it overly minimal. The buttons have function indicators printed on them for better first sight understanding.
The large volume wheel is placed on the corner of the device to allow the users finger to naturally move to turn and adjust it.
Additional considerations + next steps:
It is composed of aluminium for the overall design and then ABS plastic for the large orange buttons to make them feel less cold and more approachable to press or touch.
While it’s designed to withstand every environment, the large volume wheel may trap dirt easily and possibly lead to accidental volume changes if it is brushed against something. That’s why the lanyard hole is on the same side, to reduce that occurrence but going forwards I’d like to address this potential issue more.