Inspirations #Des100
- Ben Boyd
- Mar 11, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 9, 2020
My design inspirations:
Favorite design
Image taken from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_1st_Gen.svg on the 8/04/2020 at 11:47am
The original Apple iPhone released in 2007 is my all time favorite design, mainly due to how revolutionary it was when it came out. At the time no other flagship phones by any of the major brands had a fully touch interface with no keyboard [1], so Apple’s designers had to design an entirely new type of phone, one with as large a screen as possible. This simple, clean, minimalist design, became the new standard of touch smartphones, with the majority of smart-phones today still having some design resemblance, even 10 years later [2]. For example, while the bezels (area around the phone screen) have been regularly shortened/removed on later iPhone models, especially the top and bottom bezels, the singular physical home button in the bottom-center of the phone has remained relatively consistent. Only being removed and replaced with an on-screen virtual button in 2017, with the release of the iPhone x [3]. The original iPhone's relocation of the volume, and power buttons to the side/top of the phone have also proved to be influential, with the majority of smartphones, including the latest iPhone (iPhone 11) and Samsung Galaxy phone (the S20) [4] having their physical home and volume buttons on the sides and top of the phone. In my opinion the greatest legacy of the original iPhone however is how it (along with almost every Apple designed product released afterwards) introduced and popularized minimalist, simple designs in both software and hardware to the general public. Before the iPhone, smartphones looked more like pda's, big, bulky, and packed with buttons [5]. By refining the smartphone's typical design, and removing the buttons, Apple managed to introduce the smartphone to a whole new demographic of people, mainly younger people and less businesses focused types, opening up the smartphone industry to a brand new, much larger market.
This influence can be seen in the photo below, with smartphones before the iPhone's release on the left, and smartphones after the iPhone's release on the right.
Taken from https://www.cultofmac.com/145083/what-phones-looked-like-before-and-after-the-iphone-transformed-the-industry-image/ on the 19/03/2020 at 5:10pm
Least favorite design
Image taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillyberlin/31060126358 on the 8/04/2020 at 12:45pm
20 Fenchurch street, London (nicknamed the "Walkie-talkie') is my least favorite design, this commercial skyscraper was built with a unique "top-heavy" design, with the top of the building slanting forward over the street below. 20 Fenchurch street is my least favorite design not only due to how out of place it looks among the rest of London's skyline, with Building Design magazine rating it as the worst designed building in 2015 [6], but also due to how impractical the top-heavy design actually is. For two hours every day, when the sun is shining directly on the building, it acts as a concave mirror focusing sunlight onto the street below. During summer 2013, this focused beam was found to be up to six times brighter than direct sunlight, and able to melt parked cars below. While this solar glare problem was eventually fixed, in 2015 another problem arose when it was discovered that, due to the building's concave design, powerful downdrafts could be created, some strong enough to knock people over [7].
References:
[1]: https://mashable.com/2012/11/09/touchscreen-history/ by Christine Erickson Nov 11 2012, accessed on the 27/03/20 at 4:30 pm
[2]: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-20-best-smartphones-in-the-world-2018-1?r=US&IR=T by ANTONIO VILLAS-BOAS Nov 04 2018, accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:06pm
[3]: https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/30/apple-to-remove-home-button-in-upcoming-high-end-iphone-report-says/ by Matt Burns Aug 31 2017, accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:09pm
[4]: https://www.engadget.com/2020-02-11-samsung-galaxy-S20-event-roundup.html by Christine Fisher Feb 11 2020, accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:10pm
[5]:https://www.cultofmac.com/145083/what-phones-looked-like-before-and-after-the-iphone-transformed-the-industry-image/ by John Brownlee Feb 08 2012, accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:12pm
[6]:https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/carbuncle-cup-2015-winner-announced/5077354.article by Thomas Lane 02 Sep 2015, accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:12pm
[7]:https://www.citylab.com/design/2015/09/londons-worst-building/403684/ by Feargus O'Sullivin Sep 032015 , accessed on the 09/04/20 at 2:16pm
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