Baidu USA partnered with Anvil Studios to create reference designs for 2 smart video speaker devices. The design solutions needed to be contemporary, premium, and beautiful, while not looking like a copycat of the competition.
Baidu wanted these product designs to convey a soothing, harmonious digital lifestyle accessory that appealed to female consumers, deliberately moving away from traditionally masculine CE aesthetics. Additionally, the smart displays need to work in both horizontal and vertical orientations for both traditional landscape format videos and smartphone portrait video modes, respectively. Lastly, both smart displays are portable, incorporating elegant handle solutions for easily allowing users to freely move from bedroom to living room and back again.
Our design team collaborated very closely with the Baidu team through-out the development process, beginning with competitive/comparative market landscape observations and contemporary design trend inspirations. These fueled a deep brainstorm in which we generated a wide variety of forms, interactions, material combinations, and desired color ways. We were able to quickly and efficiently narrow in on 2 key concept directions; a friendly squircle form and a dynamic, tapering pyramid design.
This friendly squircle form is a calm and approachable design touting an 8” touch screen, square proportions, and generously large corner radii. The front face is fully wrapped in fabric, with a soft sculpted back surface and overall thin profile. The integrated handle also doubles as a kickstand and as a wall mount. The selected CMF (color/material/finish) is soft, light grey fabric with a matte white “shell” and pop of bright red over-mold on the handle/kickstand. The result is a fresh, clean, happy product that fits smoothly into your home life.
