It is perhaps understandable that mobile phones should be the real leaders in the techno fashion stakes; after all there are close to one billion of them in circulation and the number is growing daily
It is perhaps understandable that mobile phones should be the real leaders in the techno fashion stakes; after all there are close to one billion of them in circulation and the number is growing daily. The design of the 'mobile' has changed dramatically since the late 1980s when the first commercial models became available. At that time you had a choice of black or dark grey and they were brick-like in appearance, with some of them requiring a shoulder bag to carry them.
Today's mobile weighs grams rather than kilograms, fits easily in a shirt pocket or handbag, and usually comes in a choice of colours, with many companies offering interchangeable faces. Nokia started the ball rolling in March 1998 with the launch of its base model 5110. It cast off the traditional black and offered a choice of interchangeable coloured fascia. While black was still an option, most consumers opted for one of the other basic colours. Since then an entire industry has built up around designing new faces for mobiles. While other companies have followed Nokia's lead, few have put as much into the industrial design of their phones. Nokia offers a wide variety of shapes and sizes and has intentionally targeted particular age and demographic groups with its various designs. For example its 3210 is aimed at the youth market and has the widest range of colour faces; however, it is the company's 8-series that has lead the fashion stakes. Nokia made a conscious design decision to develop mobile phones that were not only practical but were a fashion accessory. After all, why should people have just one phone? Why not have one for daytime use and another for night? That was the concept behind the 88 series in particular. The 88 series is identifiable by its slide face, which is usually in a stylish silver or chrome. By comparison the 82 series is one of Nokia's most compact models but comes in a choice of vibrant colours and featured in the recent Paris Fashion Week.
While Nokia still offers black phones, they are few and far between and even the most conservative designs, such as the 7110, comes in metallic colours that change colour according to the angle you view them.
The company has not just coloured its phones, it has also given them smooth, stylish lines to get away from the traditional 'brick' design. On the other hand, Ericsson has attempted to make a fashion statement out of the 'brick'. It has stuck with its distinctive, if unimaginative slab shape but added its own choice of bright colours. Motorola, on the other hand, has smoothed out the edges but stuck with conservative colours such as dark blues and greens.
But there are more factors than just shape and colour involved in mobile phone design. The popularity of interchangeable faces has delivered the opportunity to create one-off or special event designs that are rapidly becoming collectors' items.
Nokia has a 'soccer-series' available in Europe, while Samsung put out a special 'gold edition' for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. While Samsung is a relative newcomer to the Australian mobile phone market it has introduced the concept of multifunctional phones that combine technology and design.
Later this year it will introduce mobiles capable of taking digital photographs or playing MP3 music files. Samsung is not the only one with an MP3 player; in fact, Ericsson beat it to the draw. Ericsson also has the ultimate in techno fashion accessories about to hit the market. It is a wireless headset that links to the phone using the Bluetooth wireless protocol. Ericsson founded Bluetooth, which now has more than 150 companies backing it, and it appears destined to become an important technology in coming years.
Bluetooth will enable a wide range of devices to 'talk' to each other wirelessly over short distances (up to 10 metres) and this ability to operate without physical connection is going to give designers much more leeway because they will be able to do away with the need for connection ports, and that could lead to smoother and more rounded designs.
Palm, which leads the handheld PC and PDA market is already bringing more style into its designs. The new entry level m100, for example, features a much more rounded design and snap on faceplates in a variety of colours designed to appeal to a younger market. The Palm products will also be available with clip on digital cameras and MP3 players.
PDAs and handheld PCs have changed little over the past couple of years, but nor have they needed to. They are relatively new devices that are fashionable to own and they are small enough to get away with being grey or black
Handspring has gone a stride further than its competitors - not only with its range of bright colours for its Visor handheld range, but also with its range of clip on accessories including MP3 player, pager, GPS receiver, video arcade and even mobile phone. The Visor has only just been released in Asia and should eventually make it to Australia.
MP3 players are a good example of how fashion influences design. It is barely two years since the first portable MP3 player - Diamond's Rio - hit the market on a wave of controversy after having had to fight off an attempt by the American recorded music industry association to stop its manufacture.
The first models were small, square and came with a mesh carrier. While they certainly didn't look ugly, it was fashionable enough just to own one. However, that has not lasted long because competitors have entered the market and consumers will often choose a player based on looks when there is little else to separate two brands.
The latest Rio 600 now has smooth flowing lines, a contoured shape that fits neatly in the hand and a smart two-tone colour scheme. Its main rival, the new Sony MagicStick Walkman is slimmer and longer with straight but elegant lines and a blue and silver colour scheme. Ironically, both of them are so small they will most often be carried in the pocket - where they won't be seen anyway.
It took a long time for style to break down the technology barriers but now it is infiltrating all aspects of it. Even the humble modem has been affected with many models now boasting sweeping curves or translucent colours, and Iomega has joined the fashion trend by offering a translucent case on its USB Zip drive.