Inside the Design: NX300

When you see old friends from college or childhood, what do you do? You talk about the good old days; you reminisce. Living in this fast paced modern world, reminiscing is a luxury we can afford. This concept not only applies to memories, but also to tangible human activities such as design and fashion. However, when fashion or design reminisces, we call it ‘Retro’.

It is All about the Retro

‘Retro design’ is not just reminiscing about the ‘old school’ style. Bringing back the look of the past while integrating the freshness of today’s trend is what we call a ‘Retro Design’; a rebirth.

In that sense, Samsung NX300 is a rebirth, a camera with a ‘modern retro design’.

Badabing Badaboom! Don’t they just make it sound so easy? The designers said that designing NX300 was not a ‘piece of cake’ project at all (I was glad that I didn’t ask out loud). Working with the ‘retro’ concept was a challenge to the designers, because it was still essential to project Samsung Electronics’ unique characteristics onto this ‘retro’ exterior design. Challenge? It sounded impossible. I couldn’t even picture what they were saying. Later, I found out that what they meant was they needed to make sure that the design doesn’t overwhelm the function of the camera.

While Samsung Electronics is working to build a reputation as a ‘high-tech smart camera’ brand, the retro design of NX300 is also able to satisfy people’s nostalgia of the “Analog Era”.

While more or less always in style, retro has gained extreme popularity in Asian markets, such as Japan and China, and therefore the design concept for NX300 was more than adequate.

It is Always about the Consumer!

As a consumer, camera has been with us long enough that we have certain expectation of how it supposed to look, especially if something calls itself a ‘retro’. Therefore, designing NX300 was tricky.

In other words, designers must put all their effort into producing an efficient, technologically updated camera that also has a taste of the old school design. This was the only way that everyone, especially consumers, could be satisfied with their needs.

The Behind Story

In this world, hardly anything goes as planned, and NX300 was no different. The specifications for this model frequently changed after its prototype was announced, so staying on top of the changes was a big challenge for the designers.

It’s probably no surprise that after spending so many weeks and months with the design of NX300 that the designers started to feel a deep connection to their work. Isn’t that how we feel with our video game characters? I….I meant, that’s how you feel with video game characters. I wouldn’t know since I don’t play video games. Wait… Why does my nose feel bigger?

Oh, I know how that feels. Finally, I asked them for last words for the interview. Speaking of importance of teamwork, the designers for NX300 didn’t forget to give credit to every department, because without their input and assistance, the camera would not have turned out as well as it did.

Being a designer definitely means long hours and constantly going back to the drawing board.  But when designers see consumers loving their product, they say…

“That’s why we design and that’s what we live for.”

Edited by ASyk

Source: http://samsungtomorrow.com/3848

*All functionality features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.