Bye-bye beige: PC designers see
sophistication in darker,
by Taman Chuang
The Orange County Register (KIRT)
When International Business Machines Corp. introduced
the personal computer 20 years ago, it chose what one de
signer called "the most innocuous color that fit in with the
button-down world of IBM."
"Everything was beige back then," said Steve Montgom
ery, who teaches advanced product design at the prestigious
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. "It fit in
with the office. It also hides dirt somewhat." Bland, but prac
tical.
Time to say bye-bye
This month, eMachines Inc. and Gateway Inc. become
the last of the major PC sellers to convert their lines to darker,
metallic color schemes and sleeker appearances. Dell Com
puter Corp. switched in late 2000, while Hewlett-Packard
Co. and Compaq Computer Corp., which flirted with color,
have settled on different shades of gray. Even IBM no longer
carries anything in the ho-hum hue.
Design has become an integral part of the computer in
dustry, helping to sell products, or at least ensure an initial
ooh-aah before consumers realize the product needs work.
Design helped propel Apple Computer, a stagnating brand
in the mid-19905, back to mainstream after the launch of
the first iMac in 1998. Orders for the latest iMac, which
debuted In January, are reportedly backlogged for four
months.
"Corporations and businesses have realized that design is
the differentiator to product success," said Lance Hussey,
vice president and design director of RKS Design in Thou
sand Oaks, Calif. "The point is, how does one computer
company differentiate itself from another computer com
pany if, basically, they're selling the same thing? Design is
that element."
Bright iMac colors are getting stale, designers say. The
trend of translucence is being replaced by metal, or plastic
that looks like metal. Silver is hot.
But tomorrow, it could be black. And then white. With
color sprinkled in between.
"There's probably an eight-year product cycle. It goes from
black to silver and then black again," said Richard Jung,
co-founder of Irvine, Calif.-based Ciro Design, which de
signed two touch-screen computers that Microsoft Corp.
founder Bill Gates demonstrated onstage at past high-tech
trade shows.
"Right now, all high-end TVs are silver. All high-end digi
tal cameras are silver," Jung said. "Before, they were black."
The computer industry got one its first makeovers six
years ago, when Frog Design in Sunnyvale, Calif., added
snazzy colors to Packard Bell and Acer's Aspire line of com
puters.
"They used some really interesting greens and charcoals
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silvery shades
for computer colors," Hussey said. "But inside, it wasn't a
quality product. The design on the outside sold it."
The most recent color spurt to hit mainstream was Apple's
first iMac in 1998. Blueberry and tangerine computers be
gan popping up in popular TV shows and interior-design
magazines, not to mention that the design appealed to a
whole new group of users. Sales soared, leading analysts to
declare the rebirth of Apple.
PC makers followed suit by offering colorful all-in-one
PCs, from laptops with snap-on panels to complete iMac
knockoffs (eMachines stopped after Apple sued).
But by mid-2000, striking colors failed to be fashionable
in the PC industry. Compaq quietly pulled its metallic mid
night-blue Presario 3500 line. Dell shelved its WebPCs,
which came in Tahoe Blue and Sedona Orange. Meanwhile,
cell phones, stereos, fax machines, printers and other office
products were popping up in muted dark grays and silver
sheens.
By January 2001, perhaps even Apple was tired of blue
berry. That's when it came out with the completely silver
Titanium notebook. This year, the pure-white iMac went on
sale.
"There's more focus on materials and finishes, rather than
very complex forms and surfaces," Jung said. "Stuff com
ing out of Japan, like the tiny Elph digital camera, is a simple
silver rectangle; there's not much color."
Itchnology and the need to make products easier to use
have prompted many good designs.
Advances in LCD technology have slimmed computer
monitors, making them easier to tote around and, almost by
default, more stylish. Optical mice, which use lasers instead
of a ball to detect movement, were the impetus for design
ers to add flashing lights and a futuristic feel.
Not that every cool, award-winning design guarantees
positive financial return. Remember Apple's much-maligned
digital organizer, the Newton, which sold just 200,000 units
in five years? Or 3Com's cute little Internet appliance dubbed
Audrey ? it lasted about eight months. Both products failed
because of poor technology and low customer acceptance.
"The stuff that wins those (design) awards, the chances
are high that you'll never see it become a commercial suc
cess," said Montgomery, whose firm, bioDesign in Pasa
dena, won awards on the new storage product it designed
for CMS Peripherals in Costa Mesa, Calif. "It's not the kiss
of death or anything, but a good design does not make a
high-selling product. But I think that good design is likely
to help"
And that keeps the design community motivated, Mont
gomery said. "It's our job. There are too many ugly things
out there," he said. "Maybe it's a sense of duty. We are here
to help the world have cool stuff."
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