YummyWorks: hybrid design

When I started working with Gio over at Yummy Media, I knew from the get-go that we were on the same page about where Yummy needed to be visually, and how I could help them get there. Over the course of the projects we’ve worked on together, the emphasis has been on more than simple candy-graphics for a toy site: the emphasis has been on creating a strategic partnership. The most interesting part isn’t the fun work that’s come out of it so far, but the idea of an industrial designer working with a programming firm to design products for distribution and use in the digital world. I call it “hybrid design,” because we’re trying to bridge the void between industrial design and interactive video graphics.

So when we designed this MP3 player, for instance, the emphasis of the design was on animation, interaction, useability, and 3D cool-factor. I can’t wait to see the final product, but I think the implications of this concept are much larger than a simple digital jukebox app: we can bring the creative problem-solving of industrial designers beyond the physical and into the virtual.

The focus of the player is on its various modes. During play, it’s face displays necessary controls, track information, et cetera. When “minimized,” the 3D form simply rotates to show only the profile-edge, so only the most basic controls and information are visible. When it’s “asleep,” the face rotates around a central axis to reveal a throbbing internal power-source and warning label, explaining that Yummy Media powers this device.