Featured Project - Paul Smith Television

For the final year of the product design course students were given total control over their major project - this is known as the "Self-Initiated Brief" (SIP). I saw this as an ideal time to expose my deep infatuation for electrical home entertainment products.

My project was centered on the most favoured of such artefacts - the television set. With over a billion sets sold to date, TV is enjoyed worldwide. Despite the wide scope of content television delivers to satisfy everyone's taste, the same cannot be said of the sets themselves. The current range of mid to high-end models have such a similar look and appeal. Upon identifying this observation, my aim was to add a fashion element to increase the appreciation for the look of the actual set.

Paul Smith was the brand chosen to embellish the concept. With the synonymous "classic with a twist" motto, I took the archetypal visuals of a current television (ie widescreen, slimline depth with LCD technology, main unit upon a tabletop stand etc.) and embellished it with features seen in abundance from the 70s era of sets; clunky buttons and switches, dials that slide along to adjust volume levels/ change channel and so on. The trademark Paul Smith stripe was incorporated in a subtle way by using zebrano wood all around the frame of the main unit and base stand.