Philips DS9/37 Product brochure - Page 13

Design consultants Bazil Tung I've always been very hands-on since I was young, and I get immense gratification out of making things with my hands. Whether it is making objects or making music, there is always a natural urge to create. Over the years, this love of making grew into an appreciation in well designed objects and admiration for well produced sound. Soon, passion turned into an obsession, and it became clear that audio design was the best possible outlet for both of these passions to live out. The great thing about my role being an audio designer at Philips, is that I get to be very hands-on in the entire development process from start to the finish - defining and drawing out product concepts, prototyping acoustic and wearing comfort ideas, and following through to manufacturing executions before the piece is finally completed and arrived on the shop shelves. And every day can be quite different.We can be throwing innovative product ideas around the room one day, making decisions on colors and finishing with the trends team the next, and in between we challenge our acoustic experts and suppliers on how to achieve the perfect sound and bring all of our ideas to reality - what is typical about design at Philips is that there is never a typical day, there is never a dull moment. To work in audio design at Philips, you have to be equally passionate about making great designs and great sound, be engaged in what you create and genuinely care about reaching people. I think only this kind of obsession inspires creativity, and in turn making truly great and meaningful audio products. Charlie Bolton I've been a product designer for over ten years, seven of those years at Philips. I have designed many products for Philips: headphones,TVs and speakers. I moved to the Hong Kong Design Studio in 2007 where I am the lead designer for the Fidelio speaker range.This has been one of the highlights of my career so far I worked on the original Fidelio speaker family, and I have seen it grow to the point where we are now market leaders in this category. My role as Senior Design Consultant has a wide variety of responsibilities.The most enjoyable part is the actual designing: the early stage in the project where you have to think of new ideas and create new concepts. However, that is just one part of my job. As important as coming up with the design is making sure it gets to market.Therefore co-designing with acoustic and mechanical engineers is essential in achieving a winning proposition. In the design studio I am surrounded by inspiring material. Our visual trends team has a complete library of every imaginable material. As well as this, my design colleagues always have their latest ideas and projects on display, so just working around the studio you can get inspired by other peoples work. For the Fidelio docking range we have started looking at using natural materials that enhance acoustic performance. For the first time we used real wood housings instead of plastic. 21 Michael Paterson During the past five years I have been involved in the industrial design of many audio products from 5.1 home cinema, to SoundBars and more recently the Shoqbox portable wireless speaker range. What I love about designing audio products is the challenge. The key to the process is balancing the technical aspects of acoustics and the creative nature of design.To produce a distinctive and desirable product that works beautifully and does not compromise on performance. Understanding how to balance these is the key to creating relevant design and excellent audio products. The reward of being a designer is that you are able to reach and influence many people through your creative work.To be at the core of bringing products to life, that people use and enjoy every day. Seeing the products I've designed in store or seeing someone use it and hearing what they think still excites me. For me this validates what I do. What has most affected the design of audio products in recent years is that people want their audio products to sound better and better, the expectation of sound quality continually increases. When you go to the movies, it's because you want to get swept away for a moment.You want to get totally lost in what's happening on-screen - and around you. Sound plays a massive part in that experience. Our job is to perfectly recreate that authentic movie experience in your home and ensure that our design is the visual synthesis of that authentic experience. It has to work beautifully and the look and feel must testify to the excellent acoustic capabilities of the product. Wai Chung Philips was my first employer and I'm still here now, so essentially this is my first job! I have been in design for sixteen years and I've been involved in audio since 2002.This started with headphones, then I moved into personal audio, and now my role is Senior Design Consultant in the home audio team working with a group of designers on products such as Hi-Fis, clocks and boom-boxes. In basic terms I am product designer - one that helps with the whole process of product development from concept to final design.This starts with the initial sketch workshops, the discussions with the engineers regarding technical restraints, finalizing the design, the production of the first molded parts, down to the trial runs until the product is realized. It is an exciting time for us developing the Fidelio range.We have a clear vision of what we want to achieve and by working with the acoustic engineers from the early stages, we are very proud to be able to craft a selection of premium products that have great sound, are well integrated and have really well considered features. It is a very inspiring range in terms of design. 22