In a new Q&A published to Inside BlackBerry, members of the Priv design team, including Michael DeFazio, BlackBerry’s lead industrial designer, talk about the thought process that went into creating the company’s latest phone. While most of what’s said in the post is fairly prosaic, there are a couple of interesting nuggets. I’ve picked out several of the more interesting ones to share here.
In a initial question about his team’s goals going into the design of the Priv, DeFazio states, “Empathy is not a new philosophy or approach to design, however it can be quite easy as a designer to get caught up in aesthetics and forget about who you are designing for. We had to listen closely to what people were saying.” He then later adds, “This concept of listening to people’s needs was simple. The challenge was finding a creative way to weave it all together into a single device with a purposeful, compact, robust, user friendly and modern design.”
When asked about his favourite feature of the Priv, DeFazio says he’s particularly fond of the phone’s rear chassis. “This feature was created by taking the necessary structure required to support the display and glass (which is typically hidden) and exposing it as a premium cosmetic part. It is made from aircraft-grade aluminum, known for its high strength and light weight properties, and has a hard anodized coating, which provides durability and colour,” he says. “The chassis protects the curved glass and provides structure to the top section of the device and contains the mechanical features that are precision cut into the material. As a result, the chassis serves multiple functions in a clean and efficient way.”
Cortez Corley, one of the other members of the Priv design team, adds, “My favorite design feature is the unibody rear housing. The surface contouring and the soft touch coating make it comfortable to hold and the speaker pattern and woven-glass fiber pattern add visual interest.”
Check out the full interview on Inside BlackBerry.
[source]Inside BlackBerry[/source]
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