The „Places“ Where Designers Are At Play And The „Place“ Where Little Is Happening
On your long sojourn through life, you have really only seen two basic types of phenomena.
Created By Nature Versus Created By Man
Everything that you have seen in your entire life falls into either one of these two categories:
- Things that are created by nature.
- Things that are created by man.
The sky and its clouds, the ocean, plants and flowers, the birds in the sky. These are creations of nature, and human beings didn‘t take part in forming those. Other things you have before you, and may also be using in many instances, like buildings, cars, furniture, the things that people wear, are thought up and created by human beings.
When you think of it, everything you have ever seen in your life fall into either one of those two categories.
The „Places“ Where Designers Are Active
The things that human beings have thought up and made are of course of a very great variety. What characterizes a great deal of the physical creations is that they serve a certain purpose, a mechanical or utility purpose, and they are also visible. There are many things that are before our eyes every day. In order to make the experience of viewing these things more pleasant, many of these things have been shaped and colored by artists and designers. We can say that there are many fundamental „places“ where designers are at play, making things more pleasant to view.
One of these fundamental „places“ are we, ourselves, human bodies. The objects that designers often take part in shaping are for instance called „clothes“ and „shoes“. There are thousands of designers every day making new and new creations, and a lot of people who enjoy speculating every day about what new looks are being created.
Another fundamental place is „buildings“, both inside and outside. Those who shape the buildings themselves are architects and engineers. There are thousands of architects designing new buildings, and many enjoy speculating about the newest plans and newest constructions.
And then there are the insides of the buildings. When there are homes inside buildings, then the inhabitants will place a lot of different things there. They will be seeing these things and using them every day. The objects are furniture of different kinds, furnishings, carpets, lamps, and various home appliances and technological devices. Thousands of designers are making new creations every day. New forms, new shapes, new colors, in furniture, furnishings, various appliances and gadgets.
Many people enjoy following what new is going on, and what new is being introduced to the market. Publications, magazines and websites, follow the newest things that are happening. The stream of new designs, new creations, is practically endless.
Audio Devices Are Visible
Among the technological devices that many have placed permanently inside their homes are equipment for emanating sounds. Those are home audio devices of various types. Those can be audio hi-fi stereo systems, or multi-channel audio, home theater systems, and sometimes high-end audio systems. The inhabitants listen to them either with loudspeakers or sometimes headphones.
What characterizes loudspeakers is that not only do they produce sound, they will also take up a certain space and be visible, just like any other thing that people put into their homes. Loudspeakers are sometimes the most bulky and visible parts of home audio systems, (although there have been trends towards making them less visible, see for instance the article Nothing, something or a fabulous thing bringing new life). More capable loudspeakers are often quite large and bulky, and thus prominently visible in the home for a long period of time. In order for the owner to be able to hear well the music, the loudspeaker has to be placed relatively free from obstructions that may interfere the musical waves. That means also, that they have to be placed where they will also be prominently visible.
Since the loudspeakers are very visible, then they will have an effect on the overall harmony or atmosphere that the shapes and colors of all things visible collectively create within the room. This is a factor that some people find very important. They are trying to create a certain atmosphere, a certain style, inside their home. They want all things, preferably, to have a positive effect in this decorative effect. They may place things into their homes that are not contributing positively to the overall style, but generally they don‘t truly desire to do so. With all new things that they spend money on, and place into their homes, it would be better if the new thing would contribute positively rather than to drag down the feeling.
Thousands Of Designers Are Working Every Day
So we know that thousands of designers are presenting new looks in the many „places“ where designers are active. The public is enthusiastically following all the new things that spring forth from the minds of creative people.
The question is: What is happening in this respect, in the field of home audio devices, and especially loudspeakers? Are designers creating and offering many different inspirations, different color schemes, different pattern shapes, so that people with different taste can have a choice of what kind of visual effect a new home audio system would have in their homes?
Screenshots of Google searches, to find out what the situation is with the design of home audio and home cinema equipment – search done in April 2019.
The products that showed up in the searches are „copyrigth“ of each equipment maker in question and the images are only shown here to show how all the results are similar in appearance.
The colors were mainly black, with very little color.
Google Images search phrase: stylish home audio 2019.
Google Images search phrase: home audio decoration 2019.
Home audio: You can have any color as long as it‘s black, grey or wooden
The answer is simple: There is very little happening that one could call dazzling creativity. For the most part, home audio devices and loudspeakers are predominantly black or dark grey, sometimes light grey, and also wooden brown. They are monochrome, with no patterns on the facade. You might say that what characterizes these devices is a policy of un-design. They are usually not offered in many different looks or colors. They are mostly very similar.
This is not said to insult anyone. These devices are of course designed, either by an engineer or designer. Many of them are very capable, and many loudspeakers are nicely designed, within the rather narrow aesthetic frame they fall into. But the variety of forms and patterns on them is very limited. This is probably because there is that design policy, which companies in this filed mostly follow. So I am not criticizing the talent or ingenuity of the designers who work for these companies.
The point is just that they are supposed to create forms and colors within a very narrow, predefined frame of visual vocabulary.
Understandable because of business risk
This policy may be understandable from a business risk perspective. Offering many styles and colors can increase the risk of not being able to sell the device, where a great deal of the cost of the device comes from the technology that is inside it.
It is clear that the industry has universally adopted a policy of putting little emphasis on dramatic creativity and product variations in this respect. With that general policy, the industry believes that it is focusing on what matters, which is the audio experience, and the visual factor is left neutral, and unobtrusive.
Black isn‘t “invisible”
However, a big, black, grey or brown loudspeaker is not unobtrusive. It doesn‘t disappear and isn‘t unnoticed. On the contrary, it is very visible. It can be very obtrusive indeed, as it may be in complete disharmony with the style that the home-owner desires to have in the home. It may have a very strong effect on the overall visual harmony of things that are visible in their home.
Is this visual effect a positive, a neutral, or a negative one? That depends on the taste of each individual. Does this matter that much to people? The correct answer is, that it depends on the persons, or demographic groups of people, in question. Some people may be quite satisfied. Other‘s don‘t care. And some may be very displeased.
Minimalistic tech modernism does not “blend in with any decor”
When you read through magazine articles and blog posts, and promotional material from audio equipment companies in their advertising and on their websites, there is sometimes a lofty description about the wonderful styling of the audio equipment or loudspeakers, how much their minimailstic styling is “unobtrusive” and how well it “blends with any decor style”.
If you would consult home decoration professonals, then I am pretty certain that they would not necessarily agree with this assumption. The minimailstic, high-tech inspired, modern loods do not blend well with any decoration style. They blend well with certain decoration styles, but definitely not with any style.
You cannot say something like this to people who have a sensitive taste in home decoration. Words like these don’t convince them. They know what they like. They know what they think blends well and is harmonious, and what not.
The „place“ that isn‘t full of dramatic and dazzling creativity
It is very interesting, that there is a „place“, and entire category of equipment whose purpose is specifically to provide artistic and emotional experiences, where designers simply aren‘t offering a variety of choices. These equipments are actually often very visible, and one may conclude that they should thus be as many other large, permanent things that people place inside their homes: That is quite important, for some people at least, what kind of visual effect their styling contribute in the room. How well or badly they harmonize with the whole, and the style that people desire to build inside their home.
Home audio electronics, mainly loudspeakers but possibly also the electronic devices themselves, are a fairly large category, or „place“ where there is almost nothing happening in terms of dramatic creativity and serving different visual aesthetic needs. Different styles that are a perfect fit with different interior decoration styles and color schemes.
Google Images search phrase: lifestyle home audio 2019.
Not experiencing the extra joy of seeing and showing
This means that there may be people who don‘t enjoy at all the thought of spending the limited amount they have of their hard-earned money on new devices of this kind, as they are configured by the electronics industry from the viewpoint of styling. What I mean is, that they don‘t get the extra joy from buying something that not only works well, doing the main mechanical purpose it is supposed to do, but also because they think it looks great.
A huge number of people get extra joy from putting things into their homes that they think are especially beautiful and decorative. They enjoy showing others, their friends or family that are visiting. But what if they think that the new home audio electronics are not very nice in terms of the styling? Of course, they sound great, but there isn‘t the additional joy there would be, if they thought they were very cool in the styling?
A very significant difference between preference groups
My recent findings about the preferences of different groups has shown, that the groups of people who are concerned about interior decoration, and thus the styling of the things, is very large.
The comparison made between the current styling tendencies of home audio devices, and various popular interior design styles, which is a large part of what the Desaudio project is about, also should show very clearly that black home audio devices don‘t harmonize well with many of those styles.
Should there be more activity in this „place“?
Would it change the situation, if the home audio industry would be able to tailor their offerings to better match with the dreams and desires of these groups? For the groups that are especially interested in interior decoration, and are interested in styles that are markedly not in harmony with the current black, grey and wooden, monochromatic high-tech style of home audio electronics, then this kind of change could indeed open up very interesting opportunities.
What is important is this: If certain groups would be much happier with new styles, then that could lead to decisions of buying a new home audio system where that person would otherwise decide that something entirely different was more desirable at the moment.
If done correctly, then this field could become one of the hottest and most exciting places to look at, and it could potentially also improve the profitability of home audio electronics companies that would be the first to utilize the possibilities.
Do you want to read more? Chapter 3 is also available:
