SAMSUNG — Industrial Designer Joongoo Lee

The Costume

Portable External Hard Drive

2007 for SAMSUNG Electronics Digital Storage Group

SAMSUNG Electronics Digital Storage Group is one of the world biggest digital storage development and production company. However, they didn’t have their own consumer products yet until 2007.

They were planned to develop their own branded consumer product to expand their business to the consumer market and The Costume was one of the leading concept for their first launching product.

Why consumer electronics are masculine?

There are two different choices for the SAMSUNG electronics as late sprinter of consumer portable external hard drive business : Show either completely new design which can create and lead new portable external hard drive trend in the market or following existing design trends that similar as major competitors. I thought SAMSUNG should show highly attractive design to lead portable hard drive design trend following with company's overall direction which pursue to lead trends based on innovative thinking.

What design direction can create new portable hard drive trend? Where is the space that no one touched yet? To answer these questions, I did design trend research for both in general consumer electronics and portable external hard drive. The leading design trend were static, rigid and severe which were aesthetically masculine to deliver visually solid trust that can communicate solid protection of internal components and technologies. Especially for the portable external hard drives.

Is this direction what consumers really want to have for their portable external hard drive? Maybe companies are pushing consumers regardless their preferences? what if SAMSUNG’s new portable external hard drive designed with conflicting design direction? Overall design development was proceed based on these questions to create completely new design that can create and lead new portable external hard drive trend.

Hard drive is wearing a costume.

With The “Costume”, hard drive is now wearing fancy and prestige woman’s compact powder case costume which is more trendy, fashionable and sleek. It is no longer computer’s boring peripheral. It is now one of your stylish digital essential item that you want to bring everyday and show off.

The “Costume” is protecting your data it’s own stylish way like compact powder case is protecting cosmetic powder.

The “Costume” is bring you new trendy, fashionable and stylish digital storage experience that is completely different than others.

Change of thinking that create deep empathy and bring new experience.

The Costume received sensational feedback from ordinary people when it was published to couple of design and consumer electronics trend related magazines and websites. People were hunger for new portable external hard drive design that they can interact and experience differently than existing products. The Costume deeply created empathy with people through its aesthetics and design story based on their needs. The Costume shows how change of thinking is well creating empathy and bringing new experience.