R&D story (2) FT3's appearance design: recognizable, professional and youthful
If you are our loyal supporter, even if you have not bought any of our products, you may have noticed that our products have a clear family design, and a lot of common design elements and design language.
In fact, FiiO now has a complete set of industrial design specifications and guidelines. This is also a process that an enterprise has to go through as the product line grows further and further.
Today, we would like to take this opportunity to share with you our philosophy of industrial design: RGB lights, geometric textures, highlight and transparent textures, bold and clear lines, etc. to create a sense of technology.
In addition, we will check each idea and design not only for good looks, but also for innovation and recognition, style fit, brand ID style and ergonomics.
We have also reorganized the positioning of the products. For FiiO, we will emphasize more on specialty and more on the taste of young people. Of course, this is also a process, but at least you can see that we are consciously trying to move forwards in this direction.
So, after introducing the background, we would like to share the design of the FT3.
1. Choosing the headband: adaptive headband design commonly seen in HiFi over-ear headphones
We chose the adaptive headband commonly seen in over-ear headphones. Although it is not as simple as one-piece headbands, the actual wearing experience is better, especially suitable for different sizes of heads. In addition, the leather headband contact with the head is wider than ordinary consumer kinds of one-piece headbands. So even though it is heavy, users will not feel pressure on their heads.
2. Textured materials: metal and metal again
For FiiO, there is no question of not being able to afford the investment in opening a plastic mold. And with plastic, the weight can be reduced. However, considering the texture and the reliability of long-term use, we still chose aluminum as the material for the ear cups.
As you can see, the whole line of FiiO products is basically used metal shells. After all, they are not consumer products with frequent replacement, and they are relatively expensive. Consumers also prefer metal materials and hope we can use them.
3. The wheel hub's ear cup design
This design is very controversial. Through a simple analysis, we found that traditional audiophiles commonly used HiFi over-ear headphones with a traditional appearance design: a closed wooden bowl design or a large metal mesh design. The more sci-fi one is Sennheiser’s HD800. It not only has a superior design, but is also made of carefully selected materials, some of which are still a secret, so we cannot find related materials.
As a consequence, we not only have to avoid being similar to other over-ear headphones, but also cannot make it too simple (too simple will be like Sony and other brands). We still chose our usual geometric texture design, i.e. a variety of geometric patterns arranged in a regular manner. In the FT3, they are arranged in a circle around the center.
The FT3 is available now. From the current market performance, although it is not as popular as the Q11/KA5, it has been recognized and supported by many consumers. Also, there were some complaints. We are thinking about how to solve them. For one thing, the texture and design of the actual product may change your point of view. For another, we will also continue to correct and improve our design based on your opinions and feedback.
Of course, we hope the design of the FT3 can also make some contributions to the diversification of HiFi products. At present, we also need to take more into account the preferences of the younger generation.
The attached pictures show the different designs of the FT3 from the concept to the plane design. The titanium and silver designs also look good, but the black one is the most secure solution.
