When we design with gender in mind, our initial reaction is to resort to extremes instead of solving real problems. When designing for women things that may come to people’s mind are pink, soft, simple and the exact opposite for men. What we often do not take into account is that what works for one group of people works because it focuses on good user experience. Good design will captivate both genders.
When Ashcraft was approached by Stelle Audio to design a portable audio system for fashionable females, we did not ask ourselves what pastel color should we apply or how soft should the shape be, we looked at how the product was to be used in it’s environment and is sold and distributed. What resulted was a design that blends harmoniously with it’s environment rather than look out of place as a traditional piece of technology would. When designing a home you want a cohesive environment and you would like the products that you buy to fit into that environment seamlessly. The biggest detail that makes audio equipment stand out in an interior is the speaker grille and display. The Stelle Pillar replaces the traditional the speaker grille with a beautiful anodized extruded aluminum case. The speakers fire up at an angle out of the top, and a down firing subwoofer for a room filling 360 degree sound field. This set up completely removes the speaker perforation or grill, leaving a clean seamless vase-like object. The result is a design while intended for fashionable females transcends this market and would look great in anyone’s home.