“It is important that we make things for each other.”
- Sir Jony Ive
I used to love making mixtapes for people.
Sure, today you can share a playlist. But it’s not the same, is it?
a product
design
challenge
Prototype a modern, spiritual successor to the mixtape that is easy to share, intuitive to use, and most importantly, fun.
An obvious, but boring solution.
A thumb drive is easy to share and intuitive to use. It’s just not very fun. But given how widely supported it is, maybe I could work with it. I had an idea, and started looking at dozens of shapes, sizes and colors.
I chose this one.
Measure twice.
Now with exact thumb drive measurements, I drafted a blueprint to determine how much room it would take to fit 3 in a case. Because cases are fun.
In which case?
I searched through makeup cases, pill boxes, sewing containers, but I really wanted something as thin as a cassette tape. Something that could slide smoothly into a pocket.
In this case.
I settled on this watercolor travel palette. It’s made of tin, and I liked the idea of mounting the thumb drives inside with magnets. It was time for the first draft… and the first lessons.
Lessons
Even the strongest glue struggled to bond the magnets and aluminum thumb drives.
Grind prep areas
The thumb drives sat tight against the tin, and it was tough to grab them by the fingertips.
Add grip space
It didn’t feel fun yet, but I wasn’t sure why. How could I solve a problem I couldn’t see?
Take a break
The stars align.
The magnets kept the thumb drives in their case, but not in their place. How could I force them to stay in their original positions?
More magnets.
Package design.
I paid homage to the original inspiration with a high contrast, lo-fi cassette tape design. Inside, I used a color-coded legend so people will always know what’s on each thumb drive.
a work
in progress
It took several iterations, and the prototypes keep evolving as I try to strike a balance between the convenience of digital files and the tactile charm of physical media. At the very least I hope you’ll agree… it’s fun.