One of our main commissions from 2017 to 2018 was the research and definition of the second generation of Facebook devices. The studio defined features, user experiences, and design principles keeping Facebook’s mission to “give people the power to connect with family and friends” in mind. The exploration resulted in a family of complementary products designed to blend into the home environment — elemental yet approachable, and sharing similarities in form and detail. In addition to a shared design language, all solutions were formed with careful consideration to privacy, usability, and unobtrusiveness.
Confidential. At the heart of Rimowa’s identity is a tradition of craftsmanship and robustness, from their meticulous sense for detail to the skillful use of aluminum. These qualities and know-how serve as anchors for further development of the brand. The studio was commissioned to explore future product opportunities, carefully balanced between innovation and heritage.
With the ever-increasing number of screens in households reaching saturation point, the studio decided to explore something new — a screenless smart camera solution that could take advantage of devices already present. Portal TV was born, introducing a novel user scenario to the Facebook Portal portfolio. The device automatically spans and zooms, pitching voices over background noises to facilitate seamless and enjoyable video calling experiences.
Ensuring privacy while delivering hardware products at Facebook is imperative, so Portal TV’s primary design gesture resides in the way the shutter slides over the lens. This doubles as an elegant and efficient way of hiding the shutter mechanism while enabling airflow throughout the product for passive cooling.
