Hi.

I wanted to share the below article (borrowed from our press centre) as it provides a nice insight into the design process that ultimately leads to a Sony product.

Let me know what you think and if similar stories, interviews and content would be of interest in the future

L.

It’s the world’s smallest and lightest digital still camera and yet the Cyber-shot™ HX50 still packs a powerful 30x optical zoom, has a 20.4MP sensor and built-in image stabilisation plus a host of other features to help you capture vibrant pictures and full HD videos.

Now, what you probably don't know is that this impressive little camera was created and designed by a man called Mirko Goetzen from the European Design Centre in Weybridge, Surrey.

Below, Mirko talks through the cameras design development, from concept to production.

Challenging the compact camera market
Initial discussions with the digital imaging business group led to a challenging brief - create a premium quality camera that could offer more than the point and shoot compacts. It had to go one step ahead of its predecessor the HX20 – to maintain its appeal visually, but also offer a number of key professional features.

Compact products, complex construction
The challenge for both designer and engineer when designing product which is both portable and compact in size, is to find the best composition to achieve minimal bulk yet to maintain usability, aesthetics and function both the engineering and other design elements.

Mirko explains, “When designing Sony products such as wireless speakers or televisions a 2mm amendment to the design is a relatively small difference that incurs minimal repercussions, however, with camera design, repositioning a dial by 1/10 of a mm could potentially provoke a complete rethink of the whole composition.”With such a compact product each design tweak can potentially have a significant effect on 

The essence of camera-ness

With a determination to elicit an essence of camera-ness, the initial sketch of the HX50 focused on evoking a more professional, high-end look and feel that was sympathetic to the features of the HX20, while also being conscious of projecting a contemporary flavour.

Four key design elements served to deliver in the pursuit for camera-ness:

1. The archetypical step

With a gentle nod to traditional camera design, and moving away from the curved design of its predecessor, we engineered a precise machined aesthetic to create a pronounced augmentation to the upper surface, giving the camera a natural elevation.

2. Positioning the dial and shoe

A compact camera requires many dials and buttons; all with accompanying iconography, to be positioned on a minimal surface area, yet still allow for good usability, readability, and maintain design sensibility. In positioning the dial and shoe on the upper surface we acquired improved usability and the ability to offer more premium features.

3. Material selection

Formed anodised metal on the camera body offers durability and a cool sense of touch that exudes a more premium feel. Combined with the grip’s new pattern and texture, the HX50 provides an enhanced, professional user experience.

4. Precisional appearance

When you hold the HX50 you can feel the solidness of the product and the quality of its build. This was achieved by not only eliminating any unnecessary decoration, but by reducing the gaps between all the different parts, keeping tolerances as low as possible and minimising the radii to deliver as sharp and precise appearance as possible.

Once we had reached the optimum component volume, the art of visual reduction began. Through digital mathematical surfacing we evaluated the highlights and shadows of gradients and implemented the most subtle of changes, to ultimately refine the overall appearance.

It was vital for the design team to work closely with the engineers during this 2D sketch phase to ensure that the design options were feasible and fit with the technical specifications.

Once the sketches had been signed off we generated a number of rapid prototypes to check proportions, evaluate minute changes to confirm that the product looks as good as the spec shouts and ultimately evaluated if the concept fulfills the business groups objectives in 3D.

Once we were happy with the proportions, a full appearance mock-up of the final design was issued for the purpose of critiquing the design in its final shape and with its chosen materials and finish.

With the camera body’s part metal construction combined with the touch of the grip and thumb pad in hand - the HX50 more than delivers on the ‘look and feel’ of a professional, quality camera.

More information and full technical specification for the DSC-HX50 can be found here.

About the Sony European Design Centre
The Design Centre Europe was established in 1980 in Stuttgart; it was the first of its kind to be created by a consumer electronics brand in Europe. Today the Design Centre Europe is located at Sony’s European headquarters in Weybridge. It acts as an antenna for European design trends and works to create products specific to local markets.

About Senior Designer Mirko Goetzen

Mirko Goetzen designed the Sony Cyber-shot HX50, the German born designer joined Sony in 2008. A graduate of the University of Essen, he spent six months on exchange at the University of Singapore. Upon graduation he continued to gain a wealth of global experience working in San Diego, Germany and Finland for Ziba California, Miele and Nokia respectively. Mirko brings a German precision with a global sensibility to his designs, recent projects include; the origami inspired digital photo frame in collaboration with Softbank (only available in Japan), the X series wireless speakers and VAIO and VAIO accessories.