Hi guys,

this is a university research about B&O products and the meaning of industrial Design.and  I  really need to know:

"what you see beyond B&O designs?"

and

"what is the main idea in B&O designs that helps you find out it is a B&O product?"

thank you

If I may address the second question (as I see it's easier to respond to than the first one as it is a bit unclear), I would say that the main idea I see in the design, is simplicity. I think that someone once put it that the idea is that it is finished, when there is nothing more to take away from it and that sums it up quite nicely. B&O design is, to me, about simplicity and a try to solve the problem within the principle of  "Form before function" into an item that has both form and function!

Let me give you a for instance: The Beo 4 Remote introduced in 1994.  A shape that is common for many remote controls, but a quality that is unmistakeably upscale; the weight of it , the balance, the intuitive set of buttons that you can feel in the dark (and you can! I have...). This kind of remote is very rare (if there ever is something similar) to find with other makes and manufacturers.

Also, as is implied with the Beo 4, it is also a question of materials. A B&O product (at least the ones truly B&O) is always made of a high quality enduring material, such as wood (for the older products), high qualiy plastic, glass where possible and aluminium.

Thirdly, I think what makes it stand out as B&O-product is the effort put into the finish. A B&O-product should at least feel as it has been custom made or even hand made for you!

Beyond the design?

One touch for anything you want to do. Nothing that is to much and that you never going to use anyway.

Most important the sound of the units! How brilliant they work together when they do work. Take a 1998 Beo4 remote and point it to a Beocenter 9500 late '80s and it still works great. There is so much thought put into the products and the only trouble is service when they get 15 years old or more.

They last longer and keep their value better than any other HIFI in general.

You can get lost in HIFI or go with B&O. B&O from early '80s can still give HIFI a serious kick as it never sounds dated.

 "what is the main idea in B&O designs that helps you find out it is a B&O product?"

Never seems out of date or invaluable. If it looks great it would not matter if it works all the time?

To me, great design is something that makes you stop and pause everytime you use it. It is simple but wonderfully made.

To me Bang & Olufsen always has to have a little bit of aluminium on it no matter whatever else the product is made of.

Great design is timeless and gives pleasure - take the MINI for instance  timeless and classless - could be parked outside a students dorm or the classiest hotel in Monoco!

Friedmett:

You can get lost in HIFI or go with B&O.

Well said...

Friedmett:

Never seems out of date or invaluable.

Timeless...

You might find some inspiration in looking to the 7 CIC's as developed under Jacob Jensen. These guidelines, like Dieter Rams' commandments of design have persisted through the decades and designers and informed the design language that identifies B&O in the larger market.  

vahidian:

Hi guys,

this is a university research about B&O products and the meaning of industrial Design.and  I  really need to know:

"what you see beyond B&O designs?"

and

"what is the main idea in B&O designs that helps you find out it is a B&O product?"

thank you

Q1. If you mean 'behind' B&O designs it is aesthetically designed products where the appearance often departs radically from the functional layout adopted by most mainstream manufacturers.

Q2. High quality machined materials with a unique finish. Often over-simplified controls, recognising that most controls on very high-end competitors products in reality are little used.

Graham

vahidian:

"what you see beyond B&O designs?"

Beyond the external design (which is beautiful) is the internal design/architecture, and by that I do not mean the layout of the components inside the box (although there are some on this forum who will wax lyrical about the quality of the internal components).

What I mean by internal design/architecture is how the system operates.  Think of systems you interact - some simply WORK and others are awful.

Think of an office block, a house, an airport, a town, etc., -- I often get frustrated at just how bad things are, such as slippery marble floors as an entrance where it rains every second day, or having such an entrance without an awning/overhead to allow some natural drying before the feet reach the marble floor ... good design, good architecture is where a lot of care and attention has been paid to making things simply work for the user.  The problem with such elegance is people don't often realise it is there!

So for me there is a beauty to how B&O equipment works as a system.  Take my beloved 5000s - switching sources activates one and deactivates the other even though they are separate units.  Other manufacturers' HiFi equipment of the early Eighties would leave the turntable spinning if you switched to the radio.

And when you have a B&O environment in your home ... wow! Walk into the bedroom and activate the speakers to listen to the end of the TV news, catch the weather forecast, and then activate your collection of favourite music stored on an SD card - a simple smooth transition, you don't have to think! you just press what you want and the system delivers.  Truly the Aladdin's Lamp as advertised by B&O in the 80s (I think ...)

I love my B&Os for how simple they make my life ... and for how they enrich it with beauty ... beautiful music ... and beautiful looks.

edit: pf85 also describes this magic in his recent thread on ease of use

vahidian:

"what is the main idea in B&O designs that helps you find out it is a B&O product?"

For me this is the hard question ... you can look at diverse equipment and yet "know" that its just must be from B&O.

What is it about the Beocentre 2 that cries out "B&O" ? or the Beolab 4000s ? or the BeoVision 10 ?

I don't know what it is ... but they do.

Even the BeoVision 8 to me quietly states that it is different ... and maybe that is what B&O is about?  Being different, being individualistic ...