If ever a camera deserved to be photographed, it’s this one. This pretty little point-and-shoot by designer Abidur Chowdhury looks to tactility, depth, and personalization to define its aesthetic.
Thanks to a removable textile covering, it’s capable of being completely customized. Now, artists can define not only their photography content but also their personal style with hardware to match. Its equipped with a variety of zoom and prime lenses which are also available in different color options for further personalization. The rest of the body is composed of a technical ceramic called steatite, a highly specialized material with qualities often associated with soapstone. Aside from the stunning visual presented by this unusual material combination, the resulting tactile experience feels entirely natural as if one were grabbing a stone or an organic skin.
Designer: Abidur Chowdhury
The camera is available with different sets of different zoom and prime lenses which are available in a variety of color options to allow people to personalize this accessory as they do with others from fashion to technology. Allowing people to fit it, stand out and mix and match exactly to their tastes.
The design explores a removable textile composed of 90% worsted wool and 10% nylon – which in turn provides a level of tactility over traditional camera materials like leather and an opportunity for flexibility and personalization. The logo is foil stamped onto the textile, allowing for a fairly flat metallic detail highlighting the brand. The camera also features an optional lanyard allowing for a safer transfer when using the product.
Each of the lenses can be released by selecting the pop color circular button at the bottom right of the camera, twisting the lens and pulling once a click is heard – taking inspiration from traditional camera lens removal, a learned behavior over decades.
The materiality on the body of the camera looks again to evoke the sense of natural tactility which flows from the use of textile, ridges and material choices as the user pushes and rotates the variety of buttons and mechanisms on the product.
The animation below looks to showcase, one flow of how the camera could be used. From selecting modes, focusing on a photo, capturing and editing that photo – and sending a selection of those photos to the cloud.
The body is made of the technical ceramic “Steatite” a highly specialized ceramic material which has unique properties mechanically and technically optimized for applications like these. While also providing physical tactility for the user and unleashing a more raw aesthetic to the camera.
Digital cameras are trending towards less tactile experiences, and are starting to overlap with mobile phones more and more. One of the most satisfying elements of using a camera is the beautifully tactile elements which allow for better precision, control and feedback. The intangible effect of the level of control that physical elements can give can really enhance a product experience – especially one as special as a photography lover’s relationship with their camera.
Three of the project colors and material finishes were derived from the inspirational imagery below, exploring the expression of pink, the engulfing nature of plants and well an indulgent style piece for myself. I looked into how these behaviors, expressions, and quirks could be represented through imagery and effects alongside the product to create more tailored images.
The capture button features a force sensitive button which allows the user to control whether they’re capturing a photo, taking a video for a short period of time, multiple tapping for burst modes and also more fun and unique capture modes.
An expression in pink with quirky poses, fun tools and playful forms using a combination of the loveable color and the assets added to the imagery to evoke a level of playfulness.
An expression in green shying away from full view and becoming engulfed by plants around it.
Exploring the aesthetics of static, noise and glitches allowing the aesthetic to invite openness and a level of randomness.
The lenses are fully ridged providing the functionality of turning the lens at any point on the device to adjust for focus whilst also creating an aesthetic that evokes the sensory feeling running your fingers through each of the ridges providing an encapsulating level of tactile feedback.
A pop-up flash module for those rare moments you want to do a bit of flash photography – without compromising the form and size of the product. A viewfinder does provide an improved photography experience giving the user the option of both conveniences when not in use and improved accuracy when taking photographs.
The product is available in a variety of color variants to suit a person and their style. Also if you liked any of the pictures on the cameras – they’re all taken by me, so thanks!
