Judson's Treehouse Horizon Table
As a designer, Judson Beaumont of Straight Line Designs always looks to bend the lines, producing out-of-the-box pieces that are unexpected and add whimsy to any environment. So when Lenovo approached the creator about putting his touch on creating new opportunities for the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC, his mind took him to the tree tops. Here’s a glimpse at what sparked his imagination. Q. How did you get the idea for the 21st Century Treehouse? A. When I first thought about creating a table for the Horizon, I designed many different styles based on various age groups. Some of those original designs included adult versions, however, I am more known for children’s furniture so I was inspired to do a design for kids. With technology progressing, I was thinking about designing daycare centers, libraries and furniture that would allow children to interact, play and learn in these settings. The question I kept asking myself is “how can I create something that will intrigue them?” It’s great because the design of the 21st Century Treehouse also works as storage with the door leading to an empty space to keep toys, books and anything else. Function is just as important as design aesthetics and the storage space can also serve as an imaginary play area. Q. Do you see the integration of technology and furniture becoming a trend, especially as there are more devices for specific...
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The Nest Horizon Table
Another team of designers, Brooke Lichtenstein and Yiannos Vrousgos of Input Creative, took a totally different approach to creating their technology-infused table for the living room. Their expression, The Nest, reminds you of the Russian nesting dolls and Chinese puzzle boxes that efficiently use space in an elegant envelope. We’re fascinated by the three different interpretations on the assignment…create a table that showcases Horizon’s interpersonal features. Q. How did you approach this assignment and decide upon this concept? A. When we were first tasked with designing a table that would integrate the Horizon, we looked closely at both the computer’s features and Lenovo’s brand identity. We kept coming back to the idea that the Horizon is an all-in-one PC; meaning that it can be used for gaming, watching movies, Skype, as a tablet and can replace all other PCs in the household. With this is mind, we decided to design an all-in-one table that could stand on its own with integrated seating. Since Lenovo is a Chinese company, our next step was to research the history of gaming in China. During our research, we came across Chinese wooden block puzzles which look like a solid wooden block, yet when deconstructed, are actually made up of a lot of smaller, lightweight pieces. We implemented this concept into our design and arrived at a compact all-in-one gaming table. Q. Design is often about the little...
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Francois' AT-UM Horizon Table
Nearly ten years ago, UM Project owner François Chambord found his life’s calling: to design and create modern and innovative furniture. He applied his fervor for user-centric design to AT-UM, his fusion of Horizon with the traditional desk for a new kind of collaboration station – part easel, part studio desk and part table. In this post, François gives us some insight into his creation from when the sample we shipped him arrived at his workshop to its debut at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Q. AT-UM. That’s an interesting name. Tell us about it. A. I have always liked short names, hence the name of my company UM Project and many of my products like the NGL table or the SMPL table. They are strong and memorable; punchy sound bites. I also like when names have a certain amount of geekiness and a technological feel, as well as mystery and poetry. AT-UM could be the name of a computer or strange machine, but also the name of a friendly robot. AT-UM also works as an acronym that means the “Activity Table by UM Project,” which is the perfect description of this piece. The name is also a subtle reference to Star Wars AT-AT, one of the many incredible machines of the saga. Q. Your design allows people to use Horizon in both modes – tabletop and all-in-one. Talk about the design process for accommodating this. A. I was immediately seduced by the versatility of the Horizon, working...
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What’s the power of an hour? In 2012, the promise of a more environmentally-conscious planet inspired individuals in nearly 700 cities in more than 100 countries to take part in an hour of powering down around the world. In the past six years, the Earth Hour movement has grown from a national event in Australia to an international conversation to raise awareness about Earth’s precious environment and how global citizens can collectively make a difference. People this year will celebrate Earth Hour on March 23 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in local time zones. For all the ins and outs on how to participate, check out Earth Hour’s website. I am going to power down this year. The last time I did happened when my family lost power in one of those rare but crippling winter storms atypical for North Carolina. Armed with a headlamp and a book, a new awareness crept inside my consciousness – if everyone really did sweat the small power savings, collectively it could make a big difference. And that’s the power of Earth Hour. I’m no energy efficiency expert. But I know one who is when it comes to PCs. So I asked Lenovo master inventor Howard Locker how to squeeze out as much energy efficiency from PCs and how much it could save. Together we came up with a shortlist of best practices: Buy the most efficient desktop...
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Change in ThinkPad design typically evolves rather than making radical moves. Talk to stewards of the brand, David Hill or Aaron Stewart, and each of them will tell you that any tweaks to this hallmarks’ design come only after hours of excruciating and detailed thought. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who says we change for change’s sake. So when we do, it’s deliberate and for the better. That said, it’s hard to make everyone happy. Any time we make the slightest change, we get reams of comments – some “thank you” and “I love this,” and some, “What are you doing?” and “Don’t mess with it.” We truly appreciate those strong voices because it shows us your passion for technology and ThinkPad. To reach the top, products and companies continually reinvent themselves – just look at eBay or Amazon. We’re doing it too by moving from a PC company to a PC+ technology company with new products like smartphones and smartTVs in many countries across the world. To take it back to ThinkPad, we want to retain the right amount of ThinkPad-ness that satisfies our loyal customers who’ve always valued it while modernizing ThinkPad under the influences of consumerization’s focus on simplicity, interoperability and connectedness. We’ve pinpointed that important balance with the new ThinkPad T431s, a laptop that answers the question, with...
