Aesthetics:

From looking at KEF's range of speakers and audio products that they have designed and are currently selling i have noticed that each one is designed differently using different colours, materials and Design Style i.e. linear/geometric. From looking at the different designs that they have done i have noticed how minimal and simple each design is. KEF's most recent speaker designs the Blade and Muon are extremely plain looking, so this sugests to me this is the new design direction that KEF plan to take up. Like most good design companies KEF use a three colour scheme on all of there product and each scheme is different to the other i.e. Black, Grey & silver or White, Black & Orange. KEF have used the curves in their new designs to make curves look modern as traditionally modernism is straight lines and hard edges. I like the design style of the new speakers as they are very different to other speakers on the market. I plan on using KEF's three colour scheme along with Black, Grey and silver, i also like to use some curves in the design but still using straight lines to stick with the modernism look. I will plan on looking at different objects for inspiration my favourite being architecture

 

Cost:

Looking at the price of all their different products it is clear that KEF charge a high rate for their products the lowest being £150 all the way up to £70,000. As they charge such a high price it is clear that there products are of the highest quality and that with a high price they will make the customer feel like they have brought a luxurious prduct. There is clearly a gap in the market for KEF as they dont provide a low cost speaker to the market. I could design a speaker to fill this gap in the market and make KEF's target market larger but in doing this i belive it will damage KEF's image. So sticking with KEF's current branding and marketing i aim to create a speaker in the high cost bracket, in order to do this i will use quality materials and audio equiptment and make sure the design looks like it should cost that much.

 

Customer:

From looking at KEF"s products, website and Brand synopsis i have come to the conclusion that KEF's target audience is male in the age range of 25 > 40 years old. I have come to this conclusion as on there website all the pictures are of male but also the style and design of their products are more suited to a male taste. On this not i will want to aim my product at a male audience between the age range of 25 > 40, I will also like for them to be stlish and up to date with fashion, design and the current trends of style as KEF will reflect that. As i will be designing a new speaker i will want the customer to have a interest in music and sound and will ask them questions of what they prefer in a speaker system i.e. Bass, Acoustics or loudness. I will also use various objects and products that relate to the male market such as cars, watches, clothing and gadgets as these will be able to reflect what a male between that age range will like.

 

Environment:

At the moment it obvious that all of KEF's products are for use indoors and to be kept inside. This leaves a big gap in the market as KEF do not provide a speaker or audio product that can be safe to use outside and that it has been specifically designed to be used away from the comforts of inside a home. As there is this gap in the market i will initialy plan on designing a speaker that can be used outside aswell as inside, this then leads it to be portable. As it will be made for use outside the house it will need to be waterproof to prevent any risk to the user but also be portable as the user will not want to be carrying a huge speaker around with them.

 

Size:

My speaker will be a size suitable to be portable and not cause the user any problems when moving the product. Although i want it to be a reasonably small size it will have to be big enough to house enough speakers to make it loud enough to be heard in its environment but also to produce quality sound which KEF prides its self on. As it will be portable there is a choice between having a dock which will house a phone or MP3 player or making it wireless which is more logical as it is a portable device. Both of these factors will affect the size of the product as a dock will require room whereas a wireless device will make it smaller as it will not require to have the device connected all the time.

 

Safety:

One of the major factors when making and designing a electrical device such as a speaker is that it needs to be safe. The most important factor with the speaker being safe is that it doesnt electrocute anyone. to make sure this doesnt happen i will make sure that all the connections will be secure and that the bare wires will be wrapped in electrical tape to prevent the possibility of electricution. Another imporatant safety factor to consider is that there is no loose wires that the customer will accidently touch or pull by mistake which will cause danger to the user. Having a limiter on the volume willalso make the speaker more safe as it will not damage the users hearing if it is to loud.

 

Function:

Having different functions on a speaker is a major selling point as it will provide multiple options for the user. The first and major option that i will deffinetly include in the speaker is the ability to connect a device via bluetooth. I will do this as this is currently industry standard but also is realy helpful to the user as they are able to play their own music and are able to change the song with out the need to go to the speaker. I wil also include a number of industry standar ports in the speaker such as; Auxillary, USB, Headphone port and port for the power supply. These ports will make the speaker usable with other devices such as laptops, tv, or devices that dont have the standard AUX port. The main function of the speaker is to provide Music at a good enough quality for it to be sufficient in its environment so the number one function will be for the speaker to play high quality music.

 

Materials:

The materials will be the major selling point for the speaker as they will define how the speaker looks, so it is important that the choice of material is right. KEF use the highest quality materials in their products so i will deffinetly be following that aspect of their designing. Common materials they use are plastic, metal and hardwoods.Although i want to use the highest quality materials i will need to test how they act with sound i.e. do they distort the quality of sound. At this current moment in time i will plan on using Hardwood, high quality plastic and the possibility of metal. Other materials that i might consider depending on the design are glass, rubber or a cheaper wood. I will use plastic as it has a naturally good finish and that it can be vaccum formed and cut reletively easy without complication.