For the new Kodak Super 8 camera, Yves Béhar turned to the light switch for inspiration
fuseproject’s founder on creating an up-to-date filmmaking experience with a film-based cartridge
Droves of retro-inspired products keep showing up on our social feeds, shelves and credit card statements. These cameras, media players and objects are an exercise in defiance, reviving renounced technologies for an extra shot at a new wave of consumers. They are packed with better guts, more features and ergonomic shapes that are pleasing to the eye and grasp. All of these qualities happen to be evidence that even when revisiting something that has been done before, it remains no easy feat to create a great product.
We see the culmination of this trend with the release of products like the Sony Turntable, FUJIFILM INSTAX Cameras and Film and the recent reboot of the Kodak Super 8.
We spoke with Yves Béhar, founder and principal designer of fuseproject, an industrial design and branding studio behind many leading products and branding initiatives that push the boundaries of how we interact with our technology.
But, there are untold challenges when it comes updating a product to contemporary standards. Maintaining an element of nostalgia can be difficult. Between his work on August Smart Locks and the Kodak project, Béhar is forging the path on a return of retro-inspired products — a return of analog in our increasingly digital world.
In the case of the Kodak project, cinema has made significant advances in technology since the heyday of the Super 8 film camera. Thus, his team felt it was important to incorporate modernity into this product so that filmmakers could have the best of both worlds: the analog and digital. Perhaps fittingly, the biggest resulting challenge was this: creating an up-to-date filmmaking experience with a classic film-based cartridge.
“The era of digital technology has created a sense of ubiquity and banality; there is an experience that comes with playing a record or developing a photo that gets lost in our now instantaneous world. More people have the patience and desire for craft, and want to re-learn the skills to create a unique piece of work. While I still think we should progress our technological advancements, I also think there will become a stronger desire to celebrate these more tactile, hands-on experiences.”
For the new Super 8, Béhar’s team was not looking just to refresh an older design; for this product, in particular, fuseproject wanted to create a legitimate tool for filmmakers that integrates new digital features and capabilities.
It was particularly important for him as people love the Super 8 for the quality, sense of craft, and imagery it produces. The new camera design is focused on combining digital technology such as an LCD screen with new materials and ergonomic features, which enable users to experience the craft of 8mm filmmaking with modern qualities.
“[When dealing] with a product and an app, you really have to think about the lifespan of the experience, and how it will fit into your day-to-day life. The combination of product and digital experiences should be designed to deliver a seamless and intuitive user experience.”
With extensive insight into the tangible aspects of product design, fuseproject, who is behind the execution of plenty of great ideas and implementations, have time and again helped consumers negotiate the challenges of our hyper-connected world.
“I always say, if something is more difficult to use than a light switch, then it will be much harder to integrate into our lives. In this way, digital experiences can be designed for everyone–regardless of skill, age or background.”
When he’s not breathing life into retro-inspired products, Béhar is looking toward the future. Currently, he is investigating the next wave of innovation by asking some questions: specifically, how we design technology to enhance our experience of the world, rather than disconnect us from it. Perhaps unexpectedly then, he is currently working with robots:
“I’m really interested right now in robotics.
I have a few robots in the works that will help change our perspective of technology from something dystopian and cliché, such as robots with arms and legs, to something that supports our day-to-day lives.”
There are great minds behind the objects we engage with on a daily basis. Though the trend may seem to suggest otherwise, a return to the familiar is more complicated than it seems.
Originally published at www.psfk.com on March 2, 2016.