20/Feb/2011 Form and Function

I came up with a theory while I was thinking about what to talk about today. That form-follows-function designs are generally more masculine and function-follows-form designs are generally more feminine. 

The first object came up in my mind is the original, military spec Humvee, it is an obvious example. Everything made for military uses doesn't need to consider it's aesthetic aspects at all. Every detail on this vehicle is there for the practicality. The doors open 180 degrees for easy access to the cabin and to do so, they need to leave the hinges to be seen. The tall chassis allows it to be driven cross complicated environment with ease. The armors protect its passengers from bullets, etc. When they were designing this vehicle they thought so much about how well it would perform in the battlefield and they completely forgot about all the bolts and hinges, so they are all exposed. I don't think anybody would describe it as beautiful but doesn't it look like a big, strong man?

On the other end of the scale there sits the first Macbook Air, I use the first Macbook Air instead of the new one as my example is because I really think the new one is one of the ugliest designs from Apple and it looks like a door stop. To make it as thin and light as possible, Apple have compromised a lot. They got rid of many things a decent computer needs. Disc drive? It exists only in your dream. On the entire body there is just a power port and one USB port, which means if you want use a mouse and a import some photos from your camera at the same time, you'd have to buy an ugly USB hub. So you would think it's rubbish, but wait until you see it. Boy it's such a beautiful piece of design. The soft and feminine lines and curves made it elegant and pretty. While it's lack of practical function, it's got another function of putting smiles on people's faces. 

Another unusual computer on the market, the Panasonic Toughbook CF series, has a very different design philosophy. When the screen is closed it looks like it's the suitcase that contains the Desert Eagle. I have seen the Hangover, I noticed that there was a Toughbook CF series in the stolen police car, I know many construction companies use it on the construction sites, they also have them on the British ambulances when I was watching Emergency Services. Because it is water proof, shock proof and dust proof, to say it in another way, you can use this computer in almost any environment. Its body is extremely thick so all the fragile computer components can be wrapped in shock absorbing materials, all the ports around the computer have rubber covers to protect it from water, the display might not be able to display the best quality you can get from laptops, but it can stand a free drop from 90cm height with the machine running. Again this is a form-follows-function design and again, it looks so masculine. Look at the front of it, it's so powerful. 

There are so many examples I can talk about, I found this quite interesting. I am not saying that because of function-follows-form designs are not functionally perfect, so they are not good. In life, what can be better when they give you a good mood?