pocketable mino
A young startup at the time entering the new video camera market, Pure digital wanted the help from Smartdesign to reassess their product strategy and create a new product identity for their first new USB integrated reusable camcorder.
The lead designer on the account, a new vision around what the small simple camcorder could be was developed using thorough consumer research with competitive market and customer analysis. With the success of the first product launch I remained the principal lead throughout the subsequent product launches during which time their exponential growth as a company (changing brand name to Flip video) and market leader led in an acquisition by Cisco for $590M. The product line ultimately disappeared once smartphone conglomerates started dominating the market introducing their own video capturing apps.
The first generation Flip Mino, was a slimmed down version of the Ultra with capacitive buttons and metal USB arm on top aimed at the younger more influencer focused users posting to online video platforms.
The second generation Flip Mino had a sleeker design with minimal part lines and a distinctive perforated light bar machined into the aluminum housing that simplified the brand look and feel while also functioning as the microphone and speaker ports for video playback.
Placing the USB arm on the top of the Mino made charging/ downloading files easier and more space efficient. It was also one of the first products on the market that used an all metal USB housing.
High level overview of the design process for the Gen 2 Mino. The design embraced a paired down, minimal look and feel informed by the larger Ultra model.
The first generation Ultra became the mainstream market leading camcorder in the US for its no frills approach to taking and downloading videos. It won the IDSA Gold Award and later the ‘Design of the decade’ award in the consumer electronics category.
Color samples with exclusive models for different distributors; Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
A range of early ergonomic foam models looking at optimizing the grip, balance and lens position with respect to hand grip placement.
ID - Illustrator rendition concept
A top selling camcorder in the US at its peak and widely marketed nation wide - Based on the product design strategy Smartdesign applied, the Flip 3rd Gen Ultra and Mino was marketed using everyday people in their campaigns.
Flip share TV module with remote and computer dongle. The remote retained the iconic Flip center button familiar across the Flip family of products. The dongle was used to create a simple connection to the TV module and easily sync the videos from computer to TV for viewing.