Product Designer: 4Design
Product Manufacturer: Thureon Ltd
Silver – International Design Excellence Awards 2008
Shortlist – Australian International Design Awards 2007
4Design created a multi-featured enclosure for a small network, bringing a very original solution to a computing situation that has changed very little since the 1930’s. Armarac solves all the ergonomic, logistical, storage, maintenance and design problems, which all network servers of Armarac’s capacity have, all at once in a very clever, practical and unique design.
One prominent design change that defines Armarac from conventional network severs is the vertical orientation of which the network hubs are stored. This brings all the technical focus to a comfortable chest height and to go between network hubs the user literally flicks through the different hubs like a book! While this all looks a bit cramped for network hub storage, the hubs are spaced out inside the enclosure while Armarac’s superior fan cooling system provides a wholly revolutionised air circulation throughout the enclosure. The enclosure is uniquely wall mountable and uses a simply construction design to minimise manufacturing costs, to bring down the price for buyers.
Its futuristically sophisticated-look housing is offered in several colour schemes which are made available to suit the different and varying markets that this product will attract. Stephanie McLoughlin from Info World said: ‘The hinged doors open vertically, so the Armarac takes about 4 square feet of space when opened up, but since you're hanging everything on the wall, there's no squatting and bending to get access to the guts’. It features vertical clamshell doors for easy nothing-in-the-way access and the deluxe model even comes with a LCD screen and keyboard to access the network server directly.
4Design have re-invented the way we network severs, and have created a new and more harmonious relationship between us and computers and an extremely marketable product for an exurbanite amount of uses.
LINE – calm, solid
SHAPE – bold and prominent
CONTRAST – green window panels against black, stainless steel or red
TEXTURE – smooth, professional
COLOUR – industrial mat black, see-through industrial green, brushed steel
SCALE – life size, dominant
For more information visit these sites:
http://www.thureon.com/index.htm
http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?articleID=199901909
David George
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