3M is an excellent materials technology company. The project involved designing 3M's first wireless charger and building it with its own wireless charging system which was developed in-house. We thought long and hard to answer questions such as, ”What is the essence of 3M?,” “What is the design philosophy and design language of 3M?”, and ultimately came to the conclusion that the answer to those questions could be best answered with the word “rationality.” We thought a product that was the most rational, functional, and at the same time featured only the absolutely necessary elements embodied the essence of 3M. Our efforts culminated in the hemisphere shape of the product.
At first, we made a horn type that amplified sound so that people could listen to their music a lot better while charging. We also placed the hinge in functional way, redesigned the lighting and mounting mechanisms, sketched out the architecture and verified the design.
In the end, a magnet was used instead of a hinge to allow the simplified hemispherical shape to rotate freely. In terms of manufacturing and structure, the product was designed to function with minimal equipment, just as consumers would expect from 3M products.
