The all-in-one record shelf.
Crate. Bring life back to music.
Streaming made music endless and effortless, and in the process turned it into background sound.
I started out designing a speaker. Interviews showed the speaker wasn't where people engaged with music. The player was.
A player that pairs a touchscreen with one multi-function wheel, plus four modes for listening more deeply.
What gets people to engage more deeply with the music they love?
I interviewed people about how they listen to music, what friction they feel, and the audio products they already own. I went in sketching speakers.
It is the player that matters, not the speakers
A better speaker system would make people listen more closely.
Interviews kept returning to appreciation of art, understanding of the artist, and communal listening, not to sound quality.
Move the project to the player. Speakers become output, driven by amplified terminals on the back.
Crate is no longer self-contained; it needs a pair of speakers to make sound.
A design language that steps back for the album art
Before settling the form, I tried a tilting album-art screen, a stepped block, and two-tone and silver bodies.
Rich, tactile detail would make the object feel premium and exciting.
Next to real album covers, the detailed direction competed with the artwork on screen.
Restrained surfaces. The album art stays the focus.
Reduced tactility and immediacy of controls.
From a panel of controls to one wheel
Designing the UI showed which actions people repeat. Once navigation lived on screen, most physical buttons became redundant, so I folded them into the wheel and kept volume on its own knob.
- Touch wheelPause
- Press wheelStart / stop
- Turn wheelMenus and timeline
- Flick spinSkip track
- KnobVolume
- ScreenBrowse, modes, artwork
- Rear switchPower
A dedicated music player needs a panel of dedicated buttons.
Developing the digital UI showed navigation could live on screen.
One wheel handles play, pause, navigation and skipping. A separate knob handles volume.
[How first-time users discover gestures like flick-to-skip.]
All controls are right at hand
With the control scheme settled, the wheel sits under the hand while the screen stays in view.
Crate
ConductorListen in a brand new way with AI stem splitting. Mix vocals, melody, drums, and bass to your liking, adjust the tempo, and even add FX.
LearnDiscover something about your favorite artist: their writing process, production facts, and more.
LyricsCommunity annotated lyrics through Genius. Find references and contribute your own perspective.
ExploreUnearth musical connections with this chronological influence map. What albums influenced this one? Which did it go on to influence?
Amplified speaker outputs make for seamless living room listening with any speakers.
USB and SD compatibility for loading a curated music library.
Crate is offered in a variety of colorways to match any living space: cozy, bold, or clean.
What I'd do next
- Develop the rest of the UI, with user testing to analyze how people actually react to the system.
- Explore what a unified system of streaming and music purchasing would look like for Crate.
- Do a cost and market analysis, determining a direction for materials and final price.