Picture this: you buy a new MacBook Pro, a small wonder of industrial design, and the first accessory you pair it with is an ugly USB dongle that has no chance to ever live up to the same aesthetic level as the computer it’ll be connected to. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could create an interpretation of the small peripheral that would look just right next to our expensive Apple laptop? Someone, say, like Braun?
Unfortunately the iconic German brand isn’t interested in the PC and Mac accessories market, but this design concept for a Braun External Hub and SSD by Ja Heon Lee looks exactly like something the company could produce. Well, if they hadn’t moved to a completely different design language––and if Dieter Rams were still their Head of Design. The implicit reference of this concept, one that Apple aficionados have probably grasped right away, is that Dieter Rams’ work was the primary inspiration for Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive’s most iconic designs, such as the first iPod. In a way, this USB/SSD hub, albeit just a exercise in style, is able to somehow close an ideal circle that spans over a few decades of industrial design history.