TO embody MUSIC through design, merging sound's beauty with tactile elegance and visual harmony.

  • Harman Kardon defines the audio experience. As a brand, turntables and tonearms were their bread and butter in the mid-1970s. However, in recent times, they have moved away from this region in the market.

    With the turn of the decade along with the resurgence of trends in the late 20th century resurfacing, this serves as the perfect opportunity for the brand to reclaim their space in the purest form of the audio experience.

  • Taking current brand motifs and combining them with the true essence of the music and audio experience. To extract what sound is, in its most simple form, and have that be the focal point of the entire design in a manner that represents the Elegance, Luxury, and Rarity that comes with the Harman Kardon Brand.

  • An audio experience that would shake up the entire market, by bringing a new way to listen to the vinyl hits of past, present and future. The vinyl experience is one that appeals to senses other than that of hearing. Going to the store and physically feeling the record in your hand, adds to the experience and brings prestige to the listening experience.

WHAT IS SOUND IN ITS SIMPLIEST FORM?

LINE

PHYSICAL

SOUND & NATURE

CORRELATION

A line, in its simplest form, depicts direction transversely.

A line, in conjunction with others, can show movement.

A song is formed of multiple movements together, and that brings together the flow and joy that is experienced while a record plays.

Movement, but in 3D. Ranging from abstract linear flows in architecture through structures like Zaha Hadid's beautiful building in Baku. Flow and Movement go hand in hand. It ranges from erosion in the passages of Canyons, to sand moving across the Saharan Desert, to clouds moving over mountains to water trickling down from leaves in the canopies of trees.

Movement is depicted in waves, whether that is a body moving, or even standing still in water, it creates waves or even when it comes to high school textbooks, where a tuning fork creates waves emanating from a single point or a particle just existing in space. All waves.

MOTIFS

The ideation process started by extracting the general form lines of the existing Harmon Kardon product portfolio. After which, an exploration into the various form factors and brand identity ensued.

FORM

The design of the turntable's body was never going to deviate from the standard form, but what would change is how that form was treated. The negative space formed by the absence of form is a visual study that was capitalized.​

The migration from a negative form to a positive form, created by the "flow" that served as the main form focus of this project.

All that was left to divide was what the overall shape was how contrasting the negative and positive spaces could be without meddling with how the form spoke to its surroundings.

STYLE

STUDIES

DIRECTIONS

SPEAKERS

The turntable is one thing, listening is another. Sound needs to be heard and how else can that be done other than by a set of speakers to go with the turntable.

AUDIO

As a result of the front face being open, sound is able to fire through the top and the front, creating an optimal audio experience through this design.

INTERNALS

The internals of the turntable are fairly basic. The rotating platter has a motor underneath it that spins the platter on its own. This turntable has an audio DAC in the back right corner which allows it to output audio of the highest quality to connected speakers without requiring an external device to do so.

NEEDLE

A large design component of this turntable is the needle mechanism. This turntable unlike a large portion of the market, has no arm. It works on a sliding belt where the needle starts from the outermost point and migrates inwards, following the natural path of the grooves on the vinyl. It pivots on its axis, only moving 30 degrees on either side. As it moves through the record, it naturally moves inwards, continuing the auditory experience until it has run its path.

POWER

The internals of the turntable are fairly basic. The rotating platter has a motor underneath it that spins the platter on its own. This turntable has an audio DAC in the back right corner which allows it to output audio of the highest quality to connected speakers without requiring an external device to do so.

CONNECTIVITY

The ecosystem has been designed in such a way that one can take advantage of IoT and connect wirelessly to the turntable and speakers through virtual assistants.

The speakers could also be used as a pair without the need to use the turntable, and function as a stand-alone speaker through Bluetooth.