Sony Design Center, LA
The Design Center is the product design group within Sony Electronics, Inc.
The group has over 200 members worldwide including industrial, interaction and
graphic designers with offices in Japan, England, Singapore and the United States.
Together, the group is responsible for making Sony into one of the most widely
recognized brand names and product lines in the world. We are committed to creating
products and services that enable new lifestyles. The Design Center was created
in 1961 and designs over 1000 products in a typical year.
In September 2004 the New Jersey and San Francisco design studios were merged
into the new Sony Design Center, LA. The new office is focused on creating products
and services that marry Sony's great design tradition with its expanding library
of music, movies and games. The Sony Design Center, LA is organized into three
core groups:
" Physical / Product Design
" Interaction & Visual Design
" Design Strategy & Lifestyle Research
Physical / Product Design Field
The Physical Design Group creates the physical design of our products. The group
seeks to design products that are both elegant and functional. Business domains
include, VAIO, TVs, home audio, portable audio and car audio. The group also
works on concept proposals for future entertainment products for the home and
mobile markets. On many projects, product designers work with interaction and
visual designers on the overall themes and concepts of a product
Interaction & Visual Design Field
The Interaction Design Group is responsible for the design of user interfaces
for Sony products, websites and services. The group works with many of Sony's
emerging technologies and business groups. Projects include the Connect Online
Music Service, mobile phone interfaces, TV/cable/satellite interfaces, and applications
for the VAIO line of personal computers. The group also works on R&D projects
that explore network entertainment products and services. The Graphic Design
Group is responsible for visualizing Sony's brand image for the US market through
logos, packaging, and web design. The group advises and helps set strategy on
branding, visual style, and use of the Sony name.
Design Strategy & Lifestyle Research Field
Many of Sony's great products have succeeded by defining new consumer lifestyles.
The Walkman created the personal and portable music lifestyle. One of the missions
of the Sony Design Center, LA is to be an antenna for lifestyle trends that
suggest new product opportunities. The Design Strategy group is responsible
for overseeing design-related research and in translating insights into new
product opportunities.
