iLounge

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 2008, iLounge’s just-released New iPad Buyers’ Guide includes the fifth installment of our iDesign series. Created to share the wisdom of leading Apple third-party designers with a wider audience, the series has been filled with insightful information from the makers themselves—and this year’s edition is amongst the best to date. Spanning over 20 pages, it includes interviews with representatives from several companies, notably including speaker makers Geneva Lab and Soundfreaq.

Based in Switzerland, Geneva Lab brings a specific, minimal aesthetic to its speaker designs, something the company founder and CEO Jan-Erik Lundberg talked about in our interview. “We’ve always approached each product with the idea of design integrity that each system should be easily identifiable as a Geneva product without having to see the label”, said Lundberg. “Any new product idea we have starts with continuity with our past.” The company has also taken a no-compromises approach to its products, relying on superior materials and memorable designs during years that saw most rivals churning out forgettable alternatives.

By comparison, Soundfreaq is a young company, but forged a strong identity and philosophy of its own after creating the original iPod accessory lineup for Memorex. In one of our favorite iDesign interviews ever, Creative Director Matthew Paprocki explained the company’s focus on boxy, thoughtful speakers at aggressive prices. “Ultimately, speakers are about moving air volume,” he said. “Our rectangular forms are space efficient and allow us to make the biggest acoustic impact with the smallest footprint… We also want our style to be classic and timeless, not fleeting. We’re not making disposable products.”

You can find much more from both interviews in The New iPad Buyers’ Guide, which is available now as a free download.