iLounge

Great design often appears inevitable. It’s not. Virtually every great product is the result of dozens of half-formed ideas, intentional choices, and plenty of prototypes. What better illustrations of this than the iPod and iPhone, products that had been done before by other companies, but were polished by Apple’s designers into museum-class works of art?

iPod fans have proved willing to pay a premium for great design, but over the last couple of years, things have changed: 9 out of every 10 iPod products is a boring clone of something that came before. It’s almost impossible to find real standouts with so much garbage to sift through.

So today, we’re launching iDesign, a series of feature articles that will begin by spotlighting the key design features of a strikingly unique product or family of products, initially without any involvement from the creators or vendors. We pick the items worthy of spotlighting fully on merit, with nothing else as a consideration; you’ll see each article at the same time as the designers do. Then, if possible, we’ll publish a second part to each article—an interview with the people behind the design. In this way, we hope to reward impressive products and designers, rather than focusing as much on the junk out there.

Our first subject: V-Moda’s Vibe earphones, which for the last year have used eye-grabbing metal shells to create some of the most fashionable listening devices available anywhere in the world. Click here for the inaugural edition of iDesign: the Art of V-Moda’s Vibe Earphones.