When starting this project, I asked myself many questions about what could be a great netbook, and what could we do to make it more desirable, how to remove this mechanical aspect that we can see in many machines and bring back some emotion into it.
So this is not about a crazy concept, it is a logical study with a schematic process of how we can improve this product category based on current constraints make it beautiful and still make it to production.
Obviously, to create something consistent, something that globally makes sense, I almost started from the ground up, first defining the proportions the product should have... wide proportions here to convert the idea of mobility while reminding the women's purse, and that's a big idea of this design, just like a women's purse.
Both sides and front have large curvatures, giving generous outline to the product and a more friendly aspect, the back line remains straight as it is a visual anchor for the screen and also a mechanical rotating point for the screen's hinge.
The placement of components have been carefully considered as well, battery is located in the front part of the case, the thermal vents exit is toward the back to not send hot wind to your gentle hands. All the plugs are placed behind a door and located on the left side in order to keep clean lines, and free the right side from cables if using a mouse (considering most of user are right-handed).
The idea was to have something very neutral from the external appearance very quite without something in the shape that will bother you, hence the black covers that are mostly highlighting the lines of the product, and the constant height on the side to avoid any bump caused by plugs), only front and back are tapered more inside to give this thinness impression.
The top cover has a quite mysterious aspect, that appeared to be interesting later on the mock-ups, it is made of a transparent plastic and have a three dimension texture engraved on the bottom surface. So from far away, you would only see a black pebble... coming closer the subtle pattern will be revealed but the top surface remain smooth to the touch.
Despite this quite low-profile external appearance, it needed a kind of highlight catching people's interest... the inner loop is just that, but it's not only a decorative additional element... it's the palm rest cover that can be seen from the outside, and that is the surprise that is revealed once the notebook is opened.
