Shower design work wins award

A PDD product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 10, 2008

The only constraint imposed on PDD was that the shower's design, while needing to be progressive, would need to be consistent with Aqualisa's brand values and other products.

Quartz Electric, a electric shower, manufactured by Aqualisa and with a creative identity developed by PDD, has been recognised for its high-quality design with a Red Dot distinction from Germany's Design Zentrum.

Aqualisa's Marketing and Sales Director Simon Greenstreet said, "We are extremely proud of Quartz Electric's Red Dot success".

"PDD have a longstanding relationship with Aqualisa and because they have also worked with us in a technical capacity in the past, were able to immediately understand the functionality of Quartz Electric, while simultaneously creating a solid concept for the shower's aesthetics that reflect the sophistication of Quartz's Electric's performance".

PDD's Simon Browning, Head of Industrial Design, said, "We are all absolutely delighted with the recognition that Quartz Electric has received from the Design Zentrum".

"Within the design community, the Red Dot Awards are internationally respected and the distinction is a great achievement for both PDD and our client, Aqualisa, whom we have a longstanding relationship with and whom have enjoyed great success with Quartz Electric".

PDD commenced work with Aqualisa on the Quartz Electric project in January 2006.

Electric showers are frequently considered uninspiring boxes on the bathroom wall.

The only constraint imposed on PDD was that the shower's design, while needing to be progressive, would need to be consistent with Aqualisa's brand values and other products, particularly with other variants within the Quartz range.

The PDD team initially looked to reduce the overall visual weight of the shower's fascia.

The lack of surface features on a relatively large unit - Quartz Electric's casing features only an on/off button, a temperature control and discreet branding - meant that the project centred on refinement rather than elaboration of these constituent features.

Simon Browning said, "We wanted to reduce the visual weight of Quartz Electric, while also creating an impression of value and sophistication".

"However, with so few surface features to use, this was quite a challenge".

"Our approach was concentrated on our execution of detailing across the product, ensuring that every aspect from the shower's form, finish and control features were perfectly refined".

Commenting on Quartz Electric's consumer appeal, Simon Browning continues, "From the beginning of the project, we were battling against popular perception that the more lights, buttons and dials a shower has, the better it must be".

"However, Aqualisa shared our view that this isn't necessarily the case".

"We wanted Quartz Electric to buck the trend and the restrained approach to the shower's external detailing is actually intended to add premium appeal and complement the intelligence of the product's functionality".

"Similarly, making the shower's casing busier and adding unnecessary visual features - as is the norm for many electric showers - might actually have compromised the user friendliness of Quartz Electric".

PDD produced full size visual models, with the team taking extra care on small details.