Foreword

When Wallpaper* talked to the Galaxy S8

designers in Seoul earlier this year, they told
a fascinating story. How the everyday miracle
of surface tension a droplet of water landing
on a flat surface of metal to create a convex
meniscus had inspired the design of the
Galaxy S8.
They explained that replicating this perfect
shape in glass and aluminium would require a
depth of technological understanding and respect
for modern engineering that would push the
designers to the very edge of their creative limits.
Hold the device in your hand, experience
the organic curves of its glass architecture,
and that understanding and mastery of materials
is immediately evident. Considered, tactile,
fluid and elegantly proportioned, the Galaxy S8
is the perfect balance of contemporary industrial
design and neutral, harmonious aesthetics.
Blurring the lines between art and technology,
this is a product of true design substance,
mirrored by its dynamic and innovative
user experience.
As the worlds leading authority on design,
Wallpaper* has collaborated with Samsung to
introduce the Galaxy S8 and explore its evolution
from sketch book to manufacture.
We commissioned award-winning writers,
editors and art directors to create a book that
un-boxes the ideas, influences and philosophies
behind the worlds most beautiful phone.
The Galaxy S8 design story begins here

Simon Mills, Bespoke Editor

Wallpaper*
01
 The Samsung Galaxy S8

Design Philosophy
is a device for our
modern age. A distilled
expression of core
essence and intrinsic
values, the Galaxy S8
embodies an aesthetic of
oneness and neutrality.
Pursuing naturalness
rather than novelty,
the Galaxy S8 is art
and technology working
in perfect balance.

02 03
 At the core of Samsungs pioneering spirit of innovation is as
much about philosophy as technology.
NeutralityApplying the fundamentals of

the Galaxy S8
neutrality to the design of the Galaxy S8 took years
of research and development and a complete
rethink of what a mobile device should be. With
a strong and flexible but fluid design ethos that

is the concept
blends naturally into its environment, the Galaxy S8
is a device not defined by age, gender or geography.
OnenessAt the core of the Galaxy S8 is the
concept of oneness, where technology, design and

of oneness.
user experience unite seamlessly. Every element is
considered in relation to one another form, function
and feel to ensure that they complement rather
than complicate the device.

Where design,
EssenceSamsung has stripped back
unnecessary internal elements to get to the very
essence of the phone. The goal is a more natural
interaction: without the barrier of the bezel

technology
frame, the relationship between device
and user becomes an enhanced and immersive
wide-screen experience.
HarmonyEngagement with technology on

and user
an organic level was created through a series of
eyes closed tests touching, feeling and holding
the device to detect even the smallest discrepancies
in grip, curve and texture in pursuit of the perfect

experience
harmony between symmetry and proportion.
Liquid ShadeThe influence of nature informs
the colour palette for the Galaxy S8. Samsungs
Liquid Shade spectrum explores the depth of lustre

are unified
as seen through the surface tension of a water
droplet on metal.
Curved DesignInspired by the simple
beauty of a smooth pebble, the perfectly minimal
shape of the Galaxy S8 has natural, rounded lines
that inform both the architecture and the tactile
qualities of the crafted glass.
The Galaxy S8 is total design refinement.
Oneness in the palm of your hand.

04 05
 oneness

06
07
 Design Story I. 10 Forward Thinking

How It All Began: The Galaxy S8 Designers Explain

14 Crafting the Future

A Photographic Tour of the Samsung Factory

21 Galaxy S8

A Device for Our Modern Age: The Smartphone Redefined

38 More Than a Phone

Life In 360 Samsung Galaxy Eco-system

51 Immerse Yourself

Experience More with Galaxy S8s Infinity Display

56 Being Iconic

The All-New Visual Language of the Galaxy S8

II. Beyond Design By Wallpaper*

60

62 Neutrality By Simon Mills

66 Oneness By Kevin Braddock

70 Essence By Alice Rawsthorn

74 Harmony By Nick Compton

78 Spectrum By Leandro Farina

III. 89 Open
An early design sketch
of the Samsung Galaxy S8

The Thrill of the Un-boxing Experience

08 09
 Forward
Thinking
Photography by Yasuyuki Takagi

How do you rethink what

a mobile device should be?
Wallpaper* talked to Samsung
Galaxy S8 designers

Minhyouk Lee and Simon Mills discuss the location. Neutrality is flexible, intuitive and
thinking that influenced the hardware design strong and provides the user with natural
of the Galaxy S8. experiences: feeling, holding, interacting.
How do you begin to create a device The Galaxy S8 is an organically designed
like the Samsung Galaxy S8? object that combines human factors, reflecting
LEFTMembers of Samsungs Our approach to design starts with our users. comfort through user-friendliness.
Galaxy S8 Design Team:
How they feel about our products and what How has neutrality influenced the design
Chongyoon Chung, Minyoung
their diverse needs are. So we create, modify of the Galaxy S8?
Jeong, Yunjin Kim, Hwanju Jeon
and refine our designs based on their feedback Lengthy deliberations on the essential values
RIGHTJunho Yang,
Minhyouk Lee (standing on and ideas. This helps us to achieve neutrality; provided by mobile phones suggested that
left), Hyoungshin Park, Hyoksu a design-driven approach that results in a new users want a more natural flow between their
Choi, Hyejin Bang at the Leeum generation device. Without noticing, users can phone and their experiences.
Samsung Museum of Art
experience high performance embedded in a Describe the relationship between the
subtle, neutral design which blends naturally design team and the technical engineers?
into its environment, seamlessly integrating In the first stage of the project, the design
with their lives regardless of age, gender or team spends its time developing an archetype.

10 11
 Jaemyoung Lee, Nari Kim, Hyosang Bang,
Deonhee Kyung, Youngseong Kim,
Seungwook Nam, Hyun Yeul Lee, Jay Lee,
In pursuit of seamless design: Unjoo Oh, Seockhyun Yu, Martin Jung .
early sketches for the Galaxy S8 Image courtesy of Samsung

Internal trend research and inspirational field they act as a prism and change colour. dimensions, the starting point in our design colour to make a visible connection to the rest
trips determine the direction of the products Similarly, the curved glass on the Galaxy S8 journey was to bridge the gap between the of the phone experience. Our infinity wallpaper
design by exploring design and CMF (colour, acts almost like a prism, creating a variety physical and the digital. In removing the from AOD to Lockscreen to Home, is structured
material, finishing) resources. Based on these of Liquid Shade. tactility of a physical Home button, we created so that it embodies one continuous user
resources, the primary commercialisation How critical is technological innovation a digital iteration as a graphic symbol to tap experience. Throughout the phone, our
process then follows. In partnership with to the Galaxy S8? on. We took into account the users continuous iconography has been modernised to
engineers, the design team conducts viability The design team had the concept for the interaction pattern behaviour, and the move forward with our brand identity.
research. During this process, designers play a Infinity Display several years ago. But its only responsive and intuitive nature of soft keys Do you think that you have created the
vital role: developing a products 3D shape and now, with our technological advances in both and their roles in different contexts. The perfect user experience?
IP and examining the engine platform, with glass and OLED and huge investment in design of the navigation bar had a direct One of the key factors in measuring the
the aim of delivering a high-quality product. manufacturing, that we can create a device impact on how we thought about the success of our UX design was to define our
When designing the Galaxy S8, what as progressive as the Galaxy S8. Via continuous identity of our holistic phone experience. intent to bridge the user needs with the
was most important to you? How it looks or communication between designers and How is the visible language radically phones physical design. We wanted to
what it does? engineers, weve developed special forming different from before? empower our users to focus on the things that
For Samsung our goal is harmony. Ultimately technologies for the glass, CNC machines One of our keywords when developing the really mattered to them. Our intent is reflected
the Galaxy S8 is a device that balances form, for the body parts and new plastic-injection Galaxy S8 was progressive. This reflected in the user interaction flow and the overall
function and feel. So the technical advances technologies. The factory machines are the wants and needs of our users, while also aesthetic expression of the interface. Frankly
of the almost bezel-free display and the user- as advanced as the device itself. reinforcing our design legacy and thinking there is no right way to design a perfect user
experience interface combine with the organic, about how we could refine it. Our visual experience due to the complexity of the
nature-inspired shape and the material Hyun Yeul Lee discusses UX design in language from the graphics to the interaction relationship between the user and the
qualities of metal and glass. the Galaxy S8. flows and motion design were conceived to device. However the feedback from our
What was the inspiration for How did the physical design of the phone create an elegant and timeless personality users continues to inspire and guide our
the Galaxy S8s Liquid Shade colours? inspire the user interface? that is distinct from our competitors. Starting UX designers in the right direction.
When drops of water pass through sunlight, Due to the Galaxy S8s innovative shape and with the Always On Display (AOD), we used

12 13
Crafting
the Future
Photography by Yasuyuki Takagi

ABOVEThe robot arms

developed by Samsung At Samsungs
state-of-the-art factory,
help to automate the
CNC machining process
OPPOSITEA vacuum-
evaporation coating is
applied to the screen to
the phone of the future
prevent fingerprints on
the glass is brought to life by hand
and machine

14 15
ABOVEHardware keys and OVERLEAF LEFTThe crafted glass
display screens are tested exterior is scrupulously examined
for durability in Samsungs to verify the quality
Quality Assurance lab OVERLEAF RIGHTThe Galaxy S8
OPPOSITEInside the screen glass undergoes a precision
anodising facility, water-droplet test
the Galaxy S8s metal frame
is tinted and strenghtened

16 17
18 19
 A harmonious balance
of beautiful design,
technical elegance and
intuitive usability.
The Galaxy S8 is the very
essence of a smartphone
redefined.

Images courtesy of Samsung

20 21
24
26 27
28
30
33
34 35
36 37
More Than
a Phone
Photography by Phil Dunlop

The Samsung Galaxy

Eco-system redefines and
enhances what a phone can
do. Experience the world in a
new way, beyond restrictions
and limits. Life in 360
38 39
40 41
43
44 45
46 47
39 Samsung Gear VR 40 Samsung Galaxy S8
with controller

42 The Samsung Galaxy Eco-system 44 Samsung Galaxy S8

45 Samsung Gear 360 46 Samsung Galaxy S8

48 49
 Immerse
Yourself

The Infinity Display of the

Galaxy S8 has a gorgeous
end-to-end screen that
spills over the phones
sides, forming a completely
smooth and continuous
surface with no bumps or
angles. Just pure, pristine,
uninterrupted glass

50 51
The sleek, light-reflecting
surface takes up the
entire front of the phone
and flows seamlessly into
the aluminium shell.
The result is a beautifully curved, perfectly
symmetrical singular object that looks almost
more like a piece of modern art than a phone,
and feels great in your hand. Samsung drew
from decades of learning and leadership in
display technology to engineer this exquisite
new form.
Vital input from existing Samsung users
was also key to solving the conceptual dilemma
known as the paradox of size. People want a
bigger screen, but they dont necessarily want
a bigger phone.
All but eliminating the bezel frame on the
device was the answer. To do this, the design
team had to revisit a question that it first asked
when introducing the revolutionary edge display
back in 2015.

52 53
 If bezels confine us, why have they been impossible
to eliminate for so many years? Because they are
critical on the inside, creating space for wiring and
other components.
The solution to this problem had to come
from within. Instead of trying to compress everything
behind the display, Samsung reorganised the layout
of the phones interior and made each individual
component smaller. The result is the biggest, most
immersive screen ever seen on a mobile device
of this size.

The smartphone
reimagined from
the inside out.

54 55
 Being Iconic
Developing the Galaxy S8s
visual language has been ABOVEWayfinding with OPPOSITE AND BELOWSketches for

a process of elegant reduction the navigation keys for Home,

Back and Recents
the Light and Line concept that inspired
the line-type UX iconography

and graphic evolution for the

Samsung UX Innovation team

The design of the Galaxy S8 user experience

began with a philosophy: to provide a seamless
interaction between the physical and the digital
space. Samsung wanted hardware and software
to be one continuous product experience for the
user. This experience is characterised by how
instantaneous and cooperative the device will
be over time. The idea is to build a partnership
between the device and the user in all ways.
Seamless navigation
Every physical detail of the phone has inspired
the visual language for the UX (user experience)
interface. The Home, Back and Recents keys are
integral to the users navigation of the phone.
Therefore, elements already familiar to users were
incorporated to ensure immediate understanding
and an intuitive user experience. The design of the
Galaxy S8s navigation soft keys is the cognitive

56 57
 To differentiate the UX identity further, Introducing the App Tray
Samsung applied the Light and Line Samsung has created the App Tray to
concept across the entire interface from add clarity to the user experience. It is
the navigation soft keys and iconography architecturally distinguished from the Home
to the numerical typeface. Scaleable line- Screen for ease of access. An input gesture
bridge between hardware and software that type iconography allows us to adapt the multiple layers each time. Employing was devised that enables the user to switch
is inspired by the industrial design of the phone icons as UI advances until they eventually motion language, visual elements were instantly between apps. It can perform
itself. The one is subtly echoing the other. become animated. The days of the dull, animated across the layers to make it one consistently across different form factors
A new iconography flat icon are definitely numbered. seamless and continuous user experience. and be controlled with a single hand.
In order to formulate a visual language for Unlocking the user experience Re-thinking the Home Screen Samsungs new UX system has also been
the Galaxy S8, Samsung took the organic lines A users first encounter with the phone will Often taken for granted by the user, Home conceived so it can be used in any future
and curves of the device as the foundation. begin with the Always On Display or Lock Screens are typically populated with pre- Galaxy device, regardless of its size.
The UX Team collaborated with legendary Screen. The engineering innovations that installed applications. Samsung felt that
design studio Pentagram on the development Samsung has developed to lower power these created visual clutter and also made
of the Light and Line concept. Rather than consumption and strengthen security have assumptions about how users would ABOVEThe journey from
Always on Display to the new
thinking about the icon as a block and sculpting created additional layers before the user organise their screen space. The Samsung UX
App Tray and Home Screen
something out of it, we thought about enters the Home Screen. Teams solution was to simplify the default
CONTRIBUTIONS from
folding a single line and cutting away at that, From an experienceperspective, screen to create a Clean Home Concept
Hyun Yeul Lee, Ph.D.,
Pentagram explains. We wanted it to be Samsung did not want users to feel that would give the user control to create an UX Design Group 1 Leader and
more ethereal. burdened by having to pass through these environment that suits their individual needs. In-Sil Han, Senior Designer

58 59
 Beyond
Design
To celebrate the Galaxy S8 Wallpaper* Bespoke Editor
Simon Mills considers the notion of
as a product at the cutting edge neutrality: how contemporary design
of technological and aesthetic must meet the challenge of working
seamlessly across our increasingly
innovation, Wallpaper* invited connected and globalised world.
design writers, commentators Kevin Braddock looks at how oneness
and thinkers to respond to the between user and product is becoming
a critical factor in our demanding
concepts that inspired it consumer environment.
Focusing on the quality of
essence, Alice Rawsthorn asks
what makes a design both useful
and beautiful in a modern context.
Nick Compton ponders the
invisible elements of harmony and
balance that draw us to a particular
products design.

60 61
Neutrality
Simon Mills
Bespoke Editor at Wallpaper*

Marshall McLuhan was a true boundaries in a global village, he

visionary. Way back in the early wrote. All problems will become
1960s, long before the advent so intimate as to be ones own.
of the internet, instant McLuhan actually seems
communication, social media to have forecast the invention
and e-commerce, the Canadian- of the world-wide web, the home
born professor, philosopher computer and the smartphone
and media commentator coined as tools of social and commercial
the term, the global village. revolution. As he said, The next
Writing in his 1962 book medium, whatever it is it may
The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making be the extension of consciousness
of Typographic Man, McLuhans will include television as its
term boldly predicted a world content, not as its environment,
driven by electronic technology, and will transform television
united by the lightning-fast into an art form. A computer as
conveyance of information. a research and communication
Instead of a vast and disparate instrument could enhance
planet of individual nations, retrieval, obsolesce mass
he predicted a hyper-connected library organisation, retrieve
global village. There are no the individuals encyclopedic
62
Technology is unifying
societies and cultures
and breaking down borders
on a global scale
the sense of an object conceived to be instinctive and effortless simplicity
free of negative connotation, without that can be instantly understood by
prioritising specific regions, ages, or the whole planet.
gender is rapidly becoming a buzzword The role of the modern designer
function and flip into a private line to entertainment platforms and disciplines in the design world. in todays global village, says Minhyouk
speedily tailored data of a saleable kind. have started to blur. In the past, fancy, mechanical Lee, is not to create an ingenious and
For extension of consciousness read designs were considered to demonstrate fancy design, but to pioneer a new way.
We are beginning to see traditional
internet. For genius, think McLuhan. both novelty and technological A neutrality of design that is beautiful,
ways of working replaced by innovative
Fast forward 50 years or so, innovation, explains Samsung Mobile simple, useful and comfortable to
new practices.
and technology is unifying societies and Design Team Leader Minhyouk Lee. In everyone, everywhere. Accordingly,
cultures and breaking down borders on Global hot-desking. Agile working. addition, many languages were needed Samsung has sought to create new
a global scale, and at speeds that would The interconnection of internet- in the design for a highly segmented values by thinking differently from the
surprise even a visionary like McLuhan. embedded, everyday objects, enabling customer base. In an era of connection, previous product designs. These new
There is absolutely, matter-of-factly, them to send and receive data. the whole world has become more unified values focus on emotional connection
verifiably, no isolation in the world After more than a century of across the board, boundaries have started rather than just high technology. With
today, says Parag Khanna, author of electric technology, we have extended to blur across a variety of fields, and new the Galaxy S8 we have created a device
Connectography: Mapping the Future of our central nervous system itself in experiments to replace typical standards that harmonises with the surrounding
Global Civilisation, arguing that the world a global embrace, abolishing both have been popping up. Instead of environment of the users and gives them
is now defined less by countries and space and time as far as our planet is technical factors, consumers are looking a new experience.
more by connectivity. There is no place concerned, wrote McLuhan in his for designs that highlight familiarity and
in the world you cant get to or that keynote essay, Understanding Media. comfort in their daily lives.
there arent the modern trappings of In cyberspace, physical distance is even
The neutral designs that Samsung
technology, he adds. Similarly, cyber- less of a hindrance to the real-time
produces naturally integrate design factors
theorist Richard A. Spinello believes that communicative activities of people.
and harmonise with you,
territorial borders and boundaries have The idea of a unified global community
been rendered irrelevant by technology. is fostered. Across s global village, whoever you are, wherever you are, and
The internet is oblivious to geography as neighbourhoods are transcended. however you use them. Neutral designs
it mechanically transmits digital data Community networks stretch across are flexible and strong.
hence its ability to cross borders, break cities, nations and oceans. The removal of the longstanding
down barriers and destroy distance. With borders defied, barriers broken industry-standard home key on
The impact of technology on our down and neighbourhoods transcended, the Galaxy S8, for instance, could be
lives has been nothing less than seismic. and the rapid movement of information a regarded as a bold statement of both
Boundaries between different nations, norm, the global village is influencing the minimalism and design neutrality,
communities, businesses, professions, way we think about design. Neutrality uniting the global user experience via
64 65
Oneness
Kevin Braddock
is a Berlin-based design writer
and embedded storyteller

Art and technology have Jung, Klein and Lacan, have

long served human needs by all in their various ways stressed
making sense of complexity and a human search for unity with
imposing unity on the chaos of something or someone else,
nature. How does design do whether that is an object, a deity
the same today, surrounded by or a person.
ever-accelerating complexity? These questions have a
Its worth looking beyond those growing relevance today when
disciplines for clues. disunity seems to be the defining
Philosophers have long characteristic of life when
understood the deep human alienation is common, and social
desire for unity: the yearning disconnection and atomisation
for a oneness not only between increasingly the norm. Meaning
the individual and a deity, but has undergone a destabilisation in
also between the individual and the postmodern (and supposedly
the world he or she inhabits, post-truth) era.
along with a kind of unity within The grand narratives that
themselves. Thinkers in the once offered some coherence to
philosophical and psychoanalytic 20th-century lives have collapsed,
traditions, from Pascal to Freud, while in the everyday
66
Art may once have helped
to make sense of the world,
but increasingly it falls
to design to fulfil that role
of despising the very public he is trying of the book can stand as a benchmark
to interest he must rediscover its needs against which to test future innovations
and make contact with it again. This is in design and technology. After all, its
the reason why the traditional artist endured practically unchanged for five
experiential sense, our perceptions think of digital services that optimise is being transformed into the designer. centuries or more, and changed the
are often fragmented and disoriented, health and prevent illness, objects that world at the same time as cohering it.
Ultimately, perhaps oneness in
assaulted by media, information, maximise productivity and experience, Oneness equals a sense of unity.
design can be interpreted as the experience
narrative, data, disruption and change. and systems facilitating smooth travel It is a design concept that unifies users
of radical simplicity
Under these conditions, its easy to by air, road and rail. by finding the perfect balance between
arrive at sudden moments of existential of the kind characterised by two art and technology. Oneness seeks to
But while seamlessness and smoothness
fear and trembling, the kind first examples of older technology. As a first blend naturally into its environment
have long been aspirations, those aspirations
articulated by Kierkegaard and later, example, cyclists know that when their by focusing on the core essence.
havent always been met.
rather more lyrically, by David Byrne bodies synchronise with their bicycle,
in Talking Heads existential disco Think of the knots of wiring under they experience a wondrous sensation of
classic, Once in a Lifetime, where the desks and TVs, unsightly docking movement, where rider and bicycle cease
subject asks, Well, how did I get here? stations and poorly functioning ticket to be separate and merge into a single
All of this falls into greater relief machines: these things show that design dynamic process an experience thats
because technology is constantly has plenty more work to do to make our athletic, aesthetic and functional all at
accelerating the pace of change, often technology more pleasant and liveable. the same time.
way ahead of our ability to understand Technologists have long accepted The second example is what you are
and adapt to the effect it has on our lives. that interfaces should function so well holding in your hands right now. A book
Art may once have helped to make sense that they are virtually invisible. is a brilliant example of unity of design,
of the world, but increasingly it falls As long ago as 1966 the Italian ergonomics and technology.
to design to fulfil that role, especially design visionary Bruno Munari Without any internet connectivity,
when much of the chaos we experience prophesied that, as design became gameplay, messaging, photography or
is a result of technological complexity. increasingly democratic, designers would accelerometer, the books simple binding
Can design help return us to a have to take on the role once occupied together of pages printed with words and
prelapsarian state of oneness? by artists. Munari wrote, Culture today images adds up to a delivery interface
Certainly, the growing importance is becoming a mass affair, and the artist which seamlessly achieves what its
of design underlines its vital role in must step down from his pedestal and be supposed to do: unify author with reader,
bridging the gap between humans prepared to make a sign for a butchers contain a narrative and look good on
and technology. Designs genius is to shop (if he knows how to do it). The artist the bookshelf as well.
render technology human, making it has to regain the modesty he had I dont believe that its backward-
empathetic, haptic, and humanistic when art was just a trade, and instead looking to claim that the radical oneness
68 69
Essence
Alice Rawsthorn
writes about design for the
International New York Times

Dont make something unless from scratch, including the

it is both necessary and useful, rules and customs, as well as the
but if it is both necessary and buildings and their contents,
useful, dont hesitate to make to reflect the Shakers modesty,
it beautiful, was the defining purity and their belief in equality
design principle of the Shakers, and pacifism.
the radical religious sect that fled Today, the Shakers are
from persecution in England to best known for their exquisitely
build a new life in the United simple wooden furniture, yet
States during the 18th century. their design innovations also
After being imprisoned for included a circular saw, fire
six months upon arrival, the engine, washing machine and
Shakers travelled around the the other tools they needed to
East Coast recruiting converts. be self-sufficient. Make every
They then constructed over product better than its ever been
20 communities in remote done before, began their design
locations, where they were free philosophy. Make the parts you
to live as they wished, subsisting cannot see as well as the parts
on the land. Every aspect of you can see. Use only the best
those communities was designed materials, even for the most
70
Beauty is as potent as ever,
but the process of creating it,
and our expectations of it,
have transformed over time
Thanks to relentless advances in the disguises the baffling complexity of
speed and storage capacity of computers, the technology hidden inside it.
a tiny smartphone can now pack more The screens of the most formally
computing power than a gigantic sophisticated digital devices now act
everyday items. Give the same attention Sottsass and Perry King in 1969. It looks bulldozer; and neither the size, nor as blank canvases that we can customise
to the smallest detail as you do to the like a perfect pop object: sexy, playful any other physical attribute of a digital by filling them with apps and images,
largest. Design every item you make to and optimistic. But the Valentine was device need betray the slightest hint of thereby satisfying the growing desire
last for ever. dogged by technical flaws and sold so what it does, or how you might use it. to personalise our possessions.
The Shakers invented this poorly that Olivetti stopped production Glancing at another persons phone
The smaller yet more complex these
philosophy instinctively, but applied it after 18 months. As the US artist Donald screen can reveal as much about them
products become, the more important
with such sensitivity and ingenuity that, Judd, who designed and made most of as reading an intimate passage in their
it is that we are able to operate them easily
centuries later, they remain role models the contents of his own homes in the diary or scouring a private Instagram
and instinctively.
of design. Critically, they recognised improvisational Shaker spirit, put it: If a feed. The German artist Wolfgang
that the most important element of chair is not functional, if it appears to Talented software designers, like Tillmans has depicted this brilliantly
any design project is its essence: the be only art, it is ridiculous. (Judd wrote Loren Brichter, the US programmer in his photographs of digital interfaces,
combination of qualities that define its those words in 1993 for the aptly entitled who devised the pull to refresh as has the French artist Camille Henrot
impact on us. Identifying those qualities, essay, Its hard to find a good lamp.) application with which millions of in her films.
and how they relate to one another, is As for beauty, the third design us locate new emails and texts, have Our experience of stroking,
fiendishly complex, not least because our quality prized by the Shakers, it too is as enabled us to do so by devising ingenious prodding and sliding the icons on our
perceptions of them change at different potent as ever, but the process of creating ways of enabling us to activate countless digital screens has also made us more
times and in different contexts. it, and our expectations of it, have functions from our compact phone sensitive to the power and sensual
Which qualities are most important in transformed over time. and tablet screens. pleasure of touch, and therefore to
determining the essence of design now? Throughout the industrial As a result, the devices themselves designs tactile possibilities, which are
age, beauty in design was generally have been able to become ever subtler increasingly important components
Two design qualities beloved of the
interpreted from a visual perspective, and more minimal in form. We know of its essence.
Shakers have remained indispensable:
and the physical appearance of most instinctively that the simpler the All of these qualities have redefined
necessity and usefulness.
buildings and objects was determined by physical structure of an object appears our expectations of beauty in design.
If a signage system is illegible or their intended function in accordance to be, the more difficult the design The more sophisticated we have become
a smartphones operating software is with the principle coined by the US challenge of wrestling with the laws of at decoding design, the more important
bafflingly over-complicated, they will architect Louis Sullivan in 1896 as form physics to make it look so light, sleek it is that we feel comfortable with
prove useless and will fail, regardless of ever follows function. and unobtrusive must have been. That whatever we discover as a result. Those
any design merits they may have. Take The visual aspects of design can knowledge makes the object seem more observations are as critical in defining
the Valentine typewriter, which was be as seductive as ever, but need not impressive and appealing, even though the essence of design today as necessity
designed for Olivetti in Italy by Ettore necessarily relate to functionality. we know that its apparent simplicity and usefulness were to the Shakers.
72 73
Harmony
Nick Compton
is Senior Contributing Editor at Wallpaper*

The British artist Conrad London. The piece is essentially

Shawcross is obsessed with a twisting, turning stack of
harmony. Not some vague tetrahedral steel blocks that
and woolly notion of beauty increase in size by ten per cent
in balance, but hard-core at every twist. It is 14 metres tall,
harmony, the harmony of hidden as tall as it can be without falling
numbers, secret chords, ratios over without hidden support.
and intervals. Shawcross, the As a child, Shawcross hung
youngest member of Britains out in the Science Museums
Royal Academy and the art star mathematics gallery, and would
of the moment, is a self-confessed later become the museums Artist
maths geek. He makes mostly in Residence. As a young man
large-scale, complex sculptures, he became obsessed with an odd
often with moving parts, but but beguiling little book called
always in elegant, elliptical ways, Harmonograph: A Visual Guide
and always generated, in part, to the Mathematics of Music.
by beautiful numbers. Last year The book starts with the story
his sculpture, Paradigm, was of Pythagoras discovery of
installed outside the Francis harmonic ratios after listening
Crick Institute in Kings Cross, to the clang of a blacksmiths
74
Number-generated patterns
and forms have become
a feature of modern design
and architecture
the Parthenon in Athens to a fast-food have to be a connection, a ringing true.
logo, whether it is actually there or not. Harmonious design sometimes means
And there are plenty ready to debunk ignoring recent advances in materials
the idea. Keith Devlin, a professor or other technologies. There are issues
anvil; and eventually of octaves, that mirror natural forms, growth and of mathematics at Stanford University, of weight and balance. Harmonious
unison, perfect fifths and major thirds. erosion. Shawcross, though, is rather told Fast Company magazine: Were design is felt as much as seen... and
But the book is mostly a collection sceptical about architecture enabled by genetically programmed to see patterns harmony has to be designed in and
of remarkable, beautiful diagrams: modern computer design programs such and to seek meaning. People think they built in.
repeating swirls, loops, twists and as Rhino, built on algorithms that pay see the Golden Ratio around them, in It is in the perfectly curved corner,
sinusoids, a complex but elemental little attention to the fundamentals of the natural world and the objects they the perfectly milled edge, the seamless
geometry which seems to exist in three mathematical harmony. love, but they cant actually substantiate transition from one material to another.
dimensions, if not more, created by it. They are victims of their natural And it has to be there when software
Art, design and architecture, after all,
a Victorian scientific gadget called a desire to find meaning in the pattern of meets hardware. It is there when a digital
each have their own harmonic mathematics
harmonograph. Initially a research the universe, without the maths skills font echoes a hardware form, and when
tool but later adopted for home such as the Golden Ratio, the Golden to tell them that the patterns they think functionality is offered and laid out in
entertainment, the harmonograph uses Rectangle and the Fibonacci sequence. they see are illusory. a perfectly logical way.
swinging and adjustable pendulums to The concrete poetry of these The larger point is that there is As Keith Devlin says, we look for
push pens and create patterns based on numerical systems were magical for maths in the universe, both the natural harmony and balance in things. We may
different harmonic intervals. Le Corbusier, a founding father of and the man-made. And that there is not understand the maths, but we know
For Shawcross, these intervals and architectural Modernism and arguably also a desire for a kind of perfect balance it when we see it. It is also true that
ratios, and the patterns they generate, the most important and influential and harmony. purity and exactness are not always what
are things to be pushed and played with, architect of the 20th century. we are looking for. A synthesiser can
Harmony in design is about far more
but always to be respected. He has used Le Corbusier used these numbers, generate a pure note, a single frequency,
than using certain ratios.
them in many of his works, including which he called rhythms apparent but it is nowhere near as exciting as the
a giant new piece to be installed in to the eye, to build up the beautiful Truly harmonious design may not have twang of an electric guitar or a crashing
Londons St Pancras railway station, proportions of the buildings he created. to be as rooted in complex maths as piano chord, with their resonances and
which is intended to beguile departing These rhythms are at the very root music does, but it still has to register overtones and even their dissonances.
and arriving travellers for the next year. of human activities, he wrote. as fundamentally right; to resonate in Harmony is, after all, about more than
These number-generated patterns They resound in man by an organic ways we may not understand, but feel. just numbers.
and forms though generated by far inevitability, the same fine inevitability In product design there is an extra
more complex machinery than the which causes the tracing out of the dimension to harmony, which lies in
harmonograph have become a feature Golden Section by children, old men, the core relationship between form and
of modern design and architecture, savages and the learned. People see function. One does not have to blindly
with swooping curves and organic blobs the Golden Ratio in everything from follow the other, but there does
76 77
Spectrum
Photography by Leandro Farina

Selected by Wallpaper*
this series of hand-crafted
objects represents
contemporary glass and
metal design at its most
elegant and tactile.
A lustrous colour palette
reflects the unique aesthetic
of the Galaxy S8

Midnight Black

78
Coral Blue
Maple Gold
Arctic Silver
Orchid Gray
 Open
Photography by Marius W. Hansen

01 Midnight Black 02 Coral Blue

03 Maple Gold 04 Arctic Silver

05 Orchid Gray

88 89
It starts with a box.
Expectation. Promise.
Ritual. Ceremony.
Packaging is a vessel, a way of signifying a brand,
conveying individuality and transporting memories.
Perhaps the most explicit demonstration of its emotional
role is the art of un-boxing. This online fascination
focuses on the act of opening packaging, combining the
tactile pleasure of print and material with the physical
act of opening, unfolding and removing.

Barely a decade old, the un-boxing trend brings the

sting of envy, as well as the impossibility of recreating the
delightful precision of new packaging.

Unlike the pleasure garnered from wrapping,

gifting, and then watching the giftee unwrap and discover,
the pleasure of this new pursuit is often vicarious and
primarily solitary its a one-shot deal. Its also a ritual
of several stages and emotions.
First the engineered cardboard is set in place in
front of the un-boxer. Its monolithic architecture hard
lines and immaculately fused corners lying still and
inanimate for a few moments of quiet veneration. The lid
is carefully lifted. The satisfying, frictional suck of tightly
packed paper stock is an audible and physical signifier
of quality. Once removed, the contents are revealed.
The heady aroma of factory-fresh newness fills the
air for a few seconds. Meticulously packed compartments
of design candy and technological joy are unpacked with
deferential choreography. One by one, constituent
elements are gently prised from their moulded beds,
shelves and cubbyholes. The hero product is laid out next
to its smaller auxiliaries. A power cable folded into perfect
loops. Headphones, clean and sculptural. Protective layers
are peeled away. Little polythene bags are eased open.
With the un-boxing ritual now complete, a gratifying sigh
may be heard off-camera.

91
92
Images courtesy of Samsung

93
After the box enjoys this transcendental moment,
where next?
How about this for a theory...
Does the thrill and sense of anticipation that the
un-boxing ceremony delivers really have to be a brief,
one-shot deal? Could the next step on its journey be a
replication of the un-boxed experience with the actual
product it houses? The creation of a device designed
to provide a near-continuous sense of thrilling discovery,
newness and expectation?
With quality and revelation central to our
understanding and enjoyment of the modern world, and
with the emotions of the un-boxing ceremony as a key
reference, devices can be conceived to provide pleasure,
a continual sense of anticipation and delight that goes
way beyond technical capability.

Perhaps this is a
newwayto think
outside the box.

94 95
 CREDITS

FOR WALLPAPER* BESPOKE

Bespoke EditorSimon Mills
Bespoke Art DirectorAneel Kalsi
DesignersSimon Kinneir, Marine Duroselle
Bespoke ExecutiveLloyd Lindo
ProducerCarly Gray Production
Sub-editorChristopher Stocks

FORWARD THINKING,
CRAFTING THE FUTURE
PhotographerYasuyuki Takagi

MORE THAN A PHONE

PhotographerPhil Dunlop

BEYOND DESIGN
Writer, NeutralitySimon Mills
Writer, OnenessKevin Braddock
Writer, EssenceAlice Rawsthorn Copyright Samsung 2017
Writer, HarmonyNick Compton All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced
SPECTRUM or transmitted in any form or by any
PhotographerLeandro Farina means, electronic or mechanical,
Interiors & StylingMaria Sobrino including photocopy, recording or any
other information storage or retrieval
OPEN system, without prior permission
PhotographerMarius W. Hansen in writing from the publisher.
WriterJonathan Bell
Set DesignAnnette Masterman samsung.com

96 97
 A new
silhouette
that
transcends
physical
boundaries
and un-boxes
the user
experience
 Oneness
in the
palm of
your hand