MONSTER
Next-gen headphones
FRANCE/HK, 2019-2022
Lead designer ascendeo/Innov8
A status symbol
Headphones have become fashion accessories, and the company most responsible for that shift is Beats by Dr. Dre. Beats started out as a partnership with Monster, a company that has changed how we use products across several industries.
This new headphone range was designed with a strong visual language to express the new audio technology inside, including surround sound and active noise cancellation (ANC).
As the first of three products in the launch, these headphones also had to set the visual identity for the whole range.
The design emerged at a time when transparency was having a moment. From the translucent Game Boy to the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition, revealing what’s inside had become a design statement. The Nothing Ear (1), which came later, may be the purest take on the idea yet.
Version 01 : Iterative progression
Before the final version shown above, there was a slightly more complex version with a different visual language. Good design is measured; it anticipates cost efficiency without betraying itself.
