2024 Galleries

The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.

Galleries // 2013 Spark:Product // Sonic Port

Sonic Port

Winner - Gold

Competition: Spark:Product
Designer: Mr. Lance Hussey - Creative Director
Design Type: Consumer Electronic
Company / Organization / School: RKS Design
Website: www.rksdesign.com
Team Members: RKS Design

Addressing the need for a complete mobile studio RKS partnered with Line 6 to facilitate music creativity among aspiring musicians by helping them turn any of their iOS Devices into a complete mobile studio to learn, jam and record music any time, any place they go. By connecting to an iOS device, the Sonic port enables instant recording using music apps which provide access to a large collection of vintage and modern guitar gear sounds including amps, speaker cabinets and effects—all of which can be fully adjusted, mixed and matched to create a virtually endless range of tones. Unifying the digital and analog ecosystem For forward-thinking musicians who want to use an iOS device as the centerpiece of a mobile studio or as a performance tool, a key challenge was to design an interfacing product that would have sleekness to fit within the digital lifestyle ecosystem and robustness to be handled within a heavy analog guitar gear ecosystem. The use of quality materials provides a perceived heft, the tapered down wider base provides a strong planted feel and the slanted shape gives a gestural stance of forward looking engagement. Simplifying Cable Management The design relieves a key frustration of the time-consuming hassle of connecting multiple cables and keeping them untangled thereby allowing the musicians to focus on their music. By separating the input/output from the iOS data port on both sides, which are distinctly shaped and colored, the design provides an intuitive understanding of connectivity and organization of cables.