Dedao Focus7 E-reader by William Volcoff and Yawei Zhang

Dedao Focus7 E-reader by William Volcoff and Yawei Zhang is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award in Brons in Consumentenelektronica Competition Category.

BronsConsumentenelektronica· 2023

Dedao Focus7 E-reader

by William Volcoff and Yawei Zhang

Client: Dedao (Tianjin) Culture & Communication Co., Ltd.

A' Design Award in Brons Winner in Consumentenelektronica Category

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The Design

About Dedao Focus7 E-reader

Dedao Focus7 is een e-reader ontworpen voor lezers die de sensatie van een gedrukt boek waarderen. Het frame is vervaardigd uit aluminiumlegering, vormgegeven door CNC-bewerking, en het geanodiseerde oppervlak is bestand tegen slippen, slijtage en corrosie. De vorm doet denken aan een omgevouwen pagina, een vertrouwd gebaar om het lezen te onderbreken. Het 7-inch E Ink-scherm is voorzien van anti-glare glas en een vingerafdrukwerende coating. Met een gewicht van 210 gram benadert het dat van een pocketboek, en de uitgebalanceerde structuur vermindert polsbelasting. De verpakking is inktvrij, plasticvrij en gemaakt van afbreekbare pulp.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Brons

Dedao Focus7 E-reader is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Brons, een hoogst prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan uitstekende ontwerpen die zich onderscheiden door creativiteit, vindingrijkheid en scherpzinnigheid. Winnaars in Brons zijn ruimschoots vaardige en opvallend creatieve artefacten die de grote ervaring, verbeelding en het vernuft van hun ontwerpers bevestigen. Dedao Focus7 E-reader wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerd, bewonderd en gekoesterd object te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Brons heeft gewonnen, verwerkt de beste praktijken in kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie en is uitstekend door zijn aandacht voor detail. Dedao Focus7 E-reader bevredigt schitterend behoeften, raakt verlangens, charmeert gevoelens en spreekt de nieuwsgierigheid aan.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Focus 7 eReader aims at book enthusiasts seeking meaningful aesthetics in their products.
Focus 7 eReader reconnects you with the pleasure of holding a paper book. Subtle elements in the design symbolize this connection and leverage the overall reading experience.
Dimensions & Packaging: Screen: E Ink with 300 ppi / Antigloss TP glass top + anti finger print coating,
Specs: USB Type-C / Quad Cortex-A55 at 1.8GHz / Android 11 / 2GB RAM + 64GB ROM
eReader Weight: 210 grams
eReader size: 159*140.7*10 mm
Packaging size: 16.5 x 18.5 x 3 cm
10 weeks battery on sleeping mode.
3.5 days battery on full use.
2 weeks battery with 1h use per day.
Tags: ereader, tablet, book, eInk, CNC, aluminium,
Production Technology: The whole frame is made of aluminium alloy using CNC processing. The anodized surface is anti-slippery, wear and corrosion resistant. The fully integrated structure places the centre of gravity inclined to the hand-held side, greatly reducing the wrist pain of long-term use.
The 7-inch screen -mimicking pocket-book size- is ideal for students, office workers and regular readers. It boasts a double coating to prevent fingerprint residue and reduce environmental reflection. The ultra-thin glass backboard is anti-slippery, durable and provides similar tactile feedback as paper.
The entire ink-free and plastic-free packaging is made of degradable pulp grouting process. It is environmentally friendly, and degradable. The eReader weighs like a pocket book (210grm) to enhance further the reading experience.
Design Challenge: Our key creative challenge was to differentiate our design without losing on the ergonomics. eReader are usually very sleek and minimalist in their design language. We didn't want to add decorative elements yet we wanted to add elements to visually connect to the universe of books. Traditional books have a tactile sensuality when flipping through pages, these lines created by each pages are our common memories framing the entire reading experience. We kept these lines to give extra tactile feedback to Dedao readers.
Research: Our research process was rather traditional and down-to-earth to match our client's basic understanding of design. Pushing too much innovation would have scared off their marketing team and alienated their engineers against our design intentions. We worked closely with their production team to solve any potential production issues.
The Covid19 situation in China didn't really help us to meet face-to-face and set-up well organized interviews with group users. We had to change plans due to the massive lock down in Shanghai. We organized online questionnaires through Dedao massive online network to target 3 millions of their users and get some key insights regarding daily usage, key issues with current tablets and key advantages of competitors. To get useful insights, we decided to reach out to people using e-reader from competitors as well as users of Dedao tablets. It was very obvious to see the differences between users and where their needs matched.
Inspiration: Folding a page or the whole book is one of the most usual gesture we do while pausing our reading. The shape of a folding book represents this on-going process put on hold. It is also an invitation to restart the reading, a visual trigger to bring us back to a different world.
Project Duration: The project started in November 2021 in Shanghai and finished in April 2021 in Shenzhen after final confirmation with all production sites and suppliers. The eReader is going to be launch this October 2022 in China during Dedao annual conference and will be available from November 2022.
Operation Flow: On/Off button to start. Full touch screen to navigate the various menus and settings. Screen back light could be changed to adjust night reading situation.
Patents: Patent Pending. Patent No 202230506231.5. Dedao (Tianjin) Culture & Education Co., Ltd.
Team Members: William Volcoff, Yawei Zhang, Shuangtian Lu, Bastien Henry, Yiming Zhou, Xiaosong Wu, Xilun Cao