I chose to use a piece of technology, the Ipod, as my object associated with a historical moment. The Ipod signifies the new millennium and whole new way
of listening to music for this generation. The simple design is world recognized and the colours usually associated with the classic Ipod are a simple white or black. Apple has since incorporated a rainbow of saturated colours into the Ipod colour mix but all Ipods seem to involve a monochromatic colour scheme on the front and a highly reflective silver surface on the back. Making for a very sleek looking little machine. For argument purposes, I will focus on the classic black Ipod. The pure simplicity and modernity of the product design could indicate a time period between the 1930’s and the present. However, the rounded corners and circular center wheel tend towards a trend used widely in the last 10 years, that of straight modern lines with a bit of whimsy by adding a curves in here or there, giving a more friendly feel. Well used commercial fonts of the last 5 years or so have these characteristics as well. Such as........
As far as the Ipod's colour, black has been use on technological products for quite some time but in the past it is usually used along with other elements such as steel or wood veneer. Only since the inception of the Ipod has glossy solid, black, red etc) been the focal colour of a tech product. Sure, there were some exceptions but on the whole, not really. The Ipod has set a new standard for technology products with it’s ease of usability and striking colours scheme.
I started making some changes to the colours by allocating the product to different decades
past.
First, I did the 80’s Ipod. The shape of the design isn’t playing that big of a part anymore, the 80’s colours overpower the design and burn the retinas. Is isn’t a pleasant colour scheme but it does look like something Cyndi Lauper may have carried around back in the day. However with 80’s coming back in fashion, this variation would probably be easy to sell today but still screams 80’s with the neon quad colour scheme.
The next one I did was the 70’s one. A horrid olive green with dark orange
and a nice brushed steel knob. These colours were used in 70’s decorating and consumer culture. Why, I don’t know….. but this colour combination definitely says 70’s.
The next is a simple variation with just a coloured wheel. Nothing too bad
about it but it does date the Ipod a bit. To me, it looks about 10 years old or from the late nineties. This makes me think that simpllier not only is better but the more colour or variation of colour you have on a product, the more dated it could look in a while. It’s mostly colour schemes that go out of date, not usually individual colours.
The next ones I did just for fun. I love the design from the 50’s so I took some inspiration from 50’s futuristic design (ie ray guns and robots) and did a couple variations of a 50’s Ipod. This one keeps the same outside shape but has some added elements. It uses chrome mostly which was a big thing back then. Also it has a futuristic antenna that looks like it may contact aliens and/or hurt the user but give it more of the LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE appeal of 50’s futuristic design. The APPLE Ipod is well seen on the front as brand recognition was very important to rebuilding the economy after the war.
The next 50’s Ipod I did used the same elements as the first but with a different shape. I used the well used kidney shape from back then. This variation speaks more of the 50’s than the previous one but it could also be because of more use of the 50’s teal on this one. Soooooo………to see if I was right. 
I took all the modern day Ipod elements and stuck them on the kidney shape. This one looks futuristic as well but it no longer speaks 50’s. It could be from today and that goes back to the monochromatic sleek colour scheme.
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