Interview with David Samuel Benavidez, Dan Harden and Hiro Teranishi

David Samuel Benavidez, Dan Harden and Hiro Teranishi of Whipsaw Inc. designed the Eton FR 1000 Emergency Radio. The functional and robust design made the Eton Emergency Radio one of the best-selling radios in Eton’s history. Dan Harden is President and chief designer of Whipsaw. For 25 years he has been creating successful awardwinning products. David Samuel Benavidez is senior designer at Whipsaw and has created designs for renowned companies such as Adidas, Timberland, and Toshiba. Hiro Teranishi is vice-president of Design at Whipsaw and has designed several awardwinning products throughout his illustrious career.

What are the distinctive characteristics of the Eton Emergency Radio?
The Eton Emergency Radio is suited for emergency use where access to information, communication, and product reliability is critical. It incorporates green energy technologies and features a fold-out hand crank dynamo to supply electricity to the unit and to charge a cell phone (one minute of cranking generates 30 minutes of product power). With dynamo and solar energy, users are never left without power, which is reassuring especially in an emergency. The FR Series breaks new ground when it comes to aesthetics. It looks bold, rugged, and unique – the perfect expression for a durable, green emergency product. It also looks completely fresh in a product category that is old. Large shape-differentiated controls, knobs, and graphics are extremely intuitive, which is helpful especially during an emergency when you cannot think, and you just want information immediately.

What inspired you to design the Eton Emergency Radio?
Accepting the reality of the stressful situations that this product will sometimes be used in. We were inspired by imagining designs that would communicate safety, protection, durability, and peace of mind. The roll cage of the Eton Radio is a good example of designing in this sense of confidence – it was inspired by motorsport engineering details like impregnable rally car frames.

What is important to you when you are designing a new product and what does the design process look like?
Finding “truths” first is important. Seek a solution axiom early on that is fundamentally honest, unvarnished, authentic, and sincere. Everything else, like detail embellishments, form, and features can follow.

International competition is constantly becoming tougher in our globalised age. What role does design play against this background in your opinion?
Design is the perfect medium for cultures to express themselves and thus understand one another. Products, whether with a good or bad design, are silent carriers of cultural values – exported around the world.