Snow White design language

The Snow White design language was an industrial design language developed by Frog Design founded by Hartmut Esslinger. It was used by Apple Computer during 1984-1990. It is characterised by vertical and horizontal stripes acting as decoration and occasionally ventilation, as well as creating the illusion of the computer enclosure being smaller than it actually is.

Contents 1 History 2 Legacy 3 Implementation 3.1 Unofficial Designs 4 References 5 External links

History

The Apple IIc computer was the very first Snow White design along with the various peripherals and accessories designed for it. Initially Snow White debuted in a creamy off-white color known at Apple as Fog^[1] but later other products moved to the warm gray "Platinum" color, lighter than the previous Apple "putty" color, used throughout the Apple product line from 1987 on. Though Hartmut Esslinger favored a bright-white color originally for the IIc (which Jerry Manock successfully argued against citing it would attract fingerprints), the Snow White code-name had little to do with color. Rather, Snow White refers to the 7 projects code-named after the 7 Dwarfs on which the new design language was to be applied. Several designers were courted by Apple under the Snow White project to see what they would come up with for the 7 products (of which there actually 8). The "winner" ultimately was Esslinger and the resulting "style" assumed the project's code-name.^[2] The Snow White language was gradually phased out as it was adapted by the Apple Industrial Design Group beginning in 1990.

Legacy

In 1982, Apple sought to establish itself as a world-class company. As a result they chose to look outside the company and indeed the country for a designer who might help them achieve that kind of recognition. The Snow White project helped them achieve just that. The resulting design language created by Frog and Esslinger not only helped Apple's recognition factor on a world stage, but the innovative designs helped mold the way computers were perceived throughout the manufacturing and business world. As a direct result of these designs Apple set trends for the entire industry which often copied both its warm gray Platinum color as well as its Snow White designs.

Implementation

Apple products designed in the Snow White theme:

• Apple IIc¹ (1984)
• Disk IIc (1984)
• Apple Scribe Printer (1984)
• LaserWriter (1985)
• ImageWriter II (1985)
• Apple UniDisk 3.5 (1985)
• LaserWriter Plus (1986)
• Apple IIGS¹ (1986)
• Apple 3.5 Drive (1986)
• Hard Disk 20SC (1986)
• Apple Personal Modem (1986)
• Macintosh SE¹ series (1987)
• Macintosh II series (1987)
• Apple PC 5.25 Drive (1987)
• Apple IIc Plus (1988)
• LaserWriter II (1988)
• AppleCD SC (1988)
• Macintosh IIx (1988)
• Apple FDHD External Drive (1988)
• Macintosh Portable (1989)
• Macintosh IIcx (1989)
• Macintosh IIci (1989)
• Macintosh IIfx (1990)
• Macintosh Quadra 700 (1991)
• Macintosh Quadra 900 (1991)
• Macintosh Quadra 950 (1992)
• Apple Workgroup Server 95 (1993)
• Apple Workgroup Server 9150 (1994)

Most Apple Displays introduced between 1984 and 1990 also used Snow White.

Unofficial Designs

• The Lisa 2/Macintosh XL had Snow White stripes added to the design.
• The Macintosh Plus was updated by Frogdesign, but only added the inlaid lasercut Apple badging.

¹While the IIc generally gets credit for being the first Apple computer released in the Snow White design language, it was not a "pure" example. Rob Gemmel (who was instrumental in soliciting Esslinger) had designed the IIc a year earlier and unbeknownst to him, Frogdesign was working on their own design. In the end it was a compromise of Gemmel's original design and Frogdesign's modifications. Likewise, the Macintosh SE was essentially Manock and Oyama's design updated with Snow White details. The IIGS, which introduced Platinum gray, also suffered from the legacy design of the original Apple II case, in particular Manock's wedge-shape. It wasn't until the Macintosh II when Frogdesign finally had a clean slate on which to design from the ground up, that the first pure example of pure Snow White was realized.

References

External links

• Apple and the History of Personal Computer Design: Snow White
• Apple //c writeup (first Snow White machine)