“It is important that we make things for each other.”

- Sir Jony Ive

Line drawing of a cassette tape in a transparent style showing internal components

I used to love making mixtapes for people.

Sure, today you can share a playlist. But it’s not the same, is it?

a product

design

challenge

Prototype a modern, spiritual successor to the mixtape that is easy to share, intuitive to use, and most importantly, fun.

A flat lay of various USB flash drives and adapters on a gray background.

An obvious, but boring solution.

A thumb drive is easy to share and intuitive to use. It’s just not very fun. But given how widely supported it is, maybe I could work with it. I had an idea, and started looking at dozens of shapes, sizes and colors.

I chose this one.

Technical drawing of a metal or electronic component with measurements in millimeters. Shows three identical vertical sections, each with a circular hole 8mm in diameter, a rectangular slot 5mm wide and 10mm long, and spacing details for the holes and slots. Overall dimensions are 114mm by 64mm.

Measure twice.

Now with exact thumb drive measurements, I drafted a blueprint to determine how much room it would take to fit 3 in a case. Because cases are fun.

Various metal tins with paper clips, push pins, and clothespins on a gray surface.

In which case?

I searched through makeup cases, pill boxes, sewing containers, but I really wanted something as thin as a cassette tape. Something that could slide smoothly into a pocket.

Open watercolor paint set with six different colors including black, green, yellow, orange, red, and brown on a dark background.

In this case.

I settled on this watercolor travel palette. It’s made of tin, and I liked the idea of mounting the thumb drives inside with magnets. It was time for the first draft… and the first lessons.

Lessons

Even the strongest glue struggled to bond the magnets and aluminum thumb drives.

Grind prep areas

The thumb drives sat tight against the tin, and it was tough to grab them by the fingertips.

Add grip space

It didn’t feel fun yet, but I wasn’t sure why. How could I solve a problem I couldn’t see?

Take a break

The stars align.

The magnets kept the thumb drives in their case, but not in their place. How could I force them to stay in their original positions?

More magnets.

A graphic design of a cassette tape with the text 'the Nineties' and 'a prospereo prototype' on the label.

Package design.

I paid homage to the original inspiration with a high contrast, lo-fi cassette tape design. Inside, I used a color-coded legend so people will always know what’s on each thumb drive.

Music mixer or control panel with three black knobs labeled "alt rock," "hip hop," and "chill out," each with a colored dot, and sliders below each knob matching the dot colors.

a work

in progress

It took several iterations, and the prototypes keep evolving as I try to strike a balance between the convenience of digital files and the tactile charm of physical media. At the very least I hope you’ll agree… it’s fun.