Whipsaw

The Designer’s Story
The Invincible Emergency Radio

By: Nike Hyperdunk

Whereas other electronics freeze up when pressed to the limit, the Eton FR1000 Voicelink practically begs to be manhandled. The exterior casing is shaped to protect the emergency radio’s knobs, while the guts are designed to protect you: If the four AA batteries die, a hand crank on the side provides power so that the device’s NOAA weather alerts, AM/FM bands, flashlight, two-way radio, and cell phone charger still work, even when all else fails. $150; etoncorp.com

DAN HARDEN, PRESIDENT OF WHIPSAW INC., DESIGN FIRM FOR ETON FR1000

What was the idea behind the radio’s design?
We caricatured the radio so that the elements were overemphasized – the giant knob in the center, the big roll bar going around it – because we wanted it to be so clear. If you’ve ever been in an emergency, it’s not, “This product looks cool”; it’s, “I need to get CNN. How do I get out of here?” We wanted all of the functionality to be self-expressive, because nobody reads the manual. Nobody.

Did any particular objects inspire the look?
I worked on this with another designer, Sam Benavidez, and in brainstorming we talked about rally cars and the roll bars that run all around them. You see a lot of negative space, and that confers that if this roll bar were to collapse, it’s not collapsing against the motor or the person. So we put a roll cage around the radio to show that you don’t have o worry about it breaking. If it were to deform, it would not affect the radio. We functionally made it so. You can throw it – it won’t break.