Olympic Torch Brings Light to Product Design

We've been seeing a lot of photos of the Olympic Torch recently. Often, the torch is in compromising positions. The one constant on my mind after looking at all of those photos is, "Gee, that's a real neat looking torch!" It is quite stylized and I've been burning to know: "What is up with its design?"

The good folks over at Wired Magazine have a torch photo gallery with mini-discussions for each photo on technical and design aspects of the torch, High-Tech Olympic Torch Carries 5,000 Years of History. Ever since the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Valley, designers have tried to imbue the torch with cultural themes. 34 designers at Lenovo took a year developing the "Clouds of Promise" design which was the best design out of the 388 submissions. The torch is supposed to evoke a paper scroll, one of China's most important inventions, and it is covered in the color and designs from the Gates of the Forbidden City.

There are some technical aspects that are important in the torch design. It was made to hold up in 65 kM/h wind, and to keep a flame on the roof of the world at the summit of Mount Everest. The torch burns propane, which is pretty clean energy source and is also visible in daylight. The torch also has to have an internal lighting system to keep the flame as constant as possible as the flame is passed between the 10-15,000 torches used in the journey.

The most interesting part of the gallery was the final page where Lenovo's designers described the process of designing the torch and analogized the process to designing laptops:

In the end, Hill says there's not much difference between designing a torch and something like a notebook computer -- other than the fact you're trying to generate heat in the former and dissipate it in the latter. However, he says designing notebooks generally takes longer.

"You have to understand technology, people, culture and environmental factors like heat and cold and wind," he says. "The end design has to understand all of these various constraints and opportunities."

The holistic design, I suppose. The torch was designed with Chinese cues and I think it is beautiful. This sort of reminds me of Mitsubishi's push to use Japanese design in their cars. If done properly the car should be a beautiful example of Japanese design that is aesthetically and technologically appealing across cultural boundaries. The idea is to make the traditional elements of a culture's design beautiful and practical to the world. Different cultures are sure to respond in different ways, for example the colors, designs and shape of the torch mean little to me other than being aesthetically pleasing, but this does not mean that a product cannot attain success without speaking to the culture of its potential customers. The members of a culture are probably in the best position to know and exploit the most aesthetically pleasing artistic cues of their culture that will lead to the success of the product across cultures.

For further reading on the torch check out Lenovo's Page on the Torch.