We kicked off 2022, joining Yanko Design, for the #DoWhatFloatsYourboAt Design Challenge, receiving submissions from designers around the world. For this challenge, five winning entries were chosen – Gold, Silver, Bronze, a special Student prize, as well as a new Honorable Mention that we added at the last minute because of how amazed we were with the entries! Altogether, we had more than 1500 designers sign up to participate in the challenge submitting nearly 400 entries by the time the competition ended.
The jury, headed by industrial designer, Katharina Stärck, along with Ayush Singh Patel, and Sarang Sheth arrived at five entries that delivered on the competition’s brief of designing/rendering the boAt Stone 1200F Wireless Speaker to make it look impactful and alluring. You can view all the entries with the #ydxboat tag on Instagram. With that, we’re excited to feature the top three winning entries to share their designs that make this simple speaker even more iconic.
Alex Casabo
Gold Prize Winner
The Gold Prize for the #DoWhatFloatsYourboAt Design Challenge goes to Alex Casabo, for his creative interpretation which turned the wireless speaker into a veritable arena, with the speaker on stage surrounded by instruments, props, and lights to match.
“After doing some research about boAt, I quickly saw the young and fun side of the brand,” said Alex. “So that got me inspired for an open-air concert on a summer night. Of course, boAt is the protagonist, the lead singer of the show, who stands in the center. It’s accompanied by the drums, the guitar, and everything is illuminated by the boAt spotlights”, he added. Follow Alex on Instagram.
Lidia Gómez
Silver Prize Winner
Lidia Gómez charmed the jury with her #DoWhatFloatsYourboAt Design Challenge entry’s subtle-yet-eye-catching color palette. The happy, almost summery colors of the speaker were a wonderful pick since they complement most interiors as well as most outfits – as opposed to the loud, in-your-face reds, blues, or blacks seen on other wireless speakers from companies like *cough* JBL *cough*.
“[I] decided to keep the original design of the boAt Stone 1200F speaker but I’ve chosen a color palette that expresses the wildness and young spirit of the brand. In the shots, I’ve also tried to reflect the fresh and powerful style that characterizes this speaker in a style that ‘floats my boat’,” Lidia told Yanko Design.
“The first step that I took in my work process was to choose a vivid and energetic colour palette that represents the boAt style”, Lidia said about her design approach. “Once I made my choice, I started playing around with different compositions and lightings in Keyshot, always taking into account that the renders had to be clean and minimalist to allow the viewer to focus on the lead of the scene: the boAt Stone 1200F speakers.” Follow Lidia on Instagram.
Priyanshu Jaiswal
Bronze Prize Winner
The Bronze Prize went to Priyanshu Jaiswal for creating a speaker that focused not just on audio clarity but on literal clarity too! Priyanshu’s rendition of the boAt Stone 1200F turned the wireless speaker translucent, giving us a glimpse of the electronics and components within. In turn, this turns the speaker less into a mysterious monolithic block, and into a sonic art piece that lets you admire the beauty within the speaker.
“Feelings and emotions are what drive our lives”, Priyanshu told YD. Pointing at other designs that focus on external detailing rather than showing off the interiors, Jaiswal mentions how a translucent speaker can captivate a user by allowing them to really see the speaker for what it is. Nothing hidden behind an opaque fascia, everything is visible to the observer, sort of like the Transparent Speaker or Harman Kardon’s Soundsticks. Priyanshu’s entry immediately stood out to the jury because of the fact that he didn’t see the speaker for what it was, but rather for what it could be. It involved detailing the insides of the 3D model, fitting audio drivers, a PCB, batteries, and appropriate wiring into the model, before rendering the final piece.” Follow Priyanshu on Instagram.
