1. Summarize the problem you set out to solve. What was the challenge posed to you? Did it get you excited and why?

Too many boring ipod docks on the market! I wanted to build an ipod dock worthy of the beautiful design that apple has implemented in their products. The challenges included modifying the original controls in order to interface with the modern Klipsck ipod dock, and restoring a 50 year old radio to like new condition using new aluminum trim and grill material. The end result was freaking sweet, so yes I was vary exited.

2. What point of view did you bring to the challenge? Was there anything additional that you wanted to achieve with this project or bring to this project that was not part of the original brief?

I brought a young generations point of view to the project, one that is obsessed with our ipods, yet still intrigued by the quality and design of some vintage products.

3. When designing this project, whose interests did you consider? (Discuss various stakeholders, audiences, retailing, manufacturing, assembly, distribution, etc., for example.)

While designing this project, I was influenced by my other passions, including music and cars. Hence the Fender grill cloth and brushed aluminum trim.

4. Describe the rigor that informed your design. (Research, ethnography, subject matter experts, materials exploration, technology, iteration, testing, etc., as applicable.) If this was a strictly research or strategy project, please provide more detail here.

The Vintage iPod Dock came about after a trip to an antique store in Kansas City. Upon seeing the old radio tucked away in the basement , I immediately had a vision of an ipod touch mounted on it, emulating the popular docks we have today, but with a funky vintage design. I carefully choose materials that would compliment the radio, such as grill cloth from a fender guitar amplifier and brushed aluminum trim. after that I focused on building the hardware that would allow this project to work.

5. What is the social value of your design? (Gladdening, educational, economic, paradigm-shifting, sustainable, labor-mindful, environmental, cultural, etc.) How does it earn its keep in the world?

The unit is recycled , uses less power than the original, has something to do with an apple product(OMG!) and combines vintage cool with modern electronics.

6. If you could have done one thing differently with the project, what would you have changed?

I would have experimented with microcontrollers, possibly designing a display with RGB LEDs that have the ability to fade through colors, instead of the white LEDs.