ImageWriter II
The ImageWriter II demonstrates the implementation of the Snow White design language, developed by Hartmut Esslinger’s frog design, on an existing Apple product. Snow White established a set of parameters that all Apple products were to follow and although the details may seem appearance-driven they also “served a structural or functional purpose”.
The profile of the ImageWriter is a direct homage to Mario Bellini’s Olivetti designs from the 1970s, reminiscent of the Logos series of desktop printing calculators. Designer Stephen Peart (frog design), recalled: “I asked myself, ‘What if I was sitting in Olivetti’s studio and Mario Bellini asked me to design a dot-matrix printer? What would I do?’”
Stephen Peart describes the final design review presentation: “[Jobs] looked at it for about five seconds and said, ‘Has Bill MacKenzie (Apple Industrial Design) seen this?’ Peart nodded, at which point Jobs said, ‘Looks great. Build it.’”
