To meet growing consumer demand for greener products, digital media storage firm Fabrik turned to Stuart Karten Design, a Los Angeles-based industrial design consultancy, to design greener hard drives for its SimpleTech brand. Here's how they did it.

SKD came up with two designs: the 500 GB SimpleTech [re]drive, which introduces new sustainable materials to Fabrik's product line, and the SimpleTech Simple Drive, which makes steps toward improved sustainability using the materials and manufacturing processes already in place at Fabrik.

"This project represented an opportunity to break new ground in an industry that has paid little attention to its impact on the environment," says SKD principal Stuart Karten, who has designed for the consumer electronics industry for nearly 25 years. "SKD re-thought the market's assumption of what a hard drive should look like, exploring new materials and manufacturing processes, from injection molded starch-based biopolymers to vegetable-dyed soft goods, that would minimize the drives' impact on the environment."

Simplicity became the driving force behind both drives: eliminating excess, minimizing size, part count, and volume of materials, and reducing carbon exhaust during production. "Stripping the drives down to their basic functional components, SKD let the selected manufacturing processes dictate minimalistic forms that highlight the beauty of efficiency," says Karten.

Creative Materials Use: The [re]drive

Defined by its naturally finished bamboo and organically shaped aluminum side panels, the [re]drive aims to revolutionize Fabrik's design for its SimpleTech line. "While the use of sustainable hardwood immediately signals 'green' to eager buyers, SKD pushed sustainability beyond surface aesthetics," Karten explains.

Each component of the [re]drive serves a dual purpose. Bamboo panels, grown local to Fabrik's production facility, utilize a fast-growing and quickly replenishable resource to add stability and rigidity to the drive, as well as a unique natural beauty that becomes a focal point of the design, according to Karten. Cast-aluminum side panels, with an organic form evoking a bamboo forest, "are not only visually interesting, but functional as well," he says. They also serve as a heat sink, allowing the drive to operate efficiently without a fan.

The use of interchangeable parts, including mirrored panels and identical fasteners, minimizes energy and resources spent in production. "By keeping materials separate from one another, the [re]drive is designed to be easily disassembled and recycled at the end of its life," Karten explains.

SKD also worked to maximize efficiencies during production to reduce materials use, Karten says. For example, the extruded central chassis provides a frame onto which the pieces attach – some using a pressure fit to minimize fasteners required in assembly. Waste aluminum is recycled during manufacturing and mixed up to 30% with raw aluminum to form new parts.

Sustainability Through Downsizing: The Simple Drive

In addition to the [re]drive, SKD was challenged with greening Fabrik's core product, designing a hard drive that made a significant step toward sustainability within the company's existing infrastructure.

With a design that reduces size, material volume, and part count relative to Fabrik's previous offering, the new SimpleTech SimpleDrive "has a spare but elegant aesthetic that highlights the inherent beauty of simplicity," according to Karten. "Its plastic clamshell casing, molded in a softly undulating form, represents a purity of materials that is aesthetically pleasing as well as simple to produce and simple to disassemble and recycle at the end of its life."

The enclosure features a durable slide-fit construction that minimizes necessary parts. Vents are incorporated directly into its design to allow heat to escape, improving the efficiency of the drive, Karten says.

Both SimpleTech drives are sold in 100% recyclable packaging with instructions saved digitally on the drives cut down on paper use.