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Designer Erin Fong, my cousin, makes camera for right- and left-handed

I live in the Seattle area and most of my relatives reside in Northern California. So, I only get to see them once or twice a year – usually during the December holidays or at family weddings (congratulations, Dana and Josh and Lindsay and Ben) or in the summer.

So I missed the news – by many months – that my cousin Erin Fong, an industrial design student in California, has come up with a prototype camera with a boomerang shape and that it received pretty good online attention.

First, the obvious (and especially since my relative thought anew in this case): Excellent!

I was leaving Dana and Josh’s wedding recently when Erin’s mom mentioned the camera, which has been dubbed the Nova DSLR, and that bloggers had picked up on the design to chat about.

Wow, I thought. Great!

And it is.

Why?

For one reason, the design does not use the traditional rectangle body shape, which shows thinking away from the norm.

In design, I suspect that’s needed.

The Nova also can be used by people who are left-handed by switching the boomerang-like handles, one of which has the controls to operate the camera.

I found Erin’s design Web site, where I located the images you see here.

I sent her an email for a quick note on how she came up with the idea – which is only that.

So, get this: Erin was so prepared that she forwards me a press release!

She likely had it because so many people had inquired about the basics of the camera and her design instructor might have suggested it as a way to cut down on repeating information to each person who inquired about it.

But I should note that this is the first time that a relative sent me a press release.

Well, I’m glad Erin answered my email, sent the press release and didn’t refer me to a public relations agency.

I once interviewed a group of smart high school students from the International School in Bellevue, Wash. – and they actually appointed one member to be the public relations director for them.

That’s quite sophisticated but I wondered at the time: What happened to the days of just walking up to someone who made something and asking a question?

Besides, the students who made this particular robot were standing next to their classmate, the public relations director.

But these students were thinking in many ways, as I noted in my article:

Students from Bellevue’s International School named their robot Mnemosyne after the Greek goddess of memory.

As I recall, I actually went back to my office to double check the spelling of and definition for Mnemosyne.

So, Erin was kind enough to answer my questions via email.

From her press release:

After taking multiple photographs with a DSLR camera of different people, objects, buildings, transportation vehicles, and environments, Erin Fong found herself in some difficult positions in order to capture the best photographs from a specific perspective. Sometimes laying on the ground, kneeling behind a tree, or standing on top of a chair, every situation was different, but the camera always needed to be held the same way. As a result, Fong wanted to design a camera that could provide more opportunity for photographers in various situations. She studied several random objects and tried putting them together until she found a combination that inspired the Nova camera.

Writers in the blogosphere have talked about the design – and as I recall, one questioned its stability.

But TheCoolist noted:

That rectangular box that once houses a film roll doesn’t need to be rectangular any more.  This gives creative freedom to the build factor of the DSLR to the future, one that has not really been explored until Erin Fong did so here.  Beyond the fact that Fong even explored this territory, her execution is very solid.  At once, she has challenged the standard for DSLR body design and actually provided a creative solution to how digital cameras can be made even better.

All of that is fine.

Erin designed the camera for beginning photographers, as well as hobbyists.

What I like the most about what she came up with is that she did not let the confines of adulthood stop her thought process to come up with an idea.

It’s easy for older adults to say: “That’s impossible.”

But as I’ve noted before, letting your thoughts flow can help connect ideas to come up with something that very well could become possible.

Here are two excerpts from her email.

On being in the overall industry:

I think it’s very exciting to see how design and technology are coming together to form some really amazing things. With all that is being made possible, I think that people are starting to acknowledge design a little more as an industry that can solve various problems and inspire hope in some areas. This is at least what interests me the most about design and what its possibilities are for the future. In addition, the role of industrial designers are starting to change so much to the point where some people think of the field as experience design (according to one of my instructors).

On what inspires her:

As far as what inspires me … I’m really not sure. I’ve been involved in the field for about one and a half years and I think every project is different. I would say that I, like many other designers, focus on the users first and what their needs are. Then inspiration can come from anything, such as nature or other random projects. It’s also a very long process to develop a solid concept, so inspiration can slowly develop and morph from different things.

As we’ve seen federal lawmakers have been looking at health care reform in recent months.

Leaders at the Federal Reserve have reviewed how the country entered the Great Recession and how the housing bubble contributed to that, as well as their usual concern about interest rates.

Those are just two examples of heavy issues that adults in the United States are considering.

But in a sense, and as strange as it may seem, we actually need people who are not consumed by such topics and who have time to think of new ideas – or at least to come up with prototypes which can be refined and refined until they are ready for mass consumption.

In theory, that will help push the boundaries of creativity and productivity - something, as we know, that this country and the world always need.

Circular thinking is one thing.

But progress and achievement have always been worthy hallmarks of the United States.

We all are capable of thinking differently – or thinking different, if that’s what suits you.

Finally, as you can tell, I’m proud of Erin and her design – and of all my relatives.

If you work for a large design company – or know someone who does – feel free to talk with Erin about her ideas.

Send me an email and I’ll forward it to her. 

By the way, her Nova prototype only cost $60. Plus she took apart old cameras for parts.

If you’ve ever traveled to Hawaii – and even if you haven’t – you might have heard those words: Hang loose.