Designers: Hauser, Inc.

Client: Packard Bell NEC

The explosion of technology and connectivity is both the how and the why for this all-in-one personal computer. Given just four months to create a rule-breaking PC for global manufacture, the Z1 designers worked round-the-clock and round-the-globe with Taiwan suppliers: All in an attempt to give the techno-phobic consumer a machine that would fit the home environment yet provide access to the fast-paced, connected world we now live in.

Client: Robertshaw Co.

Designers: Apple Computer Inc.

To provide the audio quality many consumers require, Apple's iMac needed a little help. You can't just stack any old speaker setup next to the unique and inviting iMac. Enter the iSub, created to convey absolute simplicity and to complement the iMac in its pure form. Because most of the volume of the subwoofer is air, the transparency of the iSub is a natural expression of underlying scientific principles-and, like its companion, people just like it!

Client: Zeltec Engineering GmbH, Germany

Designers: Smart Design LLC

Client: Orangex

Innovative design engineering and a distinctive design language come together in the manual juicer to create a superior home product. Manufactured by the leading commercial juicer supplier, the OJex inverts the rocker crank mechanism common to professional juicers to reduce the size. As part of the design, the juicer incorporated ideas from the assembly-line employees in South America to give them a sense of pride in its production.

Designers: Ashcraft Design

Client: Infinity

At $8,000 a pair, these speakers have a firm niche in the market of the audio enthusiast. The tall and thin columns of high-quality diecast aluminum and a choice of wood finishes give the buyer a wide range of options for integrating the system into the home environment. The sound quality is matchless, due to ceramic metal matrix diaphragm technology that also ensures long product life.

Designers: Philips Design, The Netherlands

Client: Philips Singapore Pte. Ltd., Singapore

If a television could ever be cute and cuddly, then the Philips New Vision is it. Designed as a bedroom TV, the 14-inch screen is as comfortable in this setting as a favorite teddy bear. The added features of ambient lighting and an analog clock enhance its usefulness and distinguish it from existing products.

Designers: Staubitz Design Associates and Michilin Manufacturing Co., Taiwan ROC

Client: Royal-Olivetti Consumer Business Products

Designers: Speck Product Design

Deceptively simple, this computer media storage device provides not just the basic function of keeping disks together but introduces a dynamic action that is both fun and functional. Using an elastomeric band, the unit can bundle CDs, Zip disks or other media for transport or storage, then release them in a splayed array that maximizes viewing and access. Most of all, though, it offers the manufacturer a point of distinction that encourages sales volume.

Client: Fisher-Price Inc.

Children create on two levels with this revolutionary electronic toy that produces music through drawing. Composing usually doesn't come as easily to children as drawing, but this toy ensures that every drawing produces both pleasing and original music. This hybrid art easel/musical instrument sold out over 400,000 units in just a few short months. It was a success at $29.99 despite the fact that the creative activity aisle seldom supports products over the $19.99 price point.