A longtime leader in the portable photo viewer market, Epson consistently delivers the best in high-end digital photography. But to remain at the vanguard of any industry requires frequent reevaluation of one’s offerings. Epson came to frog to identify and address the unmet needs of its consumer base, developing a device better suited to its audience than ever before.
In careful research of the markets and consumers at play, frog found that the Epson photo viewers had achieved an unprecedented level of saturation among a very specific group of users: professional photographers. These users were actively passionate about Epson products, filling online photography sites with praise and influencing the purchase decisions of countless aspirational "prosumer" photographers. By tailoring a new product line specifically to the needs of this professional demographic, Epson would be poised to maintain and extend its leadership.
Previous products offered many of the features coveted by professional photographers and aspiring users alike, but presented them within the aesthetic of mainstream consumer electronics, making it difficult to differentiate these high-performance devices from other, less advanced offerings on the market. frog set out to develop a distinctive design language that would place these products firmly within the professional market. By taking visual cues from the other devices photographers carry – particularly high-end cameras and lenses – frog and Epson were able to establish a sense of kinship between products. All features and finishes were tailored to imbue the new device with the trustworthiness, reliability, and confidence that are critical for a professional tool.
Unlike a typical studio environment, in which photographers can send images immediately from camera to laptop for storage and viewing, field shoots seldom offer the opportunity for a usable workstation. Portable photo viewers become the lifeline of photographers, enabling them to store and proof images as they work. The Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer has been specifically tailored to endure the rigors of a field shoot. The exterior case was reinforced with careful material selection and a stable form factor, better able to withstand the abuse of daily operation. Exposed fasteners, covered access ports, and shock-absorbent rubber feet provide an additional sense of security to the device.
Bead-blasted aluminum chassis on the top and bottom of the device are paired with cylindrical side-grips to frame and protect the screen and user interface. The grips are textured and sculpted to prevent slippage and guide the user’s hands more effectively into navigation fields. All central controls are located within the user’s thumb arc to ensure effective one-handed manipulation. Additionally, the viewer houses an 80 GB hard drive, SD and CF card slots, and a 4" PhotoFine Ultra four-color LCD that uses four colors per pixel, rather than the typical three, resulting in an extraordinarily vivid image quality.
The P-3000 and P-5000 alike received great praise in initial testing with professional photographers, promising a new industry standard for on-the-go image storage. Critical acceptance has been quick to follow, the P-5000 has already received the iF product design award 2007.
