TCL Design Innovation History: Connection & Convergence

To focus on creating value for the future, we looked at our historical heritage for inspiration.

History

TCL’s early product lines were relatively simple and independent, mainly focusing on TVs and mobile phones.

Everyone was accustomed to TVs with sharp edges and corners, cold-textured metal frames, and a black screen at the front that seemed to swallow all decorative elements. Over time designs became more minimalistic and integrated to give a futuristic experience. The fast-paced technological evolution was also reducing the space for including differentiated design elements.

Interconnection

The rise of 5G accelerated interconnection across home appliance products. Lifestyle products are now moving towards integrated & connected experiences. In 2016, when we were designing the Air Healthy 460 refrigerator, it was intended to "connect and combine" various functional requirements and customizations using multiple partitions. The glass door was integrated with the whole body, and there were no decorative elements in sight, breaking the traditional fixed frame design of refrigerators. During that time, we were still exploring symmetrical design forms. Our home appliances were beginning to have iconic design elements, but there was still no unified design language, and functionality still took priority. For example, the groove design on the door indicated to the user that this is a door that can be opened.

Convergence & Change

At this point, things started to become clearer, and our cross-category design language seemed to naturally appear as the ‘HORIZON’.

The HORIZON is the line that separates the Earth from the sky, but it is also the line that connects the sky with the Earth, which makes it both a divider and a unifier bringing about a sense of wholeness and meaning. We can observe this HORIZON line running endlessly across forests, mountains, oceans, and buildings to an infinite extent. The combination of rocks, deserts, wetlands, glaciers and infinite elements create an endless sense of texture.

We interpret the HORIZON as the element connecting our TCL brand logo elements of square (representing the infinite exploration of technology and the future), and circle (reflecting our focus on insights into users by putting people first). The HORIZON connects technology with humanity, intelligence, emotion, art, and nature. The horizon line represents stability and nurturing, lending a sense of calm to our users.

The HORIZON is infinitely possible with infinite extensions. It is also an all-encompassing, immersive giant screen painting, infinitely changing across the different dimensions it passes through while at the same time, also consistent and unified.

The HORIZON thus became our guiding principle for product & user experience design. It is not just a before and after change, but an extension and sublimation of our design DNA. The TCL HORIZON C12 Full-set AI Home Appliances are the first step towards representing what the next generation of TCL Intelligent Technology products will look like.

We incorporated the concept of the HORIZON dividing the Earth and the sky into our C12 full-set products employing a line dividing the upper glass and lower metal parts of the product. The upper part of the glass represents the reflection of the environment, like a vast sky, and the lower part is like a mineral metal texture with an earthy feeling, and texture touch experience. The appearance is segmented, but it is an integrated design under the interconnection premise. We can no longer see the obvious opening groove in the refrigerator and cannot realize from the appearance that it has a compressor and a power cord. The door frame and buttons are invisible and seamless. The product does not have an industrial look but offers a futuristic feel to users with a magnificent aesthetic experience beyond functional design.

The HORIZON design language runs across the cross-category products portfolio. It simulates the light of the rising sun, and through natural and subtle design, it not only reflects and echoes the functional selling points of various product categories but also brings about the pleasant experience of AI lighting. Through the infinitely extended lines, we can see an all-encompassing image integrated with the touch texture. The product design has iconic design elements based on TCL’s unique unified design DNA.

We sought inspiration from the natural gray color of pebbles as well as the 2021 PANTONE color of the year “Ultimate Gray" to create our own color tone "Earth Gray" to use as the main color scheme for the C12 product series. The Earth Gray color has a calm and dependable feeling, adding a classic immersion to the home environment. The material and finishing both have a high-quality metallic texture and lustre giving the product a modern and technological appearance. Also, the hairline treatment process lends the metallic material a soft and delicate touch, contributing to a comfortable and advanced user experience.

The HORIZON design language is a harmonious blend of technology and humanity. Its application across the 8 multi-category products portfolio delivers a consistent experience to users not just visually but also in terms of function & interaction. We have included several innovative smart AI features which have been highlighted in different experience design touchpoints: