Béhar’s CV is as a long list of success after success through innovative design practice and a desire for positive change through design. His most recent ongoing achievement includes the $100 XO Laptop (originally designed to cost 100euros but having it’s name changed due to higher interest in the United States). The laptop has been designed and engineered to withstand intense sunlight, dust and dirt, be light and portable enough for a small child to carry to and from school, and have a design that appeals to it’s youthful target market. From the success of the original Jawbone headset (featured below), a long line of sound generating products has been created. The success of the Jawbone Jambox has boosted Fuse Project to even greater success in the audio electronics industry. The product not only features alternative manufacturing methods, it’s design is unique and the sound quality is second to none. Béhar’s works have also been featured in the Museum of Modern Art and both he and Fuse Project together have accumulated over 150 design awards since the company’s humble beginnings in 1999. The XO laptop although widely considered as a revolutionary device has been subject to scrutiny by a wide variety of people from various fields with a variety of views. C|NET UK, from a strictly computer and technological based standpoint have given a somewhat neutral rating. Commending the design and aesthetics of the device, but criticizing the device for it’s lack of graphical power and the lack of certain ‘normal’ features. Daily News Analysis, India, has described the device as revolutionary and will aid thousands of Indian children in gaining a better education. The article goes onto describe how the Indian government has already made plans to purchase a second round of over 24,000 laptops on top of the 10,000 already purchased for distribution nation wide with plans to purchase even more in the near future. It is clear from the comparison of the two articles that different demographics will view the product in different ways due to their underlying
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needs. The product is made to be a children’s computer and is in no way meant to handle the strain that a fully functional office grade laptop is mean to. OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), the company that commissioned FuseProject to undertake the design project is currently distributing worldwide to countries in both developed and developed nations. Rwanda’s OLPC country manager, Sam Dusengiyumva is quoted in All Africa online newspaper in saying “Not only is it providing a fun and interactive environment for the children during their holidays, it is teaching advanced concepts of tangible skills that the pupils will remain with long after the camp”. Another example of personal and cultural standpoint going against that of CNET UK’s view. The beneficiaries of Fuse Project and Béhar’s products are almost as wide ranging as the number of products themselves. The company has spread across various disciplines of design, across multiple cultural and economic demographics, and over various industries. With the introduction of the XO laptop, Fuse Project has begun an extensive and in depth look into benefiting the lives of those in poorer nations through innovative and thought provoking design. Fuse Project and Béhar’s projects focus heavily on branding and product/company image, adding meaning to the product through aesthetics. An example of such product is a project commissioned by New York Department of Health to create a new brand and image around a line of 36 million free condoms, appropriately named NYC Condom. Through this project, Fuse Project was able to the nonpaying consumer. The beneficiaries of these products weren’t necessarily purchasing the product for it’s quality, but for the image and identity that encompassed it. Making the condom not only a safety item, and an necessity, but a product that people wanted to have for aesthetic and identity reasons.
“Vivamus et metus.”