The Progression of Design

It all started with 'The Box'. Everyone knows The Box. Every family has one. The Box represents the boring, monolithic tower that everyone believes the computer has to be. I inherited The Box four years ago when my brother left for college and ever since I've been searching for ways to put an artistic spin on the traditional computer.

The first step was a case. I was tired of the over-done, generic, beige tower. I had heard of people that build their own cases, but at the time I thought that was crazy and impossible. I ended up buying the CM Stacker 830 and modding it slightly to fit what I wanted. The design was much better, but still lacking quite a bit.

 After a few months I grew tired of leaving everything the same. I got the itch and I had to run with it. There weren't any new components available in my very limited price range, so I started looking around for something else to try. I soon learned about liquid cooling from lurking on a few forums and I was fascinated by the idea. It was definitely a way to add expression to my computer. You can actually give a computer a certain measure of personality by playing with color schemes and tubing runs.

 I was content with my new creation for a while, but I was annoyed at how big the whole unit was and how difficult it was to swap out components. Even pulling out a hard drive took some serious time. I looked and looked for a store-bought case that would solve these problems, but there was really nothing. I finally realized that if I wanted the perfect case I would have to make it myself. I planned the case out in my head on and off for about a month, and once I had it perfected I modeled it in Google's Sketchup.

 The design was, in my mind, the perfect blend of form and function. It was small and efficient, and even made sense thermally. The bottom chamber separated the power supply, hard drives and radiators from the heat-sensitive components up top. The side radiator draws in cool air from the outside while the power supply and front rad expell it. This provides more than adequate air-flow to the hard drives and pump while ensuring maximum cooling power for the CPU, graphics card and northbridge. And all this with the added benefit of being seriously attractive.

  I believe this computer makes an important statement. I once asked my brother, an art history major, if a computer could ever be art. He told me, unequivocally, no. I can only hope that after seeing this piece, the true answer is obvious enough. Art is anything that inspires passion and emotion in the viewer, and it is my sincere hope that I can achieve this with my work.