Think Zink

Zink, known for its innovative inkless printing technology, decided to address its fans to design new models of the printing equipment with the zink technology inside.

In the beginning the inkless Zink (zink = zero ink) was considered as a breakthrough novelty promising reduced expenses on printing ink. Once the new zink was in place, embedding it in gadgets turned to be a challenge. To solve the issue the company launched its Zero Boundaries contest earlier in 2009, challenging product designers to create new designs. The winners were promised cash rewards totaling $25,000.

Of the submitted designs there are some worth paying attention to. For instance, a Zink pad looking like a notebook, but being a printer. Or small plastic gadgets you can put in the pocket, carry around and use whenever need for printing arises.

Such contest when companies ask the general public to do their work is not new. But in this case the quality of the presented designs is great. To have a look at the finalists and vote for one of them, internet users can access this webpage: http://zinkzeroboundaries.com/vote.html. The voting is done through July 13.

Key words: Zink, design, new printers