Businessweek praises Robert Brunner and Ammunition’s design for the All-New Nook. The article by Brad Stone take an in-depth look at the newest e-reader by Barnes & Noble, recently ranked by Consumer Reports as the best e-reader in the industry, ahead of the Kindle.

“We think Robert is truly one of the unique designers of consumer-electronic gadgets,” says William J. Lynch Jr., Barnes & Noble’s CEO. “He pushes the team to ask what do we want this product to do at its core?” The new device has a six-inch screen and weighs less than 7.5 ounces, making it the lightest dedicated e-reading tablet on the market. It also has a touch interface and Wi-Fi allowing users to share what they are reading with others.

Together with leadership at Barnes & Noble, Robert and the team at Ammunition have been key players in the development and commercialization of the e-reader category. Ammunition provided the industrial design and for the original Nook and packaging design for the Nook Color accessory system.

Read the full article here. Republished by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ammunition’s long-standing partnership with Barnes & Noble reached a milestone today with the announcement of the All-New Nook, the ground up redesign of the company’s successful Nook digital reader. Working alongside the world’s largest book retailer, Ammunition developed product concept, industrial design, and packaging for the All-New Nook, the third e-reader and electronic publishing device to join the Nook product line.

The challenge for the All-New Nook was to create a lower cost, full featured e-reader and to do so on a timeline that would allow it to move to market quickly. The result is a $139 device that uses eInk technology, a touch interface, and wireless connectivity to create a more immersive and personal reading experience for users. With its simple, soft, rubberized form and refined details, the All-New Nook is by far the smallest and lightest dedicated e-reading tablet to come to market to date.

Pre-orders are available at Barnes & Noble retail and online stores with a ship date on or about June 10, 2011.

To learn more about Ammunition’s contributions to the Nook, Nook Color and All-New Nook, click here.

Ammunition founder Robert Brunner was in Belfast, Ireland last week to give a talk at Queen's University Belfast. The topic was on how ideas not objects are driving change in the market and defining what a company means to its constituents. While Robert regularly travels abroad to share his insights with the international design community, this was his first address to a UK university.

On the experience Robert says, “The atmosphere in Belfast is fantastic and the design community is strong and growing. It was a great opportunity to speak at Queens University about our work at Ammunition, and building an emotional connection between people and their products.”

Attendees included University staff and students involved in product and graphic design, local business representatives, and those who work in Northern Ireland’s creative industries.

The talk was organized by the Chief Executives’ Club at Queen's University in association with the Northern Ireland Technology Centre.

Ammunition founder and partner Robert Brunner was recently a featured speaker at the 2011 SXSW Interactive festival to talk about the emotion behind design and how it is driving change in the market. At the core of his presentation was the notion of “ideas, not objects” as a way for companies to connect with their constituents and develop relationships that matter.

Central to his talk was the belief that today, you can’t just create something, make and deliver it, and then expect it to do well. Products must be more than just a thing. They need to build off relevant, meaningful ideas, and the story needs to be driven through the entire proposition in an authentic way. Great products embody an idea that people can understand and engage with – one they can emotionally connect with.

This year’s SXSW Interactive Festival was held from March 11th to March 20th in Austin, Texas.

Watch the summary edit of Robert’s presentation here.

Ammunition is proud to announce the selection of Beats by Dr. Dre Beatbox as a recipient of the red dot award for outstanding product design. Earlier this month, an international jury of design experts examined 4,433 entries from over 60 countries to determine this year’s winners. Only one in five products received awards.

With its stark, minimalist aesthetic combined with superior audio performance, Beatbox truly sets the benchmark in portable audio design. The cabinet features a high-definition audio system and an ergonomically designed carrying handle for easy portability. The unique trapezoidal shape lets users place the audio system in a corner and still fill a room with party-inducing sound. It is the first non-headphone product from Beats by Dr. Dre, intended to expand the Beats experience from individual enjoyment to a social experience.

Beatbox, along with other winning products, will be honored in a special exhibition at the red dot design museum during July 2011. Afterwards, it will be put on display in the museum’s permanent collection for up to one year.

This is the fifth red dot award Ammunition has received in three years.

Learn more about the Beatbox here.

Ammunition is featured on the list of Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Design by Fast Company magazine for the third year in a row – this time coming in at number seven – “for cutting edge consumer electronics that still have soul.”

At the core of our business is the idea that the successful products, services and brands are designed around great stories that have meaning to the people who use them. Whether it is a product, an interface, a package or an identity, our approach is to design new, exciting experiences for customers that communicate the needs of our clients and create value in meaningful ways.

Fast Company’s editorial team evaluated information on thousands of businesses across the globe to identify the companies for the annual issue. The goal of the list is to represent the breadth of innovation across the economy, which emphasizes not just revenue growth and profit margins but also progressive business models and an ethos of creativity.

See the full list here.