Talking and writing about drones is complicated these days. They are a new and disruptive technology and they can be anything from a saviour to a threat or simply a means of transportation of any kind. That’s why it’s so interesting to have a look at Los Angeles-based studio Ichelle Im’s study of a friendly drone. Ichelle Im is the brainchild of artist and concept editor Michelle JY Park and Tesla Motors lead designer Andrew Kim. Together they created a concept for a drone that is approachable, easy to maintain and versatile in use. They basically understood the technology of a flying entity as a user interface that needs to be designed not like the outside of a car but like the structure of a good software.

001 Drone's shapes are soft but linear. The surface is smooth but invites the user to touch it. The elements seem to be as easily assembled as a toy but what can be done with this piece of technology: the options are endless. Basically what Andrew Kim and Michelle JY Park did seems to be familiar from a very successful American technology brand with a fruit in their logo: taking familiar and inviting shapes and processes into a new technological environment to make it easy to handle for anyone. To many and for a long time, this approach seemed to be an unnecessary form of luxury. But it’s proven to be a basic need and a huge success these days. That's why we are really curious to see this drone concept come to life.