Way back in May 2008, Dell set out to win back some street cred among the hip, young notebook users of today by launching Mike Ming-inspired paintwork on its Inspiron range.
Fast forward to today, and the refreshing paintwork seems to be doing the trick as Dell has now overhauled its web-based Design Studio and introduced over 120 new designs, colours and paintworks.
The styles - used to personalise the exterior of Dell's Studio 15 and Studio 17 notebooks and priced at $85 each - incorporate work from artists such as Maya Hayuk, Deanne Cheuk and Robert Hargrave. In addition to the artworks, there are a selection of classic designs - including 50 PRODUCT (RED) designs, each of which contribute $20 to the Global Fund in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
Dell claims the level of personalisation is a natural extension to the built-to-order model that revolutionised the PC industry, adding that it hopes users of its systems will truly believe "this was built for me".
We're liking the amount of choice on offer, but there is one small caveat - the Dell Design Studio is currently only available to U.S. customers. A global roll out, however, is scheduled for "the near future".
