DJ tech consists of a confusing assortment of cables, lights, faders, knobs, more wires, and a few tiny LED screens. Because they are nerds in their own right, musicians are more concerned with usefulness than aesthetics, especially when it comes to technical equipment. Whiteout defies the mold by delivering a DJ console with extreme minimalism inspired by Zen.

Byoung Hoon Woo and Su Hyun Bang, two industrial designers from Korea, have proposed Whiteout as an alternate design for DJ consoles.

The two observed needless intricacy and a heavy aesthetic in today’s DJ stations. Also, they give the appearance that DJing is more difficult than it is. They decided to design an attractive, lightweight piece of sophisticated machinery.

Furthermore, the designers were motivated by Zen gardens to create this difficult and fascinating shift in the conventional attraction of DJing instruments, which they described as a Japanese rock garden or “dry landscape” garden with rocks and rakes in the sand.

The fact that aesthetics are sometimes the least important consideration when building DJ equipment is one of the primary drawbacks.

Byoung and Su Hyun started forming patterns in a big DIY Zen garden tray loaded with sugar to make a design that blended a basic look with all the necessary functionalities. The essential components, two jog wheels, were first, along with pebbles that represented faders and knobs.

The designers continued to improve the look after realizing that complicated shapes wouldn’t make it easier to operate a controller.

The streamlined/delicate form leaves room for comfortable music manipulation and mixing while being comparably easy to use and transport.

The prototype is large-scale production of two parts; the wiring in the bottom half is concealed by acrylic plates, and the removable components were 3D printed. Even when the apparatus is not in operation, Whiteout and its well-designed parts are stunning.