We said it before and we'll say it again: on our list of favorite designs, Ettore Sottsass’ Olivetti Valentine typewriter has to be amongst the top 10 of all time. Like the beautiful Italian it is, the typewriter is the sort of design that induces a smile on the lips and a weakness in the knees; a beautiful case which opens to reveal a design that is as functional as it is pleasing to the eyes. A group of designers set out to recapture a little of that 60's design magic, but with a laptop technology update…

University of Applied Arts Vienna design students Julia Kaisinger, Pia Weitgasser, Martin Zopf and Tony Weichselbraun reworked/shaped the class typewriter with laptop technology in mind; The Valentine Notebook, shares the Olivetti Valentine's red case, pullout keyboard form and functional beauty (though admittedly, we'll always prefer the original to the update). What do you think?
A tribute to the late Ettore Sottsass and a prieview of „Open Source Design“, our assignment for Summer 08, is the reinterpretation of Olivetti´s legendary portable typewriter “Valentine“.

Created in 1969 by Sottsas in collaboration with Perry King Valentine is a strong manifestation of Sottsass´ claim that design should not merely be functional but additionally be attractive and emotionally appealing.
Transposing this concept to meet the demands of our digital era led to a kind of cultural recyling. Valentine´s attributes were interpreted in a stylistic and very functional level.

The typewriter´s heritage induced for instance the use of a flexible display. Thus, the monitor ceases to be the the formgiving factor allowing the keybord to determine the overall dimensions.

Check out the prototype model, which was recently part of the Gizmodo Gallery preview to see what a final model may look like.

[via Yanko Design]