Vio :: Behance

What defines the look of an electric instrument? If the acoustics of it (almost) don't influence the shape, what does? Why is, for example, a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar an immediately recognizable icon worldwide, but the myriads of electric violin designs of the last fifty or so years, brilliant as some of them may be, remain largely in the bounds of a niche market? In more general terms, can an object be deigned in such a way that it's chances of becoming an icon outside of it's genre will be somehow improved?
These were some of the questions I asked myself upon desiding do design an electric violin. I wanted to start with a clean slate and make an icon from the ground up, while avoiding unnecessary skeuomorphs or strict minimalism.

Early Prototyping

From a technical point of view, I saw an opportunity to make a more natural sounding instrument, by making a spruce "flying bridge" that would create a reverb in the body of the instrument. That would be closer to the way an acoustic violin produces sound than the common bridge-on-solid-body design.

And finally, ergonomics. if you design a violin from scratch, why not make it comfortable? as a violin player myself, I know from firsthand experience the woes of violin ergonomics.
The cantilever back and chest rest system will release the player from holding the violin with his jaw or the left hand, allowing a free and comfortable playing experience.