page_title: Snow White design language
section_title: Unofficial designs
hierarchical_section_title: Snow White design language / Implementation / Unofficial designs
caption_attribution_description: English: Macintosh IIsi
context_page_description: The Snow White design language is an industrial design language which was developed by Hartmut Esslinger's Frog Design. Used by Apple Computer from 1984 to 1990, the scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it actually is.
  The design language boosted Apple's global reputation, set design trends for the computer industry, and molded the perception of computers in the manufacturing and business world.
  Among other design features, Esslinger's presentation of the Apple logo—a three-dimensional logo inlaid into the product case with the product name printed onto its surface—was included on nearly every product for several years.
context_section_description: The Lisa 2/Macintosh XL (1984) had Snow White stripes added to the front bezel redesign along with the inlaid Apple badging four months before the Apple IIc was introduced, technically making it the first Snow White product.
  The Apple Modem 300/1200 (1985) was updated from Apple beige to Fog and the inlaid Apple badging was added.
  The Macintosh Plus (1986) was updated by Frog Design, but only added the inlaid Apple badging and recessed connector icons.
  The Macintosh 800K External Drive (1986) only included the inlaid Apple badging and simple floppy disk slot styling as well as the 2 and 3 mm radius corners and zero-draft enclosure.
  The Macintosh IIcx (1989) was designed in-house entirely by Apple and, though drawing upon the Snow White corporate language, departed considerably from the guidelines. This was the beginning of Apple's efforts to break ties with Frog Design and rebuild the Industrial Design Group.
  The Macintosh IIci (1989) basically the same case as the IIcx with different internal hardware.
  Macintosh LC (1990)
  Macintosh Quadra 700 (1991)
  PowerBook 100/200 Series (1991)
  Macintosh Quadra 900 (1991)
  Macintosh Quadra 950 (1992)
  PowerBook Duo Dock (1992)
  Macintosh LC II (1992)
  Macintosh IIsi (1993)
  Macintosh LC III (1993)
  Macintosh LC III+ (1993)
  Macintosh LC 475 (1993)
  Apple Workgroup Server 95 (1993)
  Apple Workgroup Server 9150 (1994)
  Both the 100- and 200-series PowerBooks and accessories were intended to tie into the rest of the Apple desktop products using the corporate Snow White design language. However, the light colors and decorative recessed lines did not seem appropriate for the scaled-down designs. In addition to adopting the darker grey color scheme which co-ordinated with the official corporate look, they also adopted a raised series of ridges mimicking the indented lines on the desktops. These early PowerBooks would be the last to use the aging Snow White look and the only ones to make such a radical adaptation of it.
caption: Macintosh IIsi
exif: {}