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A compact industrial PC reimagined with passive elegance — where necessity becomes form, and form becomes character
Industrial compact PC
m06
AQ Desk M06 is not about spectacle, but about efficiency shaped by industrial elegance
What used to be a technical compromise becomes a design signature:
minimal, tactile, and surprisingly elegant for a compact industrial machine
Designing AQ Desk M06 began with a constraint: the body already existed, and the business needed a more modern expression without a full redesign. A ready-made OEM body from partners arrived with the aesthetics of early-2000s industrial hardware — a square black brick with four mounting ears and exposed screws. Technically functional, visually dated.
Reframing passive cooling as a visual language
Only one exterior element could be redesigned: the passive cooling radiator. Instead of disguising the necessity, the radiator became the centerpiece — a sculptural ribbed extrusion that gives the product a calm, architectural presence. The rhythm of the fins turns thermal engineering into ornament, making the object feel intentional rather than improvised.
The original device required four protruding mounting ears — practical, but visually disruptive. In the redesigned version, mounting is achieved through two precise recessed points with subtle indexing marks. The functionality remains unchanged, yet the industrial silhouette becomes cleaner, more premium, and easier to integrate into interior environments.
The challenge was not to reinvent the device from scratch, but to transform what could be changed into something quieter, more contemporary, and more desirable to place on a desk or mount on a wall.
AQdesk M06 · 2024
Industrial compact PC
Art director: Albert Degin
Industrial designer: Albert Degin
3D visualization designer: Vera Vologina