Lenovo’s M90Z is the new all-in-one desktop that’s yet to be released. But that hasn’t stopped Lenovo from talking about it. In fact, Lenovo wants you to know that they put a lot of heart and soul into creating this new machine. Design was an integral focus, and it’s part of the reason that Lenovo is running their “Design Matters” blog. Here are some clues about where Lenovo is heading next.

Lenovo’s blog details all the little nuanced sketches and inspirations for what ultimately become their ThinkPad or ThinkCenter designs for desktop and laptop computers. Right now, they’re featuring their M90z; Lenovo claims it’s the ultimate business desktop computer.

The video below goes through a bit of the prototyping process and the industrial design techniques behind this upcoming machine and details how they spoke to customers to get feedback that would drive their vision for thew new design.

But you have to ask yourself: Why is Lenovo suddenly focusing so much on how they design things?

This blogger thinks it’s obvious. Who’s been the biggest proponent of style and function? Arguably, Apple. Now before you jump all over me, I’m not saying that Lenovo is directly channeling Apple, but there’s a trend that’s been set. Apple has certainly shown that design matters and customers — both business and consumers — are attracted to appealing objects that are artfully designed and functional at the same time.

Lenovo has always had their own style and design, but it’s interesting that they’ve really amped up their promotion of the work that goes into it. So much so that their YouTube channel is loaded with videos on their products and feature sets.

Overall, I’m not really sure if there’s a bigger story — say — “Industry Style Trend Sweeps Through Computer Companies” — but it’s food for thought. Once upon a time computers were dull grey boxes, now they’re a blend of form and function, something that no computer company can overlook.

In the meantime, we’ll keep our eyes peeled on the M90z when it finally makes it’s debut, and shows off that hardware under the black industrial frame.