 The Zenbook name was proposed by Asus chairman Jonney Shih to reflect the " zen philosophy " applied to the design . The chief designer , Loewy Chen , had wanted to incorporate design elements from luxury watches into his products for a long time . Zenbooks were the first opportunity to put this into practice , the crossover being achieved , he said , by " the unfolding of the laptop from the side recalling the elegance of minute and hour hand movements " . The reference to watches is also reflected in the marketing of Zenbooks ; Asus published design sketches overlaying an open Zenbook on a watch face , and video advertisements feature similar imagery . The concentric circles on the lid of Zenbooks were intended to look like ripples in water and to reflect " philosophical ideas such as the infinite nature of Zen thinking and self @-@ improvement " . 
