What do you think

The Newson design was a failure.

Had they applied his design eye to a truly compact camera, then perhaps there'd have been a saleable winner as a result.

My guess: Pentax designed the K-01 using their standard approach and the result - an ugly brick of a camera - was deemed unsaleable. "Who would buy that?", remarked Kontiki-san in sales. "Only someone with the face of a donkey to match!" exclaimed Norikomaki-san.

Instead of working on the specs (a big bulky APS-C camera designed for full size lenses from their DSLR line needs a VIEWFINDER among other attributes) they decided to... wait for it...

PUT LIPSTICK ON A PIG.

The K-01 goes to show that dressing up a bad idea isn't a good plan.