“In the beginning there was nothing, only the idea”

As your probably beginning to see we love a good design story. As your going to see you will struggle to find a design story executed better than this one.

The History of Asics is wonderfully captured in this charming animation. The animation was created by Nordpol + Hamburg advertising studio, the origami was the creation of Mabona Origami .

Asics: Origami “In Pursuit of Perfection” to give it’s full title was launched back in 2008. For us at twentysomethingdesign it is still one the best examples of brilliantly executed animation. The animation mixes modern animation with true craftsmanship, origami. This blend of new and old strikes the perfect balance and reflects Asics harmony with their old traditions “the pursuit of perfection” and their forward thinking through their modern testing facilties. It is no surprise that the animation won a Grand Prix at the Eurobest, gold at the New York festival, gold at the London International Awards, silver at the Clio in Miami and two times bronze at ADC Germany back in 2008.

The success of the animation is largely down to the personal touch that is strikes throughout. From the beginning we are dropped into a place ( Kobe. Japan ) and a time ( 1949 ) with the founder Kihachiro Onitsuka. We learn of his ambition, that you could build something out of almost nothing, and where it all started, with the simple idea of the slice of Octupus stuck his dinner plate. The story is told effortlessly and is a joy to watch. The simple narration and the unobtrusive use of the origami allows the story to speak for itself.

Everything about the animation is so simple and humble. We enter the story with a man, his foster Dad’s desk, and his ambition. We leave the story with a man behind the Global Goliath Asics, and with his ambition still burning as brightly as when he sat as his foster Dad’s desk “But it’s the beginning of the end, when you start to appreciate your own achievements…the question comes up again what will be the next big idea”

“Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection” by mabonaorigami.com

Director: Tim Schierwater (Nordpol+ Hamburg)
Art Director: Sean Kirby (Nordpol+ Hamburg)
Producer: Florian Liertz (elemente-e Production)
Animation: André Junker, Chrisoffer Wolters (Nform)
Stopmotion: Kathrin Albers, Jim Lacy (Stoptrick)
Origami Artist: Sipho Mabona (Mabona Origami)

For us at twentysomethingdesign the Philco PC is what it’s all about, something different!
( #somethingdifferent was trending last night … wahey! )

The Philco PC concept is admittedly a couple of years old, but I hope you’ll agree that it’s a must see design. The Philco PC concept was designed by schultzeWORKS an industrial design firm from Pasadena, California. SchultzeWORKS designstudio was founded by Dave Schultze in 1997, some of schultzeWorks clients include Microsoft, LG, and Target.

schultzeWorks have created an iconic piece of design in our opinion. They have merged retro steampunk styling with modern materials and finishing, the complement is as close to perfection as we’ve seen anywhere.

schultzeWorks took inspiration from the Philco Predicta, an icon itself, it was designed and launched in the late 1950′s, during the dawn of the space age. It’s futurist design included a seperate and rounded viewing screen, which was a break away design to traditional tv sets at the time. The Philco Predicta was marketed as “TV today from the world of tomorrow”.

philco-predicta-holiday

schultzeWork have gently extracted some of Philco Predicta retro design elements and married it with their own vibrant design aesthetic. The attention to detail carries through the entire design. The mix of the coiled back cable, chunky orange knobs and the aluminum front grill is magic. Unsurprisingly lead designer Dave Schultze says “The design was a total labor of love”. Dave’s ambition was to break away from the stereotypical pc “I felt so strongly that, with few exceptions, most computers are engineered eyesores”. What else can we say only that Dave Schutlze has accomplished his ambition and nailed a supreme piece of design!

We all associate Oakley as leaders of innovation, masters of design and producers of world class eyewear. But did you know that Oakley began as a BMX grip manufacturer?

The history of Oakley takes the viewer through the humble beginnings of the global eyewear giant Oakley. The piece is beautifully shot and edited by Harrison Boyce from BMX blog def grip.
Harrison takes us on a personal journey with Mike Bell a former AMA Supercross champion and an employee of Oakley who started in 1985. Mike shares with us the largely unknown stories of Oakley founder Jim Jannards triumphs and failures on their rocky road to success.
Mike opens a window into the past as we learn about Oakley’s first product the BMX grip B1B and their transition to eyewear. We learn about how they struggled with patent infringements to their success story of Oakley’s iconic and possibly most successful product the O-Frame goggle.
So sit back and enjoy this wonderfully crafted piece!

History of Oakley from Defgrip on Vimeo.