FOC Talents 1Jan2011

We kick off 2011 with a great new Talents assignment. Karim Rashid, known for his fast forward designs, is co-creator of this assignment and will take part in the jury. This time the Talents are challenged to design a bracelet that will be manufactured in new Grey SLS Nylon. New addition is the possibility for Talents to receive feedback halfway from the FOC design team on their progress.

Below some examples of bracelets that are made from SLS Nylon. Clockwise, starting from the left top: Ted Noten – ‘Pig bracelet’, Lionel Dean – ‘Super Kitsch’, Nervous System – ‘Pinch bracelet’, Peggy Bannenberg (more…)

FOC Talents 1Oct2010

In the fourth assignment, Talents are challenged to come up with an end-product application and design for ‘Paper Rapid Prototyping’ (PRP).

PRP technology is at the moment only used for prototyping purposes and does not offer the same design freedom and strength as for example Laser Sintered (SLS) Polyamide. But with a significantly lower build material cost price, it can be up to 25 times cheaper than SLS. The paper printer that FOC uses is called Mcor matrix (WIRED publication). FOC has always tried to push the Rapid Manufacturing (RM) envelope, but has not yet explored the PRP opportunities fully. (more…)

FOC Talents 15Jul2010

Apparently Josien Pieters is in a winning mood since the jury consisting of Frank Tjepkema, Jurjen Rolf and Janne Kyttanen has selected her ‘Freshfibers’ Blackberry case design as best out of 14 entries. The entries are assessed anonymous by the jury and again her design came out as winner, after she also won the first Talents competition with her wedding ring design ‘Reality Check‘.

The jury had a fierce discussion on who to select from three entries: ‘Linguini’ by Lionel Dean, ‘B100′ by Peter Hermans and ‘Freshfibers’ by Josien Pieters. The jury praised the forward thinking of Lionel Dean and the intriguing, innovative shape of the Linguini case. B100 was classified as a fun gimmick and a real conversation piece. ‘Freshfibers’ was finally selected as winner, because according to the jury this entry is an original answer to the first design criterion of the assignment that was provided by Freshfiber; make the Blackberry use more fun, or have more impact.

The user starts of with a case consisting of 48 detachable, mono-colored pieces: ‘Freshfibers’. These Freshfibers can be swapped with users that have a different color, in Josien her entry matching the country that the user lives in. The jury thinks the case can become a very social thing, since ‘Freshfibers’ can really stimulate (physical) interaction between global Blackberry users. The anticipated vivid (online) trade of Freshfibers can definitely increase the fun and impact of having a Blackberry and should result in increased social interaction. Also the scarcity of some Freshfibers’ colors can result in real collector’s items. (more…)

FOC Talents 30Jun2010

After two successful Talent competitions in which the Talents were asked to design a new wedding ring concept and a case for the Blackberry, the third competition is related to the FOC lighting collection. Lighting is the most important product category of the FOC Collection. The lights have won many awards and are taken into the permanent collection of the Vitra design museum, MAD New York and Design Museum Holon. Successful light designs include the Dahlia, 1597 and Palm series, all designed by Janne Kyttanen. These designs are inspired by phenomena in nature and therefore have an organic feel compared to the more recent Riot and Filament series.

From our clients we notice that there is strong demand for a new hanging light that is in line with the organic series mentioned above. Demand for a new hanging light is strongest, because the Collection portfolio at the moment only includes one hanging light model: ‘Palm’. (more…)