FOC Talents   1.May.2011

We are excited to present the new Talents assignment in cooperation with Ross Lovegrove. In our FOC Talents program we aim to push the envelope of designs that can be created with state-of-the-art digital manufacturing technologies. Ross Lovegrove, just as our previous judges,  Karim Rashid, Ted Noten, Frank Tjepkema, Frederik Roijé and Janne Kyttanen, has produced many such exceptional examples. In this 2011 summer competition the Talents are challenged to come up with a necklace design that touches upon Lovegroves’ vision on design:

“I am an evolutionary biologist, more than a designer. I don’t know what design is anymore, I create form, I understand form and I’m enjoying the digital age to create it. I’m hoping to push that even further. my work also relates to nature,  in an evolutionary sense as I’m concerned with reduction.  I exercise what is called ‘organic essentialism’ which means using  nothing more – nothing less than is needed. I feel comfortable in this organic, isomorphic, anthropomorphic,  liquid age of making things, but I try not to force it into things that don’t need it.”

READ ON

FOC Talents   17.Feb.2011

The winner of the third Talents contest is Pekka Salokannel with his hanging light design ‘Cresco’. When creating his design Pekka conducted research into nature systems, instead of just nature shapes. Cresco means ‘multiply’ in Latin and the design is a mixture of nature mathematics and self invented shapes. The light is officially added to the FOC Collection.

The  2010-Q3 jury consisted of Janne Kyttanen, Saskia Bakker (owner of Edha) and Jeroen Jobse (partner of Now Is Here). Saskia and Jeroen are in daily contact with many lighting clients. They found that the classical look&feel, with an Arabic touch, matches a rising demand amongst their clients. The jury was also unanimous about the design having a strong unique identity as well as being coherent with the FOC Collection. The Cresco light is now for sale for €547 (incl. 19% VAT) and can be purchased from FOC distributors and retailers or in the FOC online store READ ON

FOC Talents   1.Jan.2011

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 READ ON

FOC Talents   1.Oct.2010

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. READ ON

FOC Talents   15.Jul.2010

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. READ ON