OAKLEY Disruptive By Design Competition winners revealed

OAKLEY Disruptive By Design Competition winners revealed

the OAKLEY Disruptive By Design European competition, organized by designboom in collaboration with OAKLEY europe, saw the participation of 1418 designers from 22 different countries. they all responded to a brief that asked creatives to develop a design that would disrupt elite sports performance in a way that has not been seen before. something new and radical. something that is truly ‘Disruptive By Design’.

the jury was comprised of:
brian takumi – vice president of brand creative at OAKLEY
peter yee – vice president of design at OAKLEY
birgit lohmann – CEO / editor-in-chief at designboom

after some months of anticipation, we announce the two first prize winners of the OAKLEY Disruptive By Design competition!:

first prize winner
‘THE KONK’ by nacho fernandez bellette + luis enrique muñoz vargas of spain

designer’s own words:

the main objective was to design a simple and useful multifunctional tool, which had an easy and low-cost production. the design is robust and is thought to last a long time. the material employed is high resistance aluminium, and the idea is would be that a higher-end model would be produced from titanium.

its form is the result of many months of experimentation until we achieved the correct shape and proportions. the organic lines adapt to human ergonomics and reference those seen in our natural environment. each part of the design has been thought carefully for functionality, while maintaining attractive aesthetics.

our first source of inspiration were turtle shells, so we drafted a rigid and strong structure with a concave shape which allows many different uses, with holes and handgrips allowing free rope configuration.

like many good ideas, our initial one came to us nearly by coincidence. we were working on another project when we suddenly found a shape that surprised us so much that we decided to push and explore its possibilities further. after many prototypes and a long research, we have found the final design, having tried a lot of alternatives and discarded many variations.

the objective of ‘konk’ is to make life easier in outdoor situations in which a great element’s versatility is needed to cover our basic necessities. ‘konk’ brings together in a single object, more than a dozen functions: fire insulator; stove/wok; float fishing/torpedo rescue buoy; shield; trap; shovel; bucket; transportation; sledge; emergency hammock; emergency stretcher; sunlight/smoke signal; backpack fitting; rope configuration and stackable

it can be used as an auxiliary tool in situations such as survival, rescue, outdoors sport and activities; as well as in nomadic life and for the off-the-grid communities.

first prize winner
‘THE JOY OF PRACTICE ‘ by stefano panterotto + francesco ludovico bertin

designer’s own words:

‘the joy of practice comes from the hard work and effort that lies behind every achievement, every victory, every kilometer.’

we researched a demographic which is often overlooked in sports performance, and wanted to dedicate our design to even those of advanced ages. the limited supply of products catering to an older age group is due to the difficulty of the companies and the market to frame and center the needs of these individuals.

when our body changes, our physical activity inevitably turns as well. exercise in old age is based on the principles of maintaining rather than strengthening, working on the deep muscles in a passive way, through contracted less intense but longer lasting movements. having to change their exercise habits, however, can sometimes seem like a defeat initially, making one feel dissatisfied and disoriented with static and passive exercises.

our goal is to give a new and unique experience, with particular focus on the physical satisfaction one feels related to their personal athletic practice. we explored this through wearable technology, thus offering a new product, that is conscious and innovative.

the inspiration comes through the dissemination of apps and wearables for personal training, and we have translated the latest research related to clothing and sustainable technical garments into our design. 3D knitting allows us to create products with a fitting increasingly specific and targeted, which permits the integration of technology directly into the fabric. from these resources we are able to design a product that is capable of restoring ones gratification of engaging in sport, even when our internal feelings and physical capabilities begin to change.

‘the freedom of movement meets the elegance of form.’

inspired by the eastern world and the zen philosophy, we have designed a line of clothing envisioned to bring new dignity to older athletes and their sports practice. a bi-layer structure allows our garment to offer high sensitivity, maintaining the elegance and confidentiality of its form, while the integrated technology allows it to communicate silently and uninterrupted to the wearer’s mental state.

our goal was to create a product of technological clothing that could not only record one’s sport, but for the first time become an active component within his/her practice. the technology integrated directly within the fabric allows you to monitor and recognize deep muscle work passively, which manifests itself through a detente dimensional skin and blood flow. the sensors in the fabric weave translate these inputs through electro-stimulation, which come from the skin tissue to act until the deep muscles give the body a new sensitivity, increasing the responsiveness and effectiveness of one’s physical training.

we have thus developed a process that starts from ourselves and travels through clothing back to our body, no longer a simple fitness tracking but wearable technology capable of using the body to stimulate a result, creating a whole new sport experience.

see the entire shortlist of winners of the OAKLEY Disruptive By Design competition here.