We are proud to announce that our Sonic Over Ear Headphones have received the prestigious 2012 red dot award in product design. Selected by an international 30-member jury during an evaluation process lasting several days, Sonic was chosen from more than 4500 entries in the product design category, which included submissions from more than 1800 companies and designers from all over the globe.

The red dot design award, whose origins reach back to the 1950s, is carried out in three disciplines: the “red dot award: product design,” the “red dot award: communication design” and the “red dot award: design concept.”

As a recipient of the red dot award, Sonic is being celebrated for its fine design language and was deemed an inspiration to the experts on the jury panel. Featuring graceful curves and hidden joints, the seamless design of Sonic maintains smooth contours and an exceptionally clean look while taking into account biomechanics. By matching the natural shape of the ear and the head, Sonic delivers improved fit, comfort and sound isolation, reducing unwanted external noise. Sonic maintains an understated elegance while delivering a smooth and even response across the entire audio spectrum for a clear, natural sound that accurately reproduces the source audio.

Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of the red dot design award, recognized the high quality level of the competition. “The experts thoroughly examined, tested and evaluated each individual entry applying the highest standards. With their performances, the laureates did not only demonstrate an extraordinary design quality but they also showed that design is an integral part of innovative product solutions.”

Sonic will be among the award-winning products featured at Germany’s red dot design museum. With more than 1500 products on display, the red dot design museum in Germany maintains the world’s largest permanent exhibition of contemporary design. From July 3 to 29, it will hold its annual exhibition of award-winning products for 2012. At “Design on stage – winners red dot award: product design 2012,” design enthusiasts can admire the latest trends through hands-on experiences.

Kudos to our excellent team on this exciting and well-deserved recognition!

1. How has the iPad enhanced your life?
2. How do you find yourself using the iPad most?
3. What kind of products would you like to see for the iPad?
4. Are Incase products meeting your needs? If not, how could they be better?

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A huge thanks to all who came out to the unveiling of Project Space for the opening reception of our first exhibition with Parra.

In “Yes, Yes, Yes,” Parra takes his signature illustrations in a new direction by utilizing only black and white.

The crowd grew steadily over the course of the evening as friends and fans filled Project Space to interact with each other and enjoy the unique works by Parra.

The Parra exhibition runs through April 30, so please feel free to stop by during regular business hours. Project Space is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. starting April 7. Prints of each piece on display are available in limited editions at Project Space.

Project Space
603 North La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90036
+1-323-938-8818
projectspace@arkitip.com

Check out the Project Space Flickr set to see more images from the opening reception.

What inspired you to create a perforated iPhone case?
The Snap Case (non-perforated) form factor is our lightest, most minimal case in our iPhone case product lineup. The inspiration for perforation stemmed from the idea to further minimize the case by reducing weight without taking away the functional aspect of it being a protective solution.

The first idea that came to mind was using a simple, geometric pattern. From there, we started exploring how to perforate our Snap Case with different shapes, scales and pattern densities, pushing the limits of what is possible to manufacture.

Describe the design and development process for the Perforated Snap Case.
At the start of any product development process, we begin with a team brainstorm session to generate as many ideas as possible. From there we narrow it down to the most promising concepts and refine them with sketching and rendering. Once an idea is committed to, the design team builds a 3D CAD model, which serves as a database to create Stereolithography models, a prototyping process that enables us to print a desired shape in 3D.

Next, we test the prototypes and further refine the geometry. A final design is then agreed upon and we analyze and study its geometry to determine manufacturing feasibility. Once a product passes this stage, the tooling process can commence.

To start the tooling process, we begin with large blocks of steel and machine out the negative shape of our case to make a hollow form that is later injected with polycarbonate material. Because of the all-over perforated design of the Perforated Snap Case, the tooling process is very intricate and takes a relatively long period of time to accomplish. Individual steel pins with varying degrees of curvature for each hole are needed to create the perforated design.

Once the tool is cut, it is then textured and finished. Following this stage of tooling, we shoot the first test shots in plastic, which help us to further debug and finalize the tool as well as the injection settings to create the perfect molded part for the production run.

What types of engineering challenges did the Perforated Snap Case pose?
Injection molding makes it relatively easy to perforate a pattern in one direction, but for the Perforated Snap Case, we were challenged with wrapping a pattern evenly onto a surface that contains multiple directions and very thin wall sections. Our goal was to keep the perforated pattern aligned regardless of the angle from which it is viewed. Because of the curves of the case, it became rather challenging to determine the best way to mold it.

Our product development process is one of continual refinement—we go through many prototypes and trials in order to find the one that will work best for manufacturing.

Please describe the intricacies of the tool and the mold injection.
For the injection molding process, we use hardened steel tools that are the negative (or hollow) form of our case. These are necessary for the mold injection of plastic that creates the positive case form.

Thin steel pins within the tool create the intricate perforated pattern of the case. When in production, injection-molded plastic flows under high pressure and temperature in between the pins. The challenge is to find the perfect balance—the pins cannot be too small, since that would cause them to break under high pressure; and the spacing cannot be too dense, as material needs to flow through the mold easily and evenly.

Since the perforated pattern runs throughout the case, multiple complicated tool actions are required to achieve a consistent pattern.

How many holes are in the case?
Nearly 1000.

Are there benefits to using this case over another iPhone case? How does it differ from other cases on the market?
Our Snap Case is our most minimal case and provides just the slightest elevation around the bezel, which allows the iPhone widescreen to be raised above a surface while it lies on its front face. The design of the Perforated Snap Case gives a unique surface texture, resulting in a better grip because of the pattern. And of course, its perforated design adds visual interest as well.

Lately I’ve been working with the group on the final touches of our SF design studio. It’s been quite a process to produce this unique space and I wanted to give you a first glance into our new home in the bay.

Our custom conference table. A shaped piece of solid corian that was so heavy they needed to bring it in through the window via crane.

The custom dj booth. A bunch of the guys here are dj’s, so it only made sense to make this the lounge centerpiece.

You can check out a few more pics here. More images and info on the space and the people behind it all to come.

I finally received the latest Arkitip issue today. No. 0044 HIGHMATH. This time around, the magazine handed over all design responsibilities to Wood Wood, a Danish design collective. “Produced on the occasion of exhibition,” the issue also served as a working catalog for the self titled show being held in Berlin featuring an incredible group of creatives.

I’ve always been impressed with Arkitip’s ability to create a refreshingly new experience with each of their issues. For issue 0044, each magazine is packaged in a custom box commemorating the show in Berlin along with a 3D viewer and 3 image reels containing work from the exhibition.

Also featured in this issue is my latest ad showcasing our Nylon Backpack.

Be sure to check out more pics from the event in Berlin on the Arkitip Intelligence blog. Stay tuned…