Bioscarf
Company Petrichor SA, LLC
Introduction Date December 1, 2016
Project Website http://www.bioscarf.com
Why is this project worthy of an award?
According the The World Health Organization, air pollution is the world’s largest single environmental health risk. UNICEF estimates that over 2 billion children are breathing toxic air. Every year, millions of people die from air pollution related illnesses. We created the Bioscarf to help change that! The Bioscarf is the first scarf with air pollution and cold & flu protection built right in. It is made out of a patent pending material that incorporates a particulate filter into the fabric. Whether you are on your bike, on a bus or plane, or just out and about, the Bioscarf gives you comfort and protection whenever - and wherever – you need it.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
During a trip to China, businessman Carlton Solle became ill. After visiting a local doctor, he was informed that he had most likely become sick due to complications related to air pollution. Mr. Solle asked what he could do to protect himself in the future and the doctor said the only thing that he could do was to use a mask. Upon returning to his home in Atlanta, Georgia, he mentioned it to his wife, Hazel Solle. Mrs. Solle, grew up in the countryside in Costa Rica. She grew up on a farm that had no electricity where they had to make everything from scratch. Her favorite toys growing up were two dolls. The dolls were hand me downs so the clothes were old and worn so anytime she could get her hands-on fabric scraps she would use them to make them new outfits. Fabric was hard to come by and when she was lucky to come across some normally they were small scraps. Because most of the time the scraps weren’t big enough to make entire outfits she would use them to make scarfs for her dolls. When her husband mentioned what had happened she thought back to her childhood and those scarfs that she used to make for her dolls and that’s when she came up with the idea. Something fashionable that could add a special touch to any outfit but that could also help protect you at the same time. This is also where the idea for the Plus One Program came from as she grew up with very limited resources and she wanted to try and help other people at risk without the resources to protect themselves. Under its PlusOne program, Bioscarf pledges to donate product to individuals less fortunate for every Bioscarf sold. In tests the Bioscarf outperformed many of the popular masks on the market, it filtered out an average of 99.75% of all airborne particulates size 0.1 microns and larger. That means that it can protect you from pneumonia ( 0.25 microns ), strep ( 0.9 microns ), influenza ( 0.43 microns ), tuberculosis ( o.86 microns ) , pm2.5 ( 2.5 microns ), animal dander ( 1.0 microns ), pollen ( 10.00 microns ) and cigarette smoke ( 0.30 microns ) to name a few.
Who worked on the project?
Hazel Solle - Creator / Founder Carlton Solle - Creator / Founder
View the project video: https://vimeo.com/253085630
Bixby Makeup
Company Samsung Electronics America
Introduction Date February 25, 2018
Project Website http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/bixby/vision/
Why is this project worthy of an award?
For as long as Samsung has produced high-end smartphones, it has operated on the belief that technology should enable people to live better lives by making their daily tasks simpler, easier and more streamlined. That was the premise behind Bixby — the intelligence platform that launched with the Galaxy S8 and incorporated into Samsung’s flagship phones since — and it’s the premise behind the groundbreaking Bixby Makeup tool. Bixby is a smarter way to use your phone — it learns and adapts to its user. Bixby powers a wide range of functions in addition to voice controls, including image recognition, translation, shopping searches and more. On the Galaxy S9 and S9+, Bixby takes advantage of the smartphone’s cutting-edge camera to power Bixby Makeup: a service that allows you to virtually try on different looks and purchase your favorite products. This is possible by combining the intelligence of Bixby and the augmented reality (AR) capabilities of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ cameras. In Bixby Makeup, Bixby uses AR and the device’s front-facing camera to show you what you would look like in different kinds of makeup. You can browse through thousands of different products to try on different shades, colors and styles, in order to find the ones that work best for you. And thanks to Samsung’s partnerships with Sephora and CoverGirl in the U.S., you can purchase any of the makeup used in your favorite looks directly from Bixby Makeup. In the past, the most difficult part of purchasing makeup was the amount of time you would have to spend trying on each individual color or style. You would have to go to a store — often in a crowded shopping center — and try on each individual product separately. And if you wanted to try different colors of the same product, you would have to remove the one you didn’t like and then begin applying a new one all over again. With Bixby Makeup, that process is streamlined: you can try on dozens of products in a matter of minutes, directly from the native camera app on your phone, instead of spending hours hunched over a mirror. At its heart, this is the promise of technology: our most important devices should empower us to live our lives the ways in which we want — while expediting and streamlining some of the most time-consuming and laborious activities that we engage in. That is the goal of Bixby Makeup.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
The key to good design is seamless integration into an existing experience and infrastructure. This is especially true in the case of Bixby, which has been deeply integrated into the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Bixby powers a range of experiences for each of these devices and works seamlessly with other features of the device — such as the camera, microphone and speakers — to power new capabilities. In the case of Bixby Makeup, Bixby works seamlessly together with the Galaxy S9 and S9+ front-facing camera. To use Bixby Makeup, you just simply open up your front-facing camera just as you would if you were taking a selfie. Then, with a quick tap of the Bixby button, you can navigate to Makeup. Once inside Bixby Makeup, you can organize your options in several different ways, choosing between a variety of different categories. Bixby Makeup organizes different products by style so you can choose from different styles such as “glamorous” or “chic” and peruse the products that are specifically designed for those styles. From there, you can decide what kind of products you’re interested in — such as lipstick or eye shadow — and browse through all the color selections that are available for that product. Once you select a style, product and color you like, the front-facing camera will use AR to show you what you would look like wearing that makeup. In Bixby Makeup, you can even mix and match, trying on different combinations of different products to design a complete look. Bixby Makeup is designed to simulate and streamline the experience of trying on makeup physically — and of course, that includes sharing a prospective look with one’s friends before buying. In Makeup mode, you can simply take an AR selfie of yourself wearing the products of your choice and send that look to your friends for a second opinion. Once you have found the makeup you like, tried it on and run it by your friends, you can also use Bixby Makeup to buy that product from Sephora or CoverGirl — all directly from the camera app.
Who worked on the project?
N/A
View the project video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JuhhU4A2uo
Bolt Threads' Best Made Microsilk Cap of Courage
Why is this project worthy of an award?
Bolt Threads is the materials innovation company using proprietary technology and revolutionary bio-engineering concepts to transform the world around us, beginning with the textiles found and used in our everyday lives. Bolt Threads is working to create the next generation of performance fibers and fabrics, and in March 2017, they were the first to bring bioengineered spider silk - Microsilk™ - to market. Since launch, Bolt Threads has been able to refine their Microsilk-making process and create meaningful products to bring to market through their brands and partners. Last July, they acquired Best Made Co., the apparel and lifestyle brand, who also has a significant appreciation for innovative materials and understands the endless possibilities that biofabrics can bring to further advance product design. In December, they launched their first co-created product and Bolt Threads’ second commercial product to-date - the Best Made Microsilk™ Cap of Courage. Designed in-house by Best Made Co. and developed by the Bolt Threads team of scientists, engineers and apparel experts, the Microsilk™ Cap of Courage combines comfort, style and function, and is the warmest hat within the Best Made Co. collection due to its innovative blend of wool and bioengineered spider silk. Knit using a staple yarn (or spun yarn, produced by combining many short-length fibers) the hat is made of Bolt Threads’ signature Microsilk™ and American Rambouillet sheep wool sourced from Mountain Meadow Wool, a family-operated, Wyoming-based mill. Over the course of nine months, the Bolt Threads, Best Made Co., and Mountain Meadow teams worked tirelessly to seamlessly integrate 21st century fibers with traditional materials and spinning techniques. After working through a series of prototypes, the final product represents the exquisite merger of expert craftsmanship and breakthrough technology. The hat was priced at $198 and came in 10 unique colorways with 100 units total; all sold out within one day of being available on www.bestmadeco.com.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
Microsilk™ embodies the beginning of a new way to make sustainable, high-performance materials with customized properties that can be produced at a commercial scale through viable cost for widespread use in consumer products - something no other company has done. The Bolt Threads team wholly engineers and produces silk protein, primarily using the ingredients of sugar, yeast and water. They study silk proteins found in nature to determine what gives them their incredible properties, then they develop proteins inspired by these natural silks by putting genes into yeast. Using proprietary technology and a fermentation process, the protein is turned into a fiber following a wet-spinning process. From there, the fiber is built into silk strands that can be knitted or woven with other materials, in this case Rambouillet Sheep wool. Because Bolt Threads has developed this new material from the ground up, they have the chance to make the most sustainable choices at every step of the process. They are committed to minimizing the environmental impact of Microsilk™ production, and because the material is protein-based, it is biodegradable, unlike polyester and other synthetic fibers that are contributing to microfiber pollution.
Who worked on the project?
Jamie Bainbridge, VP of Product Development at Bolt Threads Myrrhia Resneck, Knitwear Design Engineer at Bolt Threads Peter Buchanan-Smith, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Best Made Co.
View the project video:
Bolt Threads’ Mylo™
Company Bolt Threads
Introduction Date April 16, 2018
Project Website https://boltthreads.com/technology/mylo/
Why is this project worthy of an award?
Bolt Threads is the materials innovation company using proprietary technology and revolutionary bio-engineering concepts to transform the world around us, beginning with the textiles found and used in our everyday lives. This April 2018, Bolt Threads introduced its second material, Mylo™- the world’s first commercially available leather grown from mycelium, the root structure of a mushroom. For the launch, Bolt Threads came across Ecovative - a biomaterials company - and the work they were doing with mycelium technology, and fell in love with the possibilities for product creation. By using the foundational biofabrication technology Ecovative had built, and pairing that with Bolt Threads’ process of technology optimization and bringing material to market, Mylo™ became a reality. Mylo™ looks and feels like hand-crafted leather, and because Bolt Threads carefully controls its environment and nutrients, they can direct the mycelium’s growth and control its durability, strength and suppleness. It has a natural feel, and every sheet yields unique variations in thickness, making each product truly one-of-a-kind. The Mylo™ material is made by combining mycelium cells with a substrate of corn stalks and key nutrients in an open container. Bolt Threads creates the optimal environmental conditions that encourage the mycelium to multiply and grow into the substrate, self-assembling into a 3D matrix of precisely organized cells. Then, the cells form an interconnected mass that can be made to be almost any size, and from there, the team uses a natural tanning process and compresses the mat to be as thin or thick as they’d like the final material to be. The final step is to imprint any desired pattern, which provides the final material. Bolt Threads will bring mycelium leather directly to consumers by releasing a Mylo™ bag, available for pre-order this June. Additionally, Stella McCartney, a long-term partner to Bolt Threads, debuted the Mylo™ Falabella Prototype 1 bag at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s “Fashioned From Nature” exhibit, this April in London.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
Bolt Threads is the first company in decades to release two novel materials, the first being their biofabricated spider silk, Microsilk™. Now, the company continues to use their technology as a platform to invent new and useful materials inspired by nature that are sustainable. Bolt’s bioengineering technologies present an opportunity to revolutionize an old-world industry at a commercial level. For background on leather specifically, livestock use an astonishing 30% of the earth’s entire land surface and cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, than all transportation methods. Unlike traditional leather-making processes, the creation of Mylo™ doesn’t involve raising livestock, or any of the substantial associated energy costs. Additionally, because mycelium (mushrooms) are found in nature, Mylo™ is biodegradable.
Who worked on the project?
Dan Widmaier, CEO and Co-Founder at Bolt Threads David Breslauer, Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder at Bolt Threads Ethan Mirsky, VP of Strategic Projects and Co-Founder at Bolt Threads Jamie Bainbridge, VP of Product Development at Bolt Threads
View the project video:
Canadian Apparel
Company OneMethod
Introduction Date February 22, 2017
Project Website http://bit.ly/canadianapparelcase
Why is this project worthy of an award?
Canadian Apparel was a disruptive pop-up experience housed in a hi-jacked American Apparel store, all done to raise awareness & sales for a uniquely Canadian-made streetwear brand. The case study video and case study website can better tell the broader story, but as for award-worthiness... The biggest thing would be the simplicity of Canadian Apparel. The design of the space, the experience, and the overall concept were executed with such simplicity and focus that there was an unmistakable connection between the creative solution and our overall objective (to disrupt our audience's established behaviour to introduce them to our different story and sell our different products). The next thing would be the vibe. While less quantifiable than some other metrics, the vibe at Canadian Apparel was something else. It was inspiring, inescapable, and if we’re being totally honest (I think we're there in our relationship), somewhat unexpected. I mean, we were confident people would “get” the whole thing, we just didn’t realize people would truly and deeply love it. Busy people walking down Canada’s busiest shopping street (Queen Street) had their paths disrupted and you could see them go from disruption, to understanding, to appreciation, to entering and then even to shopping. Once inside this translated to an awesome overall vibe. It exceeded expectations and people still reach out to us asking if we can recreate it for them. The final thing would be the more measurable results. While echoed in the case video and case site, we can quickly list them here as well. The event saw 1 customer enter the store every 34 seconds. Of those, one product was sold every 17 minutes, outpacing the general benchmarks for the category in the area. This all resulted in the brand’s best weekend of sales ever and a 400% spike in website traffic. The success extended beyond the event with following week delivering the strongest week of sales in the past year. Outside of sales, the event was covered by a wide variety of media sources including international fashion authorities, national news channels, local culture publications, plus a long list of bloggers, vloggers and other influencers. The result was over 9,000,000 earned media impressions and over 1,000,000 earned social media views.
What else would you like to share about your design? Why is it unique and innovative?
Beyond the above mentioned, the only thing worth bringing up in terms of uniqueness and innovation was how almost all aspects of the design were dependent on re-appropriating an established space and brand. Creatively, we had never seen and certainly never tackled a challenge like this. Securing the space, deconstructing it, and then reconstructing it was definitely a unique approach to a pop-up shop, and we’d like to think it was innovative. At the very least nobody has ever done it with American Apparel specifically as they had literally just gone out of business.
Who worked on the project?
NAME, COMPANY, ROLE Amin Todai, OneMethod, CCO Steve Miller, OneMethod, CD Max Sawka, OneMethod, ACD John Hotts, OneMethod, ACD Paul De La Merced, Art Director Dario Petruzzi, OneMethod, Copywriter Natasha Gomes, OneMethod, Project Manager Rebecca Milner, OneMethod, Community Manger Nathan Strawn, Bensimon Byrne, Business Lead Jamie Kaiser, Bensimon Byrne, Creative Technologist Laura Serra, Narrative, Public Relations Katie Muekusch, Narrative, Public Relations Tim Pienta, Bensimon Byrne, Video Editor
View the project video: http://bit.ly/canadianapparelcase
