Rapid Prototyping Creates Giant Shoe

By Susan Smith

Information technology takes on an innovative and unexpected stylishness with the USB memory key - a tiny replica of "Electric Light Shoe." Once activated, the key diffuses a soft illumination.

Talk about taking rapid prototyping to a transformative level, Freedom of Creation (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), a Dutch company, has done just with a center-piece project for its client, shoe company Onitsuka Tiger: an entire city contained in a meter-long shoe created using rapid prototyping. “Electric Tiger Land” is the Onitsuka Tiger brand campaign for 2008, which plays a key role in the company’s integrated global brand strategy “Made of Japan,” incorporating aspects of the company’s Japanese heritage, and attitude to modern-day Japan.

The “Electric Light Shoe,” created by FOC designers Janne Kyttanen and Mads Thomsen, who originally saw this concept done by international advertising agency, StrawberryFog, depicts a dream-like universe with numerous of complex, interwoven shapes. One part of the shoe transforms into a landing strip for jets, while the Onitsuka Tiger distinguishing side bands serve as highways. Streets, “neon” store banners, city buildings and a Japanese monster are also included in the design, which skillfully combines illumination and structure.

The meter-long shoe called the ‘Electric Light Shoe’ is central to the global ElectricTiger Land campaign for 2008. Images show the Electric Light Shoe with and without illumination in its full length, as well as in 70cm and 40cm sized versions created for Onitsuka Tiger stores worldwide.

According to Nathalie Ilic, FOC Media Communications, FOC explores all rapid prototyping technologies and selects the technology according to the project. Most FOC brand label collections are made using SLS in sintered polyamide, but sintered metals are also used, as well as RP models used in investment casting.

Front close-up: Detail of the front area showing the multitude of Japanese symbols and icons that deconstruct and reinvent the outline of FOC's Onitsuka Tiger shoe.

Stripes close-up: Detail of the characteristic Onitsuka Tiger stripes, transformed by FOC designers into a network of streets and highways that dynamically come to life and animate the design.

Rapid prototyping for the Electric Light Shoe was developed in partnership with Fcubic (Sweden) and CTES (Spain).

"ElectricTiger Land" will make use of a variety of communication tools, among which extraordinary miniatures of “Electric Light Shoe” used for luminous USB memory keys and for metal key rings in 70cm and 40cm versions for Onitsuka Tiger stores worldwide.

How would you describe the shoe? The designers say it best: A miniature city of light bursting with the visual iconic symbols that have forever been in the Japanese collective imagination.

For further information, contact Freedom of Creation at [email protected].

Watch the video.