KDDI au: au design project

Around the year 2000, when the folding “clamshell” style of mobile phone was about to become the norm for phone design, we began to hear many complaints that all the phones looked the same, and that people wanted a phone with a more advanced design. The au design project traces its origins to our movement to answer these requests. In May 2001, just as an auto manufacturer introduces beautiful concept cars to the public, we unveiled three concept phones: info.bar, rotary, and wearable. These were our experiments in reconsidering the mobile phone from the perspective of its design, to search for the truly unique and attractive phone that people really wanted and were subconsciously creating in their minds. We received many requests to make these widely-praised prototypes available as actual products, leading to the October 2003 launch of the INFOBAR, which was largely based on the info.bar design.

Since then, the au design project has become a trailblazer, introducing one revolutionary prototype and product after another, and having a tremendous impact on trends in mobile phone design. As proof of our achievements, four of the project’s products—INFOBAR, talby, neon, and MEDIA SKIN were chosen for the permanent collection at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In quest of further advancement, au design project evolved into au’s new mobile-product brand “iida” in April 2009.

Under the title “au 200X Collection,” the following prototypes were unveiled at the Business Show 2001 TOKYO KDDI booth.
info.bar (designed by Naoto Fukasawa)
rotary, wearable (designed by Takashi Nikaido)

The GRAPPA and GRAPPA 002 prototypes (designed by Ichiro Iwasaki) were created.

Under the title “au design project,” the following prototypes were unveiled at the Business Show 2002 TOKYO KDDI booth.
info.bar, ishicoro (designed by Naoto Fukasawa)

The apollo and apollo 02 prototypes (designed by Ichiro Higashiizumi) were created.

The talby prototype (designed by Marc Newson) was unveiled at the Business Show 2003 TOKYO KDDI booth.

INFOBAR (designed by Naoto Fukasawa), the first product from the au design project, was unveiled and released.

W11K (designed by Naoto Fukasawa), the second product from the au design project, was unveiled and released in December.

talby (designed by Marc Newson), the third product from the au design project, was unveiled. It was released in November.

PENCK (designed by Makoto Saito), the fourth product from the au design project, was unveiled and released.

The MEDIA SKIN prototype (designed by Tokujin Yoshioka) was unveiled at the Meiji Shrine Seitoku Memorial Exhibition Hall in Tokyo.

The MACHINA and HEXAGON prototypes (designed by Naoki Sakai and Nao Tamura) were unveiled at the Tokyo Designer’s Week 2005 Container Exhibition.

neon (designed by Naoto Fukasawa), the fifth product from the au design project, was unveiled. It was released in February.

KDDI exhibited at the Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition in Milan, Italy.
The products INFOBAR, W11K, talby, PENCK, and neon as well as prototypes MEDIA SKIN, MACHINA, and HEXAGON were displayed.

A special INFOBAR exhibition was held at the KDDI Designing Studio, and the INFOBAR 2 prototype (designed by Naoto Fukasawa) was unveiled.

The Trilogy exhibition was held at the KDDI Designing Studio, at which the following prototypes were unveiled.
cypres (designed by Nao Tamura), kaos (designed by Bradley Fraser), and vols (designed by Ross McBride)

It was announced that the INFOBAR, talby, and neon products and the MEDIA SKIN prototype were selected for the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

The sixth au design project product, MEDIA SKIN (designed by Tokujin Yoshioka) was unveiled.
It was released in March.

An exhibition on interface design entitled “Things that Mobiles have forgotten to take along — Keitai ga Keitai Shiwasureteitamono” was held at the KDDI Designing Studio, at which the following prototypes were unveiled.
sorato, hitoka (designed by Chie Morimoto)
actface (designed by Team Lab)

The seventh au design project, INFOBAR 2 (designed by Naoto Fukasawa) was unveiled.
It was released in December.

The ”Musical Instruments and Mobile Phones — Gakki to Keitai” exhibition was held
at the KDDI Designing Studio, at which the following prototypes were unveiled.
(designed by Yamaha Design Laboratory)
"Band in my pocket"
"Trio in your hand"
"Box to play"
"Sticks in the air"
"Key to touch"
"Strings for fingers"

”PLY and Mobile Phone Layers — PLY –Keitai no Sou” exhibition was held
at the KDDI Designing Studio,
and the PLY prototype (designed by Hideo Kambara) was unveiled.

Three models of the “SOLAR PHONE CONCEPTS” range,
designed by MILE and Hironao Tsuboi, Were unveiled at CEATEC JAPAN 2008.

【Awards】: 2003 Good Design Award (New Frontier Design Category)

【Awards】: 2003 Good Design Award
Design for Asia Award 2004, Grand Award
iF product design award 2005 (Germany); Shogakukan “DIME” 2003 Shogakukan DIME Trend Award Business & IT Gold Prize
Sony Magazines “DigiMono Station” DigiMono of the Year 2003 Communications and Mobile Awards & Judges’ Special Awards
Magazine House “POPEYE” ’03 Digital Design of the Year Gold Prize
Impress “Keitai Watch” Ranked number one Phone of the Year as chosen by readers 2003
“Mono Magazine” Super Goods of the Year Jury’s Special Award, Design Award

【Collections】: Chosen for JIDA Design Museum Selection
Chosen for The Museum of Modern Art (New York) collection

【Exhibitions】: Israel Museum “Architecture + Design in Japan” exhibition (July 29-September, 2004)
Belgium: 'Interieur 04 fair in Kortrijk in Belgium' exhibit (October 15-24, 2004)
Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Naoto Fukasawa “Ariso de Naimono” exhibition (November 11, 2004-January 23, 2005)
Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy); Exhibited at "WA: The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today,"
held in Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris
(From October 22, 2008 to January 31, 2009 in Paris, France)

【Exhibitions】: Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Naoto Fukasawa “Ariso de Naimono” exhibition (November 11, 2004-January 23, 2005)
Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy)

【Awards】: 2004 Good Design Award
Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award 2005

【Collections】: International Design Yearbook 2005 (prototype)
Endowed to the FNAC (National Foundation of Contemporary Art), France
Chosen for The Museum of Modern Art (New York) collection

【Exhibitions】: talby prototype displayed at the Groninger Museum (Netherlands) Marc Newson exhibition
London Design Museum (England) Marc Newson exhibition
Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy)

【Awards】: 2005 Good Design Award
Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award 2005

【Collections】: Chosen for Die Neue Sammlung (Germany) permanent collection

【Exhibitions】: Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy)

【Awards】: 2006 Good Design Award

【Collections】: Chosen for The Museum of Modern Art (New York) collection

【Exhibitions】: Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy)
Super Normal exhibition (June 9-July 2, 2006, Roppongi AXIS Gallery and traveling exhibition in London and other locations)
The Museum of Applied Arts Frankfurt (Design) “Katachi – contemporary applied art from Japan” exhibition (April 28-August 26, 2007)

【Awards】: 2007 Good Design Award Gold Prize; Won the DFA Grand Award at the Design for Asia Award 2008

【Collections】: Chosen for The Museum of Modern Art (New York) collection; Contributed to Design Museum, London, in 2008; Contributed to "kansei – Japan Design Exhibition" held in Paris
by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)　in 2008.

【Exhibitions】: Good Design Award 50 Years exhibition (April 5-10 2006, Milan, Italy); Exhibited at the "Future Urban Mobility" exhibition held at
Le Rendez-Vous Toyota, Paris, France, from December 19, 2007 to March 31, 2008; Exhibited at "JAPAN DESIGN2008-Innovation-" held in Milano, Italy from April 16 to 20, 2008; Exhibited at "kansei –Japan Design Exhibition" held in Musee des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris, France from December 12 to 21, 2008.

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at "Demain c’est aujourd’hui (part 2)" held in Saint-Etienne,
France from November 15 to 30, 2008.

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at "Demain c’est aujourd’hui (part 2)" held in Saint-Etienne,
France from November 15 to 30, 2008.

【Awards】: Nominated as "Jury Recommended Works" at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival,
organized by Agency for Cultural Affairs.

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival held at the National Art Center, Tokyo 　
from February 6 to 17, 2008.; Exhibited at "Demain c’est aujourd’hui (part 2)" held in Saint-Etienne,
France from November 15 to 30, 2008.

【Awards】: 2008 Good Design Award

【Collections】: Endowed to the Design Museum London （2008）

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at "JAPAN DESIGN2008-Innovation-" held in Milano, Italy from April 16 to 20, 2008.; Exhibited at "WA: The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today,
" held in Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris.
(From October 22, 2008 to January 31, 2009 in Paris, France); Exhibited at "kansei –Japan Design Exhibition" held in Musee des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris, France from December 12 to 21, 2008.

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at "Inno Design Tech Expo" held in Hong Kong from December 10 to 13, 2008.

【Awards】: Won the "America’s Tech-pert Panel" award for the Product Design category at
CEATEC JAPAN 2008.

【Exhibitions】: Exhibited at "Inno Design Tech Expo" held in Hong Kong from December 10 to 13, 2008.

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