The challenge with Birkies + Footprints was to create a new collection of shoes that would appeal to a specific new consumer “the urbanite” without betraying the brand’s heritage. In conceptualizing a strategy of product diversification for Birkenstock, we wanted to bring Birkenstock’s key brand attributes of comfort, green design, recyclability and sustainable manufacturing to a new generation. With Birkies & Footprints, we conceived a new brand concept, direction, and implementation strategy, redirecting the current philosophies of the company into a new and innovative product and brand.
The brand development for Birkenstock included designing the product, packaging, name, branding, logo and in-store display. Birkenstock’s Birkies slip-on clogs are wet-and-dry; designed for the serious outdoor gardener – one who does their duty rain or shine. The sole was engineered with different sized honeycomb patterns that fluidly shrink and grow over the sole of the shoe to provide maximum slip protection. Each Birki is made of a single piece of material. The Footprints product is designed from the inside out: The “inside” design started from the redesign of Birkenstock’s trademark recycled cork and natural latex insole, then reshaping the fit and, finally, adding biodegradable gels. It continued on the “outside” with a lighter, elegant, and recognizable geometry as well as new signature materials such as vegetable-died leathers.
Services
- Product Strategy
- Product Recognition
News
Awards
- Birkenstock Birki, 2005
- ID Magazine Annual Design Competition
- Birki Pro/ Birkis Clogs, 2005
- Red Dot Design Award
- Birkenstock Footprints, Silver, 2005
- D&AD (England)
- National Design Award for Product Design
- Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum
- Lauréat de la Fondation pour la création
- Switzerland D&AD (England)
- Birkenstock Footprints, Silver
- IDSA
- Birkenstock Footprints: The Architect Collection, 2005
- Red Dot Design Award
- Birkenstock Footprints: The Architect Collection, 2005
- Red Dot Design Award
- Birkenstock Footprints: The Architect Collection, 2005
- Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award
Exhibits
- 100 Years of Swiss Design November 2017
- Museo de Arte Moderno