Great ideas take three things to land: guts, brains, and heart. Courage to try something new. Knowledge to make it work in production. And passion to see the connections between seemingly unconnected things.
The trouble appears when brands study the same competitors, visit the same trade shows, use the same suppliers, and track the same trends. Development starts to become predictable. Brands and products begin to feel the same. So, how do you find unpredictable ideas?
You go off the beaten track.
The clearest crossovers happen when two worlds already share a mindset. Professional sports and hobby sports are a good example. The contexts are different, but the desire is very similar: lighter, faster, stronger gear. What begins at the elite end can become meaningful for ambitious everyday users, if it’s translated properly.
Rather than depending on outsole suppliers for innovation, ULU turned to our creative team for new ideas. ULU’s Amak takes the best from polar road tyres and puts metal spikes on trail-running shoes, enabling the user to continue training into the depths of winter.
SUNBEAM shows another kind of transfer: lifestyle to space design. The 32.1 is built for time on the water rather than time against the clock, and that puts the pressure on space rather than speed. Our design brings architecture into boat design; smartly using the space to maximise leisure.
In sailing, performance and elegance have long histories, but the visual world can be conservative. But not with the SUNBEAM 32.1.
Sometimes, idea transfer doesn’t initially come from us. A client came to us wanting to apply their knitting technology to a motorcycle seat. However, they weren’t sure how to bring their fabrication into a new field – they needed an experienced execution partner to make it land.
In our Husqvarna Norden concept, a knitted seat opened new possibilities for comfort and brand recognisability thanks to the team’s knowledge in manufacturing and materiality.
Even attitude can be transferred. Motorcycle-level exhilaration and defiance are distilled down into a super sports car, borrowing not only visual cues but ego from the radical world of two wheels. Decades of designing KTM motorcycles is what made that translation possible: we already knew what the feeling was made of.
The KTM X-BOW translates feelings and attitude to create a “motorcycle on four wheels” experience.
A cargo bike is not where you’d expect to find drone technology. TARRAN thought otherwise, and asked us to design the bike around it. Embedded cameras, touchscreens, and sensors make it safer in traffic and simpler to use.
With their background in drones and cameras, TARRAN created a Red Dot-winning e-cargo bike.
Thinking this way is part of our DNA. We refuse to stay in one lane; working across a range of disciplines, categories, passions, and cultures. We foster an environment where we’re unafraid to pitch and fail and learn and try things that don’t land.
Vehicle HMI inspired by gaming. Firesuits that borrow from ski gear. Footwear cushioning created from protective gear.
So, where do new ideas come from? Sometimes from invention, research, or inspiration. Often, the most reliable ones come from placing a proven idea into a new context. True innovation comes from creating rebelliously, relentlessly, and unapologetically. And by making room for the unexpected.
Brands open to this way of thinking will benefit. New ideas make your brand distinctive, memorable, and competitive. We have over 35 years of experience working in an active multi-disciplinary set-up; mixed teams, open communication, and numerous services under a single roof. If you’d like to unite your team with ours and discover some new ideas, reach out.
Find out what co-creation can do. Strategic and hands-on, KISKA boosts business and generates impact with brand and design. See the results for yourself.
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