Awarded
Remo Frei
Backpack system 'Flink' (diploma work)
Product and Industrial Design
Remo Frei
Remo Frei
Jury report
Hardened case
Where do extreme sportsmen who like to be on the move pack their bits and pieces? The industrial designer Remo Frei has developed a very special rucksack to meet the specific needs of sportsmen. Even cool snowboarders, touring skiers, climbers and mountain bikers need space for their equipment and at the same time protection for their sensitive backs. But the sportsman's freedom of movement should not be restricted in any way. The rucksack that is being developed with the eloquent name 'Flink' (quick, nimble) and an attractive high-tech look attempts to square the circle in this way.
Standing out with its yellowish-green colour, 'Flink' is eye-catching and has at least two special features: firstly it has a hard, external polyurethane and fibre-glass shell. Is this borrowed from the animal world? The first thing to come into mind is a beetle, which is particularly well protected by its exoskeleton. This also applies to sensitive objects like cameras, which should certainly survive even a bad fall in the transport pouch behind the hard shell. As the rucksack does not touch the body directly, the back is also well ventilated. Board, snowshoes, poles or ice axes can also be attached to the hard shell. The rucksack, which weighs only 2,5 kg, also has a ball-and-socket joint at the level of the shoulder-strap, which makes for maximum freedom of movement. This means that sporting turns or sideways tilting movements are always possible.
The principal innovation lies in the fact that unlike conventional rucksacks, this one does not have the shoulder and hip straps attached to each other, which provides greater freedom of movement. This concept, described as 'Ride-Carry-Protect', by the designer, who trained at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich (HGKZ) appeals because of its innovative approach and because it meets a real need. 'Flink' has already won the HGKZ promotion prize.
Peter Stohler
Biography
Remo Frei
Born in
1977
Education
Industrial Designer FH
