adidas Golf Wins red dot Design Award

[Flagstick Golf Magazine]

Far too often people think of golf equipment as just that - gear used to play their favorite sport. They may appreciate the look of certain clubs or the fit of particular shoes but few can really appreciate the level of design effort put into these products.

 

Fortunately the hard work of golf equipment designers does not go totally unnoticed. Just yesterday, red dot, an organization recognized worldwide for its acknowledgement of fine design, honored adidas Golf's new TOUR360 II golf shoe with its prestigious "Best of the Best" for 2007 award in the Leisure, Sports, Wellness and Caravaning category. Forty-three products out of 2,548 submissions from all over the world were judged "Best of the Best" by an international jury of renowned designers and design experts.

 

red dot's international jury annually reviews and evaluates entrants based upon innovation, functionality and quality. red dot defines its award as "a seal of quality that stands for membership of the best in design and business." Other red dot "Best of the Best" award winners for 2007 include the Porsche 911 Targa, LG Electronics' Prada cell phone and Apple's ipod shuffle.

 

"The inspiration for the design language of the TOUR360 II was kinetic and digital art, which helps to successfully integrate the numerous product elements into a single, cohesive unit that is both highly functional and extremely beautiful," said Gerald Kuhtz, global creative director for adidas Golf. "Combining those influences with traditional golf values allowed us to conceive a con-substantial design philosophy that defines its look and performance."

 

The TOUR360 II will be placed on exhibit at the red dot museum in Essen, Germany, starting in July, following an awards ceremony at the Essen Aalto-Theater.

 

"This is a tremendous honor for adidas Golf, and a testament to a tremendous collaborative effort by our design, development and marketing departments," said Dave Ortley, director of global footwear for adidas Golf. "Improving on the original TOUR360 was a massive challenge because that shoe was embraced by both professional and amateur golfers for its performance-enhancing features and bold look. red dot's recognition of the new TOUR360 II validates that we have, in fact, created another new performance benchmark in golf footwear and a worthy successor to the original TOUR360."

 

The red dot award is the second international honor for the TOUR360 franchise. The original TOUR360 won the prestigious ispovision Global SportStyle Award for Men's Footwear of the Year 2005 – especially significant because the award category was not limited to golf-specific footwear and included all types of sport footwear.www.flagstickeditorsdesk.blogspot.com