KDDI Corporation is a leading telecommunications company in Japan. Constituted on October 1, 2000 via the merger of DDI Corporation, KDD Corporation, and IDO Corporation, it provides seamless, integrated global services to its clientele and thus represents a unified reference point for all telecommunications needs under the new company brand, KDDI. It also provides mobile telephony solutions under the brand ’au'.

 

KDDI has won 5 Good Design Awards for products, experimental design, and communications.

 

KDDI corporation

Garden Air Tower, 10-10, Iidabashi 3-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8460, Japan

 

 

au design project : new forms and experiences in mobile telephony

The au design project embodies the desire to rethink the cellular telephone from the viewpoint of design. What sort of design do people really want in a cell phone? In seeking answers to this, KDDI launched its au design project in 2001 with the objective of creating new and innovative models that will respond to people's unexpressed desires. The collaboration of some of the world's best designers has led to a number of surprising new concepts, with the introduction of INFOBAR and W11K in 2003, talby in 2004, PENCK in 2005, and neon in 2006, along with many concept telephones, such as MEDIA,SKIN MACHINA, and HEXAGON in 2005. Simple and modern, the au design project will continue on its quest for new cell phone forms and experiences marked by humor and unflagging quality.

 

Introduced in 2006, neon is a rectangular solid in bright, shiny colors with pleasantly rounded corners. Its unique character derives from its LED display showing track number and plyaing time of songs, radio stations, date and time, battery level, call and email alerts, and some 140 fun animated motifs.

 

 

A small and delightful companion, PENCK is a cell telephone you will always want to have with you. Its smooth and elegant design, an oval developed through the most advanced product design methods, encloses the visible keypad and camera lens. PENCK is a futuristic, minimalist telephone and a captivating object even when not in use.  

 

Designer: Makoto Saito

 

A union of the brilliant design of Marc Newson and top quality KDDI technology, talby is a cellular telephone with a simple, clean, and modern design that offers everything you need, but nothing more. Thanks to its incredibly slim profile, it can easily be slipped into a pocket or worn around the neck.  

 

Designer: Marc Newson

W11K is a polygonal cell phone deriving from an ovoid cut like a gemstone. Introduced in 2003, its faceted form might remind you of a pared potato.  

 

Similar in shape and weight to a bar of chocolate, INFOBAR is a cell phone that fits comfortably into the palm of your hand. Its large square keys are easy to use, even with your thumb, making Infobar an innovative communications instrument that respects the individuality of its user.  

 

Designer: Naoto Fukasawa

The outcome of a study carried out in 2005 estimating the amount of time people are physically in contact with their cell phones every day, Media Skin is a cell phone that is like a person's second skin.

 

Based on the allure of motors and mechanical clockworks, the cell phone MACHINA evokes the image of a machine. The designers were inspired by the quest for an alternative to the stereotypical forms of digital technology, a quest for new forms capable of seducing the user.

 

Behind their basic functions as objects, luxury goods such as jewelry, lingerie, and perfumes exert a powerful subconscious allure. A similar concept has inspired HEXAGON, holding that technology should be warmer and more exciting, with features that make us forget its origins in industrial engineering.