The Shoe Created by Audi: Adidas The Kobe

It is not unusual for designers in other industries to look to the automotive world for inspiration when creating new products. Sometimes the inspiration goes even deeper and turns into a collaboration, one of the most intriguing was between Adidas and Audi that resulted in The Kobe basketball shoe worn by you guessed it, Kobe Bryant at the start of the first Lakers three peat. The shoe was designed and inspired by the original Audi TT.

The similarities of Audi Design language and The Kobe are easily identifiable. At a glance, the TT Roadster has three main features: a continuous line, a clean surface body side, and a bullet-nosed front. These elements also reflected The Kobe. adidas' long-standing grooved shell-toe, from the Superstar, Originals line, looks strikingly similar to an Audi front end grill. The main shoulder line continues around the arches and through the bottom of the shoe as the Audi TT's continuous loop runs from the side of the vehicle around the wheel arches and under the car.

The end result was an iconic basketball shoe that looked unlike any other shoe on the market at the time and even now. The follow up to The Kobe, The Kobe II, featured an even stronger automotive based design but this time around the results were disastrous resulting in a shoe considered by many to be one of the worst. The failure of Kobe II ended any hopes for more sneaker auto crossovers and Kobe left for Nike shortly after.



The Kobe II Look More Auto Inspired, Too Auto Inspired

Geneva 2014: Best Production Debuts

With tons of debuts in Geneva it turned out to be surprisingly easy to cut through the clutter and find the best in the production category. Concepts are another story though. Each of the three features striking design in its own right and certainly promises to back it up with performance and technology.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe

The most recent CL has always been a very well designed car if perhaps slightly simplistic in its execution. In the Mercedes lineup it should theoretically sit at the top as the pinnacle of the brand but instead it got lost in the shuffle. The S-class coupe aims to solve any issues that the CL had with a striking design full of flowing lines of the sedan along with a sportier roofline and some edge at the front and rear. The design works so well that even the simple tail lights that almost look like a last second rush job end up working pretty well. The head lights as well fit so well that the now signature cut out next to the grille doesn't distract the way it does on every other new Mercedes. The S-class coupe looks so good in photos that there is a slight fear that it might be one of few cars that doesn't end up looking better in real life. The expectations are that high.

 Lamborghini Huracan

Remaining completely unapologetic in its design, the Huracan is the latest Lamborghini to be the picture perfect definition of super car. Adding a swoosh like shape to the lines and triangles design philosophy of the Aventador and the Gallardo, the Huracan keeps the wedge shape alive in contrast to more fluidic super cars from Ferrari and McLaren.

Audi TT

The biggest fear about the new TT was that it would be too hard to tell that it is a new generation and not a mid cycle facelift. A quick glance at the earliest press shots almost confirmed those fears for a moment but taking a better look at how the TT looks on the stand it is clear that the confusion should be minimal. If you outline the two you would end up with nearly a carbon copy, but it's what's between the lines that sets the third generation apart and gives it its own identity. The new TT appears to be just fine as if it accepts the fact that it won't shock and wow like the first generation did and every one should understand that. The biggest down side about the new TT is waiting a year before seeing one on the road.

Audi TT: Little bit of new, a little bit of old

As expected, the third generation Audi TT does not throw away the now familiar TT silhouette but rather chisels the edges while bringing back a few elements from its past. Certainly the biggest changes are upfront with a more pronounced hexagonal grille and slim angry head lights inspired by the recent quattro concept that are a departure from either of the previous generations of the TT. From the profile, the more pronounced fender flairs are more MKI while the roofline appears just ever so slightly more upright but is very much MKII. A very sharp character or tornado line in Audi speak is one of many that crisp up the TT. The slight kink at the C pillar is a new, if perhaps superfluous design element. At the back, the regular TT has twin exhaust pipes moved closer together a la the original while the TTS has a more traditional wider stance. The hatch mimics the front with a hexagonal design element for the license plate area while the retractable spoiler juts out just a tiny bit when down as on the A6. This time around the TTS receives wider rocker panels and emphasizes the grille with bright work, setting it farther apart rom its base model. The current TTS is too easily mistaken for its regular brother. Overall, the first impression is remarkably familiar but a closer look reveals an advanced design. How well this translates to the real world is yet to be determined but the first few live shots give the TT more credit than the media shots. The current TT is still an attractive design so it's hard to fault Audi for not messing with the shape but rather working on the details even if you are left with wanting a little more.

                 

Geneva Preview: Audi TT MKIII

Toughest job in the automotive design? A tossup between creating the next generation of a retro inspired model and creating the next generation of a style icon. In both cases you have to make progress, give your creation a fresh new look but you are limited with how far you can push the boundry. Go too far and you break the lineage and upset some people, do too little and you are guilty of being lazy and unimaginative. Surely a sought out challenge for many designers, but the reality is that aside from the Beetle, Mustang and 911 there are few other examples of sucess with multiple generations of a unique design. The Audi TT faces the same dillemma, the first generation had as big of an impact on automotive design as any. The second generation brought a modern design that was undoubtedly stylish yet didn't capture the hearts in the same way. Sportier dimensions were offset by a look that made the TT blend in a bit more with the rest of the Audi lineup. In just a couple of days we'll find out what Audi brings for round three, from first glance the shape is very much second generation but the previously released sketches hint at some first generation influence. It certainly doesn't look like the newest TT will betray its namesake but will it advance its game enough to satisfy the critical?