June will also see the P*PHONE
making it's first retail appearances in
SCP's
Selfridges & Hoxton outlets. Soon
after the P*PHONE will be found in
design
stores worldwide, from Hollywood's
famous Fred Segal boutique to Beams
stores
in several cities around Japan.The
HULGER P*PHONE will be sold as a
design or
fashion item, not a gadget.
The design of the P*PHONE draws
influence from a mix of old handsets but
also
introduces new design elements that
bring it up to date & make it a
unique
HULGER product. The answer / call
button improves utility although we have
not
lost sight of the charm that comes from
its impracticality. This product always
attracts attention, laughter, & a
bemusement that is soon replaced with
warm waves of nostalgia. After
the 'does it really work?' question
is answered, people usually use the
P*PHONE to phone their mums.
We believe that HULGER has a
chance to occupy a new space in
consumer electronics,
where usefulness, humour, cultural
resonance & style come together.
We think
there are many technologies that could
be improved by the HULGER
approach. 'Bluetooth'
will be coming soon as will VOIP
capability. We hope much more will
follow.
THE HULGER
IDEA
The idea grew from our boredom with
current phone designs. When we made
our
first prototype and saw people's
reactions, we knew we were on to
something.
Why is new always better? Why is
smaller more desirable? Why is
technology
so soulless? Why should it not be fun
& beautiful & individual? Why
must it always look forwards, never
backwards?
HULGER has come to answer these
questions. Maybe it is not so practical.
But
when everybody has the same thing,
the same phone, the same teeny tiny
silver
shiny box, you have something
different. Mobile phones have always
looked like
they have come straight out of Star
Trek - HULGER wants to know why?
Don't get
me wrong, Star Trek is a good look -
tight black trousers, wide shiny belt -
circa 2010 - NICE. But it's only one
look & I bet even Spock yearns to
jump
into a pair of ripped jeans & sweat
stained AC/DC t-shirt now &
then.
HULGER looks backwards because
we have a lot to learn from the past,
there's
lots of untapped inspiration there.
Fashion looks backwards as much as
forwards,
it knows that there is so much meaning
to draw from.
One day people might have a
HULGER phone for every outfit, after all
it costs
less than a nice pair of shoes!
Mobile phones are not only a bit
boring but there are also rumours that
they
cook your brain. At HULGER we think
this is a bad thing & in initial tests
we see that the P*PHONE cuts
radiation exposure to the head by around
90%. We
think that cooking is something good
for food, not brains.
HULGER thinks hands-free kits don't
make sense. They might be practical
but they make you look crazy - as if
you are talking to yourself in the street.
HULGER shows you are talking with a
friend, not one of your other
personalities.
HULGER does not understand why
we have to have a new mobile phone
every year.
We don't like disposability, we like
things that we keep forever. Just like
Mr Hulger.
HOW WE GOT
HERE
The idea for the P*PHONE came in
2000. A great idea, we thought. Surely
somebody's
doing it, we thought. So we sat &
did nothing & forgot about it. But
No, nobody was doing it. So in 2002
we created a prototype. DESIGN WEEK
featured
it. This was the beginning.
There was a long way to go. In 2003
a student at MIT put up a web page
claiming
to have had the idea first. An hour later
our counter-claim was up with the
DESIGN WEEK article as proof. The
fight which followed made people sit up
&
listen. There was coverage in the
media. Adversity was playing in our
favour.
We were up & running.
Next came Ebay, where we sold
prototypes to generate cash so that we
could
make more. They sold like hot cakes.
The original HULGER phones were made
by
buying old phones & soldering in
hands-free kits. They were not elegant
but they were effective. Now, what
should we call them?
The first phones were sold with the
name 'Pokia'. The name caught on.
Soon
'Pokia-a-likes' were springing up all over
the world. Blogs had
picked up on the phenomenon. From
Blogs to the New York Times &
Reuters,
soon everyone was hearing about
Pokia. We were in business.
There are many twists & turns
in any journey. Next, Nokia challenged
our
trademark application. The
name 'Pokia' was not allowed. Disaster?
Not at all.
We changed the name to HULGER
after 'grandfather Holger'. To us it just felt
right.
MEET
HULGER
Mr Hulger loved his leather
armchair. Every night he would wind up
his grandfather
clock. He drove a nineteen fifties Opel
around Denmark up until the day he
died.
He felt a connection to these objects
& they reflected who he was. He
understood
the value of things.
Useful links
Pokia Web Site http://www.pokia.com
Previous press coverage - http://www.hulger.com/p
ress.html
SCP
http://www.scp.co.uk/
Pokia-a-likes on ebay - http://search.ebay.co.uk
/pokia_W0QQfnuZ1
