Since August 2015 I’ve been working for KISKA.com (Link), a design agency in Salzburg / Austria with 160 employees from 27 different nations. KISKA is well known mainly because of the work they do for motorcycle brands, KTM and Husqvarna.

Together with our specialists from Transportation & Product Design as well as some of our communications experts, I visited the largest motorcycle show in the world, the EICMA 2015 in Milan. I found these concepts and products from the two-wheeled world the most interesting.

It is obvious that a motorcycle exhibition mainly focuses on new models (more on that later). But with regard to brand identity I was particularly impressed by the DEUS, a brand with a subtile presence at the show and with various Sideshow events, originally a specialist in custom motorbikes, the mark of Australian traders developed into a global lifestyle brand, among others, Fashion, music and gastronomy included (Link).

A little hint: Who makes out Bali holiday; stop by their “Temple of Enthusiasm” (Link).

The Bully by Deus Ex Machina from Deus Customs on Vimeo.

The Colorful

There is a very simple concept of Customized Scooters offered by the French company IMF. The very quaint, sturdy acting 50cc scooter can be configured online and is currently marketed in France, Italy and Switzerland. I particularly like the footboard. The configurator can be tried here: Link Configurator

The Warm One

An interesting gadget is the Heat Inner Jacket by Japanese provider HEATECH. The thin jacket, similar to a windbreaker heats metal fibers within a few seconds to up to 54° Celsius. Powered by the battery of the motorcycle. The concept is not new, but the style of the jacket has convinced me, unlike the gloves and pants. There is still no distribution in Europe – here the link to the English-language catalog .

The Safety One

I need to buy a new helmet soon. But I didn’t know that there are so many helmet manufacturers. There were various manufacturers at EICMA in various different halls. As an owner of the C3 Schuberth was my first port of call. Low and behold, not only is the brand identity new, it is also very compelling, albeit somewhat too much clean. The new Corporate Design and the CI were developed by the agency Jung von Matt / brand identity in Hamburg.

The new Hero in the product portfolio gets my stamp of “Wanna buy”. The E1, is the name of the Dual-Sport Helmet (Link), originated supposedly from a collaboration of Schuberth and the adventure outfitter Touratech. The helmeth is simply beautiful. And as of spring 2016, the E1 is commercially available.

By the way, the last CTG design of motorcycle helmets by Schuberth created by my colleagues at KISKA.

 

The Wild One

Of course, the latest eBikes at EICMA were also seen. The boundary between the electric bikes at EUROBIKE and electric motorcycles on the EICMA blurs. I liked the FREERIDER of Kuberg substantially (Link). Is it a BMX? No matter, I want it either way!

The Boxer

Well, I am still not convinced of artificial Cafe Racer mopeds. But the BMW R nineT Scrambler is impressive.

The Blues

Similar to the helmets, the Clothing vendors would deserve a separate hall. Here are just two of the many providers of Kevlar Jeanswear with protectors:

There was a small, yet beautifully designed stand for Pando Moto (Link). Also, the flyer is outstanding. My favorite of the products is the denim shirt CAPO.

The jacket with the model name 962 Symphis Rocker (see figure below) of the Czech manufacturer Trilobite I find magnificent. However I do feel they need a new communications agency.

 

Of course, alongside the stands of some of our clients, especially the two presentations by KTM and HUSQVARNA were particularly in our focus.

The Beauty (…)

The first time I walked into the agency in Anif-Salzburg I waited for a few minutes in the lobby. There you can see the outstanding works from KISKA for Zeiss, Skidata and many more clients. Last summer there were two show bikes from last year’s EICMA, the HUSQVARNA 401 VITPILEN and SVARTPILEN. I was fascinated by these bikes.

In 2014, the two were the showstopper of EICMA 2014. But this year it was exciting again – for this year’s EICMA we created this video:

So here it is: The new HUSQVARNA 701 VITPILEN is certainly a Brand shaper and I’m looking forward to working with it for the upcoming campaigns. And believe me, it won’t be Shabby-Chic 😉

 

(… and) The Beast

The new KTM 1290 SUPERDUKE GT is a crazy, naked bike with long-range capabilities. But how would you tell the story of “long distance capabilities” with the “Ready To Race” approach by KTM? Here the result:

The / my absolute Favorite

Seeing that there was an old Vespa, the Fantic 125 Caballero from 1968 (a very sentimental journey), some new Africa Twins of Honda (almost certainly on the list “My next bike”), and many interesting vendors from China.

 

But finally have a look at my favorite item from EICMA 2015 – the Smartscooter from Gogoro (Link):

Not only do these scooters look extremely good. Also, the charging concept is well thought out: Instead of charging the scooter on the outlet in the garage or a loading station, you can simply replace the batteries at kiosks. Open the seat, keep one of two batteries out and into the Kiosk box, take on a new battery into the Scooter and drive off. Billing is of course on the smartphone. Watch out this video:

Isn’t that great!? The brand, the product, the concept of a kiosk network for battery replacement and appropriate distribution models … it starts in spring 2016 in Amsterdam.

More info:

Wanna have. Now. Immediately.