A' Design Award in Safety Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment Design Goes to Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Male Genital Athletic Protection Cup by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Dosun Shin and Mark Littell recognized for safety clothing and personal protective equipment design by the international grand jury of the 2016 - 2017 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 19, 2017 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Safety Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment Design category for Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Male Genital Athletic Protection Cup by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell, designed for Battle Sports Science. The result belongs to the 2016 - 2017 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the A' Design Award Means

The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.

More About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Male Genital Athletic Protection Cup

The Nutty Buddy Flex is an athletic protective cup for male athletes. The cup follows an anatomical shape and is made by injection molding, with a polycarbonate shell and a thermoplastic elastomer overmold. The soft elastomer edge extends along the side areas, so contact with the skin is cushioned and a more comfortable fit is allowed during active body movement. Impact forces are absorbed and distributed more evenly across the pubic bone and soft tissues. Three sizes are offered, and the cup fits into existing sports pants and jock straps.

About Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Dosun Shin is a Professor of Industrial Design program in The Design School at Arizona State University in the U.S. He holds a BFA in Industrial Design and received a MFA degree in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2003. Prof. Shin started his design practice from 1999 working both in design consultancies and corporations. Since he arrived at ASU in 2004, he has continued to grow as a design practitioner, researcher, and educator in the discipline of Industrial Design to drive new product innovation through transdisciplinary collaborations.

Award Record

With this recognition, Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Safety Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment Design Award

The A' Protective Equipment Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good protective equipment by leading designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to protective equipment designers, safety clothing manufacturers, personal protective equipment brands and industrial designers from all countries. Entries typically include helmets, gloves, goggles, respirators, earplugs and safety boots. Awarded protective equipment designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/protective-equipment

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/55726
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/55726
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!55726
Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/179791
Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.battlesportsscience.com/nuttybuddy-flex-athletic-cup

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Male Genital Athletic Protection Cup
Function: Male Genital Athletic Protection Cup
Category: Safety Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment Design
Discipline: Industrial Design
Industry: Manufacturing and Fashion
Colors: Dark Slate Gray, Lavender, Light Gray, Light Slate Gray and Silver
Images: 5
Client: Battle Sports Science

The Recognition

Laureate: Dosun Shin and Mark Littell
Country: United States of America
Recognition: A' Design Award
Edition: 2016 - 2017
Design ID: #55726

Credits

Team: Professor, Dosun Shin and Former MLB Player and Pitching Coach, Mark Littell
Image Credits: Professor Dosun Shin, 2017

Design Details

Unique Properties: The Nutty Buddy Flex is a redesign of the original, anatomically-shaped athletic cup design. The original polycarbonate cup had a thin co-molded soft polymer perimeter edge to cushion the contact between the cup and the skin. The new Flex cup increases the content of the soft polymer edge to include the side areas on the cup, permitting a more comfortable fit during dynamic body movements. This Flex cup redesign absorbs and more evenly distributes impact forces to the pubic bone and soft tissues
Inspiration: The redesigned Flex cup continues to follow the anatomically-correct shape of the human male’s anatomy using the design principle of Form Follows Function. The original Nutty Buddy design has been on the market for seven years. Inventor and pitching coach Mark Littell has received feedback from players about possible revisions to the original cup. The Flex redesign is in response to the users’ comments and feedback and to give athletes increased range of motion and added comfort.
Research: The difficult nature of observational research to get the measurements required the development of multiple sized vacuumed formed shells that were used to obtain user size and comfort feedback. Then, the designer collected and organized the human body data from the shell selections based on Large, Medium, and Small. Next, different sizes of prototype models were 3D-printed and tested by users. Again, feedback received from professional baseball players allowed the designer to modify the final shapes and sizes for each cup category.
Challenge: After 5 years of use, feedback and surveys, we knew which areas needed improvement. Taking those areas – 1) added comfort 2) more flex 3) increased ventilation 4) greater security of location – and turning them into CAD design was one of the most challenging tasks. At the same time, we needed to maintain structural integrity and superior protection. In addition, collecting human body data and defining different sizes of cup were a challenge. The head and tale part rubber were pilled off from the cup body after several months of use. The designer added some contacts and punched holes on the over molding part, so the inner and outer rubber were connected together.
Realization and Technology: This cup was made by PC injection mold with TPE overmold. Polycarbonate (Sabic 124R-701) for the cup and Thermoplastic Elastomer (GLS 1040X-1) overmolding for the flex side. OM 1040X-1 is a medical compliant overmolding TPE with very good adhesion to PC or ABS-based plastics.
Operation and Interaction: The Flex cup high impact resistant polycarbonate material protects the male wearer’s genitals from external impact forces. The soft rubber wing provides cushioning comfort and absorbs any impacts. This cup can be easily installed into existing sport pants and jock straps.
Project Duration and Location: The redesign process started in July of 2014 and finished in February of 2015 in Arizona. After the design work, it took 8 months from the start of manufacturing to reach the market.
Specifications: The cup comes with 3 different sizes. Hog (small): 6.8x4x2.2 inch, Trophy (medium): 7x4.1x2.4inch, Mongo (large): 7.2x4.3x2.5inch
Keywords: Nutty Buddy, Anatomical Cup, Killer Whale Cup