COMPANY NEWS: "Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) Names OGIO One of World's Top Innovators"

2004-06-25

BLUFFDALE, Utah (June 25, 2004) - OGIO International has joined ranks with companies including IDEO, Hewlett Packard, Samsung, and BMW in being named among the world's most innovative design architects by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).  The gear bag manufacturer today received a 2004 Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for its revolutionary Stinger II golf cart bag.

OGIO's golf bag was chosen from a record-breaking 1,294 entries, and was the first golf bag ever to receive IDSA's prestigious award, based on the society's decade-long historical list.  

"We have labored for years to create our industry's most disruptive technology - innovations that make consumers and competitors alike wonder why no one had come up with these ideas before," explains OGIO Founder Mike Pratt.  "For OGIO to be recognized by an association as prestigious and forward-thinking as the IDSA cements our arrival on the innovative scene.  It's an honor to be recognized for achieving a goal we've always pursued - to be a global leader in the world of innovation."  

OGIO's Stinger II features four significant, user-friendly innovations including the patent-pending 10" Woode top; a spring-loaded, non-zippered rain cover called the Hoode; a patent-pending Zipperless Ball Pocket (ZPB); and the patented RAIL (or Rapid Access Incline Lock) which deploys the bag at a 45-degree angle to facilitate club removal and placement.

Presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America and sponsored by Business Week, the IDEA awards recognize excellence in design advances in categories ranging from business, industrial, and consumer products, to digital media and medical equipment.  A panel of 17 independent jurors representing a global spectrum of design consultancy and research authorities selected entries.  Winners were chosen based on performance in five different aspects of design including: benefit to the user, benefit to the client/business, design innovation, ecological responsibility, and aesthetics and appeal.  


Mike Pratt, along with Joseph Christensen and James "Rocky" Harris - lead designers from OGIO's "Blue Sky" Lab - were named recipients of the 2004 award.


# # #


Editor's Note:High-resolution images of the 2004 Silver IDEA Award-winning bag, the OGIO Stinger II, is available online at www.ogio.com.  For online access passwords or for product samples, contact Kelly M. Mooney / This Just In, Inc. at 801.474.3824, 801.450.1009, or at kelly@tji-inc.com.