2014 is the year Nutcase went big.
We’ve always had big dreams – to have the best helmet graphics on the best brain bucket helmet on the planet. And 2014 was the year we shouted it out for the entire world to hear.
Our own personal Big Bang was introducing the Gen3 Bike & Skate helmet. Re-engineered from the EPS (expanded polystyrene) all the way up to the hard ABS shell, the Gen3 helmet truly does take the fit and the look of our helmets to a new level. Gen3 helmets are slightly sleeker and more contoured than our previous helmet designs, and newly designed air vents on Gen3 helmets allow for additional cooling, as well as make the helmets slightly lighter.
The response to the Gen3 Bike & Skate helmet moved us to follow up with Little Nutty Gen3, which will be available in the spring of 2015.
The next project that made 2014 a big year was our launch of the Moto helmet. We took the expertise we’ve developed from seven years of creating sports and lifestyle helmets in order to create an open face DOT/ECE-certified scooter and motorcycle helmet. Moto helmets are strong on graphics and have some great features that make Nutcase helmets so fun to wear – a strong chinstrap and ratcheting buckle, easily swappable cool color face shields, and soft neck roll.
After just a few months on the market, Nutcase Moto helmets have been picked up by two large distributors, which means they’ll be easy to try on at many more locations where scooters and motorcycles are sold. The eight iconic designs now available will get a boost in 2015 with the Star Bright design that was long popular in Bike & Skate. Additionally, we’ll make the Moto Star Bright helmet available in extra small (XS).
Our artists series’ helmets (bottom row) and new Gen3 styles available spring 2015 (top row).
And our biggest coup of all in 2014 happened not once, but twice. For the first time we launched the Unframed artists’ series campaign to turn hot art into cool helmet designs. While we have a history of working with artists and organizations to produce great helmets for great causes, Unframed was our way to make the process more public, include a larger universe of talent, and in the process get a lot of attention and love to the talented artists we’ve worked with.
Our first Unframed rolled out at Eurobike in Friedrichshafen, Germany, followed by Interbike in Las Vegas. The response – both from our beneficiary partner World Bicycle Relief, and from everyone who has seen the Unframed artists at work – was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.
So we went straight back to the drawing board, so to speak, and made the search for the next set of Unframed artists for the 2015 series. The sheer wit and range of the submissions to the second Unframed design contest was awesome, and after a long and agonizing process Carla, Jobert, and Tiago became our three winning artists.
Looking back on this big year, it feels like we’ve connected with so many great new people and places, and expanded our range and our universe.
Goodbye 2014. You were good, even great. And hello 2015. We’re looking forward to even more fun and fabulousness.