Crowdmuse and IDEO CoLab Ventures Creative Residency are pleased to present the twelve finalists in the Cyberphysical Brand Concepts Contest. These participants each explored themes of creation, ownership, and innovation, using digital tools to tell compelling stories through fashion and passion for physical product creation. The community vote will take place on the contest Jokerace page from Monday 21st Oct to Thursday 24th Oct afterwards the winning design/brand will receive support for product creation, with the potential for preorder sales and production and a cash prize of $2000 to spend on creative projects. All participants and contestants will also be earning reputation points on the contest Stack leaderboard page.
Dial Hard by tea strazicic (flufflord), Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dial Hard is a character-driven brand that blends digital and physical formats, featuring designs with a loose, ADHD-friendly, boundary-free, punk-inspired aesthetic. The brand draws its name from Philip K. Dick’s Novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, reflecting a rebellious, futurist vision. Dial Hard thrives on mysterious origins, curiously sourced items and mythological lore. The brand is currently focusing on collaborating with musicians to create items that have both a strong narrative and visual appeal.
Save Our Venues by Duncan Falconer, Scotland
Save Our Venues is raising awareness, and building solutions, for the growing challenges faced by grassroots music venues in the UK. As independent venues close, the future of live music and community connection is at risk. And when artists don’t have places to play, build careers, and earn, the music ecosystem, including promoters, managers, and fans, suffers. The brand will work to generate income to invest in supporting these struggling venues and keeping the live music scene alive.
Netmorf by Gilbert, Berlin, Germany
Netmorf was revived for the 2021 NFT project Dotcom Seance by artist Simon Denny. Since April 2023, it has been publishing PNG in the EYE, an episodic fanfiction that blends Netmorf's fictional world with real-world tech and culture stories. The brand's goal is to develop a 'superfiction'—a visual identity, backstory, corporate personalities, and communication strategies, until the fiction becomes so detailed it crosses into reality.
Netmorf challenges traditional creation models by shifting from a "create -> produce -> distribute" paradigm to a "distribute -> create -> produce" approach. This new model builds a lore-driven community of readers and collectors, focusing on storytelling and engagement rather than data-driven product creation.
VOID by CU3D, Bangkok, Thailand
VOID embraces collective ownership and production as the fairest and most inclusive economic path forward. They aim to create a unified expression of both art and technology, wrought from those communities themselves. The brand will be owned and distributed collectively through NFTs, memes, culture, tokenomics, and spiritual or subcultural elements.
VOID simplifies creation, distribution, and integration with a strong, cult-like community driven by a multidimensional, post-brand ethos. Collective participation is key, and authenticity in art, finance, and culture is empowered.
Virtual Hug by Jordan Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Virtual Hug is designed to embody the intangible value of "soft skills" and serve as a physical representation of a virtual hug. The product invites wearers to nurture themselves through deep breaths, moments of stillness, or time spent on their passions. The design cradles the throat and heart providing comfort and a sense of openness, kindness, and generosity.
Virtual Hug highlights the importance of self-love as a foundation for emotional maturity and empathy toward others. By focusing on self-care, wearers are reminded to fill their own cup before sharing love with others. Additionally, those who wear the Virtual Hug will have the opportunity to connect in a shared virtual space, reinforcing the collective power of self-care and kindness.
GODANI by Ndukwe anita, Nigeria
Godani is streetwear inspired by love and ancient stories. The brand’s designs feature frequent uses of the eye and hand, symbols of both protection and mystery. The reality warping illustrations imbue a sense of magic and meaning to these designs. Godani explores what it means to be an individual, and what it means to be a member of a collective.
blankspace jpg by blankspace, USA
blankspace jpg merges nostalgic tech elements with real-life internet culture, creating a mashup of digital and physical goods. The artwork encourages viewers to reflect on their experiences with both the digital and the physical worlds, and how these experiences intertwine in the present. By incorporating skeuomorphisms and nostalgic tech forms, the project bridges the gap between past and present, inviting us to consider how technology has influenced our lives, memories, and interactions with the world around us.
SLING by Sean Thielen-Esparza, New York City, USA
"SLING" is a utility vest designed to enhance the functionality of Humane’s AI Pin by addressing two key issues: inconsistent field of view and the Pin’s aesthetic integration with outfits. While the AI Pin offers advanced features like being able to "see" the world in front of the wearer and taking wide-aperture photos, its lack of consistent positioning leads to unreliable results, foci, and images. This inconsistency continues to aesthetic, where the pin frequently looks like an afterthought rather than a central part of an outfit.
SLING solves these problems by securing Humane’s AI Pin in a fixed position over any garment, ensuring a consistent field of view for photos and integrating the Pin seamlessly into the wearer’s outfit. This combination of form and function elevates both the practical and visual appeal of the AI Pin, making it both reliable (function) and fashionable (form).
TWIN DEMONS by demonego, Turkey
A design that is an extension of the artist’s recent works created with AI, focusing on demons and monsters, draws inspiration from new possibilities of frightening beings in a reality shaped by artificial intelligence. The artist finds their inspiration in nightmares, new realities, and horror films. These interconnected concepts reflect a new bond and similarities emerging between surreal beings and humans.
Alt.er by been, Mexico
Alt.er is a creative exploration of how artistic expression constantly evolves through new concepts, art, and design trends. Inspired by the words "alterations" and "interferences," Alt.er delves into the idea of how interference waves affect our thoughts and affect creative outcomes. It plays with the realities, this one and the next, integrating dreamlike companions—like cats—into these surreal realms. Alt.er invites participants to explore the possibilities of both our current and future realities through the lens of artistic interference and transformation.
Formline Faces by Aldivo Rodrigues, SĂŁo Pulo, Brasil
Formline Faces blends contemporary art, individuality, and craftsmanship with hand-painted pieces that emphasize the contrast between straight lines and curved shapes to create abstract faces. The brand embodies a commitment to diversity and authenticity amplifying the unique power of hand-crafted designs, magnified by digital communities.
HFAF by Phoebe Heess, Nuremburg, Germany
HFAF (High Fashion Anti-Fascist) stands as a bold resistance movement recognizing that the current financial systems are not built to last. As in the 1930s, the ultra-wealthy may seek to preserve their power through familiar structures. HFAF urges resistance at the earliest stages of this shift, advocating for a new system that challenges the status quo and promotes justice. The brand embraces fashion as an anti-fascist platform, calling on individuals to resist authoritarianism through both style and substance.
Contest resources
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