RTFKT Rimowa FUDBOT EVO
The basis of the idea was to fuse one of the first RTFKT avatars the team ever created in 3D. The Among Drip ended up going viral as a meme.
October 6, 2020: Prior to the Nike Acquisition, most of RTFKT designs were focused on fusing video game culture with sneaker head culture.
Since this was a foundation for the brand, I thought it would be interesting to see some of their newest design language combined with one of their first character designs.
Later on, creator editions were released some of the first NFTs for the brand under the collection Space Drip which would later grant access to their top secret Project AKIRA which would later become known as Clone X.
The other core component of the design concept I wanted to bring into is one of the newer 3D avatars the brand has brought to life: RTFKT Rimowa: WorkerBot
Released in October 2022, the WorkerBot was one of the first 3D avatars the brand released after Clone X (Formerly Project Akira).
As the Vials have recently become an important mechanic in the RTFKT ecosystem, I thought what if a new Avatar could be unlocked via the Vial EVO system.
Fusing the history of the Among Drip bot, and the WorkerBot became the inspiration but combining their design language into a cohesive concept character would be more difficult than I anticipated.
Although, both "bots" have a more stocky build, some of the core differences that made it a fun challenge are:
Among Drip: No Arms
Workerbot: Has Arms
Among Drip: Damaged / Scratched Texture
Workerbot: Clean monochromatic minimalist hard surface design
Among Drip: Glass Visor
Worker Bot: Expressive Screen
Among Drip: Has Sneakers
Worker Bot: No feet at all
Some of my thoughts, imagining my new concept character as a living avatar:
I loved the FUD animation on the Rimowa site and felt it would be a perfect place to bring it in on the screen. If there was a FUDbot, traveling to battle FUD he would most definitely have tattered and damaged armor. After all, fighting FUD is a dirty job.
I wanted to showcase the Vial in the front of the BOT and imagined how the lighting system could adjusted based off different Vial inputs. (Should I do different FUDbots powered by different DNA Vials?)
If the FUDBot had EVO RTFKT sneakers based in the distant future, what technology would built in and what would they be used for.
I settled for a levitation/flying pair of Nikes because after all everyone wants to JUMP LIKE MIKE.
Also, the animated LED screens were placed to imply real-time data processing and sneaker connectivity to the FUDBOT's mode of travel.
Possibly the most important reason, I used the WorkerBot for this design concept was the selfless generosity I've witnessed from an RTFKT community member j_dawg88 who gifted me the Workerbot along with a Robot Vial after seeing some of my previous RTFKT themed 3D art. This allowed me to join the holders discord, and gave me a 3D avatar that I could create 3D art with while I worked towards buying my first Clone X to make more art with 3D files + IP.
Please read the story here, it meant a lot to me.
I wanted to share some of my design thinking around this concept art as I was encouraged by HODLCEO to keep describing some of the intentionality behind my thought process. He also gave me access to his CloneX 3D files to create with while I work towards acquiring my own to build with.
I’m aware very few will take the time to read it all but for the small niche of people who enjoy it, I’ll keep doing it.
Bonus content: Here’s some throwback content of clegfx showing some his design concepting years before Clone X came to life.
Back then I knew RTFKT as an AR / Content Creation brand. Being a long time sneakerhead & streetwear collector combined with my fascination with emerging technology intersecting with culture lead me to find RTFKT quite some time before their acquisition by Nike or their venture into NFTs.
Small world.
