MANILA, Philippines - Research In Motion (RIM) recently teamed up with the School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) Design Institute to showcase how BlackBerry users can express their creativity and personalize their BlackBerry smartphones with fun designs and accessories.
Students Mick Perez, Chaley Tiu, Reese Lansangan, Thonee Llaneras, Leby Lipata, Wangyu Sajorda, Pinky Magalona, and Genesis Alcantara took on the challenge of designing accessories for the latest BlackBerry 7 smartphones. They were inspired by how BlackBerry smartphones can bring together Filipino barkadas wherever they may be.
BlackBerry Bold 9900 backdoor design by Genesis Alcantara
Fashion Design and Marketing student Genesis Alcantara’s sticker-and-bead design on the white BlackBerry Bold 9900 backdoor was inspired by the body of an octopus. “The tentacles on my design represent different people. The one thing that links them together is a body, which represents BlackBerry,” says Genesis.
BlackBerry Bold 9790 backdoor design by Mick Perez
Mick Perez, a fashion design and marketing student, designed a backdoor for the BlackBerry Bold 9790 with black and white geometrical design inspired by the Celtic sisters knot. “In pop culture, it symbolizes love and friendship,” he said. “I pasted the triangle spaces apart on the backdoor creating connecting lines to draw a network because I also want to show the connection among the barkada.”
BlackBerry Torch 9860 holster design by Reese Lansangan
Fashion design and marketing student Reese Lansangan had something quirky and unique in mind for her BlackBerry accessory. Inspired by the Decoden trend in Japan, which puts together diverse and seemingly random objects to create a whimsical design, she gathered small pieces of toys she has collected through the years and created a colorful and youthful holster for the sleek and modern all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9860.
BlackBerry Torch 9810 holster design by Thonee Llaneras
Fashion design student Thonee Llaneras made sure he did so with his BlackBerry Torch 9810 holster design. With only simple materials like paper and a cutter, he came up with an elegant branch-inspired piece. “I was inspired by how BlackBerry makes connections with other people. Each branch has a connection with another branch,” he said.
BlackBerry Curve 9380 holster design by Leby Lipata
Leby Lipata worked on a holster for the BlackBerry Curve 9380. This student’s design stood out, using beads, feathers, and three hand-painted masks, all from Divisoria. He contrasted the BlackBerry Curve 9380’s sleek lines and all-touch surface with a festive and intricate piece, showing the different personalities in a barkada.
BlackBerry Curve 9360 holster design by Wangyu Sajorda
Working around his inspiration from an MRT ride, fashion design student Wangyu Sajorda based his BlackBerry Curve 9360 holster design on a raindrop. Creatively using dried glue from a glue gun and acetate, he was inspired by his emotions to come up with a one-of-a-kind BlackBerry accessory.
BlackBerry Curve 9320 charm design by Pinky Magalona
Pinky Magalona, fashion design and marketing student, showed off her love for music by creating a microphone charm for the BlackBerry Curve 9320. “Thinking of the word barkada, the best symbol or thing that I can describe about it is a mini microphone,” she said. “When a group of friends uses it in karaoke bars to sing and have fun, it becomes an instrument of joy and laughter.”
BlackBerry Curve 9220 charm design by Chaley Tiu
Chaley Tiu, one of the students of the fashion design program, went for an animal theme and created bunny ears as charms for the BlackBerry Curve 9220. She drew inspiration from Louis Vuitton’s bunny ears headpiece in their Fall 2009 fashion show. “I thought of adding character to the smartphones by doing animal ears. Different members of the barkada can have their animal ear counter parts or everyone in the group can have the same style of animal ears in different colors,” she said.
The designs of the students for BlackBerry 7 smartphones were showcased at the runway of SoFA’s Graduation Show 2012.