How the trophies were born

When we talk about World Championships, we imagine the winners holding shiny and precious cups on the podium. For WFC 2011 we wanted to have trophies that are more than just shiny bowls, and asked a design student to create something cool and new for us. Jani Samio was sold the first time he heard about this project:

“This is a really interesting project, since we don’t usually get to design any sort of trophies in school. Footbag wasn’t really familiar, so it was nice to get into it. I started the process by discussing with the organizers about the sport and the tournament: what sort of values they have, and should the trophy represent something. Some of the keywords that came up were urban, wood and nature. The tournament team also wanted to have the tournament logo in the trophy in some way.

I made different sketches of the ideas, and after more discussion we had a design that satisfied everybody. So it was time to start the fabrication.

Rendering of the trophy

I used CNC machining to carve the pieces out of oak and acrylic, and laser to burn graphics on the acrylic bottom. The three-piece design was quite simple to put together, but required precision and care to get just right. Finally after hours of sanding, oiling and polishing the trophies were ready.

I’m happy with the design of the trophies as they look really cool and incorporate a lot of the features the organizers and I wanted and still they are simplistic and clean. I’m satisfied that the tournament organisation is as happy with the trophies as I am. This was a nice project, and I am glad I had the opportunity to be part of the World Footbag Championships.”

Finished trophies.