Frog Design

{{Infobox company

| logo = Frog Design logo.svg

| logo_size =

| traded_as =

| industry = Design firm, industrial design, interaction design, management consulting, innovation management, service design, software engineering, organization design,{{Cite web|url=https://www.frog.co/services/org-activation|title = Org Design | Enablement | frog, part of Capgemini}} Venture Management{{Cite web|url=https://www.frog.co/services/venture-design|title = Corporate Venture Builder | Business | frog, part of Capgemini Invent}}

| founded = {{Start date|1969}}

| founder = Hartmut Esslinger

| location_city = San Francisco, California

| location_country = United States

| area_served = Worldwide

| key_people = Gagandeep Gadri
({{small|Global Managing Director}}){{Cite web|url=https://www.frog.co/authors/gagandeep-gadri|title = frog Global Managing Director}}

| num_employees = 2,000+ (2021){{Cite web|title=Creative consultancy frog hits milestone under Capgemini Invent's wings

|url=https://www.consultancy.eu/news/7061/creative-consultancy-frog-hits-milestone-under-capgemini-invents-wings|access-date=2021-11-30|website=Consultancy EU|date=19 November 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Capgemini Invent rolls out Frog Design across APAC {{!}} Digital|url=https://www.campaignasia.com/article/capgemini-invent-rolls-out-frog-design-across-apac/471315|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Campaign Asia}}

| type = Subsidiary

| owner = Capgemini

| website = https://www.frog.co

}}

frog (styled as "frog, part of Capgemini Invent") is a global creative and design consultancy founded in 1969 by industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger in Mutlangen, Germany, where it was initially named “esslinger design”.{{cite book|author=Hartmut Esslinger|title=A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWa3BrEsbTcC&pg=PA4|access-date=4 March 2013|date=27 May 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-50041-5|pages=4–}}{{Cite web|title=About frog - LinkedIn|url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/frogdesign|website=LinkedIn|language=en}} Soon after the company moved to Altensteig, Germany, and then opened a new studio in Palo Alto, California, and ultimately to its current headquarters in San Francisco, California. The company has studios in North and Central America, Europe, and Asia.

The name was changed to frog design in 1982 (the name originating from an acronym for Esslinger's home country, the Federal Republic of Germany; it was originally styled exclusively in lower-case as an expression of its belief in a democratic place of work, where ideas are openly and freely shared, and in opposition to the capitalization of nouns in German{{cite book|author=Hartmut Esslinger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWa3BrEsbTcC&pg=PA6|title=A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business|date=27 May 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-50041-5|pages=6|access-date=4 March 2013}}). The brand was once again restyled as frog in 2011 to signify an expanded portfolio of services that included strategy and organization activation.

The company was acquired by Capgemini in 2021 and is now a part of Capgemini Invent.{{Cite web|date=2021-06-23|title=Capgemini Invent boosts its strategy, technology and design services|url=https://www.capgemini.com/news/capgemini-invent-boosts-its-strategy-technology-and-design-services-to-enable-visionary-leaders-to-shape-the-future-of-business/|website=capgemini.com|language=en}}

History

The firm's first designs, in 1969, were for WEGA,{{Cite web|date=2020-09-23|title=Hartmut Esslinger|url=https://www.idsa.org/members/hartmut-esslinger|access-date=2021-09-12|website=Industrial Designers Society of America - IDSA|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Esslinger|first=Hartmut|date=2020-09-05|title=Early frog Hero: Paul Hildinger|url=https://www.frogmut.com/2020/09/05/early-frog-hero-paul-hildinger/|access-date=2021-09-12|website=frogmut.com|language=en}} a German radio and television manufacturer that was later acquired by Sony. frog continued to work for Sony and designed the Trinitron television receiver in 1975, and several editions of the Walkman.{{Cite web|title=Frog50 {{!}} 50 Years of Design and Innovation|url=https://www.frog.co/designmind/frog50/|access-date=2021-09-12|website=frog design|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Kuang|first=Cliff|date=2009-07-17|title=Catching Up With Hartmut Esslinger, Design Genius|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1311751/catching-hartmut-esslinger-design-genius|access-date=2021-09-12|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}} Their first designs for computer manufacturers were for proprietary systems by CTM (Computertechnik Müller) in 1970 and Diehl Data Systems in 1979. More prominent are the designs for Apple Computer, starting with the case of the portable Apple IIc, introducing the Snow White design language used by Apple during 1984–1990, and continuing with several Macintosh models.{{cite book|author=Luke Dormehl|title=The Apple Revolution: Steve Jobs, the counterculture and how the crazy ones took over the world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=640f7JNTX0kC&pg=PA288|access-date=4 March 2013|date=2 August 2012|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4481-3136-5|pages=288–}} The firm designed the NeXT Computer in 1987{{cite book|author=Owen W. Linzmayer|title=Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive Story of the World's Most Colorful Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXnw5tM8QRwC&pg=PA209|access-date=4 March 2013|year=2004|publisher=No Starch Press|isbn=978-1-59327-010-0|pages=209–}} and Sun's SPARCstations in 1989.{{cite book|author=David Bramston|title=Basics Product Design 01: Idea Searching|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARXEAZX7-UEC&pg=PT89|access-date=4 March 2013|date=25 November 2008|publisher=AVA Publishing|isbn=978-2-940373-76-5|pages=89–}} More recently, the firm is known for its work with General Electric (2010–2015) and on Disney's Magicbands and MyMagic+ (launched 2015).{{Cite web|last=Carr|first=Austin|date=2015-04-15|title=The Messy Business Of Reinventing Happiness|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}

In August 2004, the company announced that Flextronics International, a large electronics manufacturing services provider, was taking an equity stake in the company for approximately $25 million; in 2006, frog was part of a deal through which private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) acquired nine of Flextronic's assets.{{Cite news|last=Burrows|first=Peter|date=April 19, 2006|title=One Great Leap for frog design|work=Bloomberg News|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-04-18/one-great-leap-for-frog-design|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211114043157/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-04-18/one-great-leap-for-frog-design#selection-3233.0-3233.366|archive-date=14 Nov 2021}}{{Cite news|last=Bureau|first=Our Economy|date=2006-04-18|title=KKR buys 85% in Flextronics for $900 million|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/kkr-buys-85-in-flextronics-for-900-million-106041801146_1.html|access-date=2021-11-14}} frog was later acquired by engineering firm Aricent, which itself was acquired by Altran, which in 2019 was in turn acquired by the consulting firm Capgemini. Today, frog is organized under the “Capgemini Invent” umbrella, integrating staff from Fahrenheit 212, Idean, and June21 into the frog brand.{{Cite web|title=A new era for frog and its partners|url=https://www.frog.co/press-release/frog-embarks-on-a-new-era-as-a-part-of-capgemini-invent/|access-date=2021-09-05|website=frog design|language=en}}

frog has had studios across Europe, North America, and Asia for much of its history, and as of 2024, has studios across the globe, including having a presence in Milan, Munich, San Francisco, New York, London, Bangalore, and Singapore.{{Cite web |title=frog - Studios |url=https://www.frog.co/contact#frog-studios |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=frog, part of Capgemini Invent |language=en}}

Management

Frog was founded as a small industrial firm by Hartmut Esslinger. Esslinger was the company's first Chief Creative Office (CCO), and with his wife, Patricia Roller (who later served as CEO), frog grew and achieved international prominence.

In 2005, Esslinger and Roller decided to sell frog and leave the company. Following their departure from the firm, Mark Rolston became the next CCO, cementing the company's evolution into the digital experience. Doreen Lorenzo became President of frog design and remained in that position until September 2013. In 2013, Hans Neubert became the third CCO of frog. After Neubert's departure and the frog's subsequent acquisition by Capgemini, the company changed the structure of its executive team, with regional creative heads as part of a globally distributed Design Leadership Team.{{Cite web |title=Evolving Creative Leadership at frog |url=https://www.frog.co/designmind/evolving-creative-leadership-at-frog |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002071524/https://www.frog.co/designmind/evolving-creative-leadership-at-frog |archive-date=2022-10-02 |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=frog, part of Capgemini Invent |language=en}} In parallel to the company's creative leadership, after Doreen Lorenzo's departure, several individuals have been CEO or president, including Harry West (2015–18) and Andy Zimmerman (2013–15 and 2018–21).

Gallery

File:WEGA Studio 3214 Hifi und Telefunken L 250.jpg|WEGA Studio 3214 Hifi ({{circa|1972}})

File:Thinktank Birmingham - object 1986S03911.00001(1).jpg|Sony Walkman WM-2 ({{circa|1981}}){{Cite web|title=WM-2 WALKMAN ® (Stereo Cassette Player) / Gallery / Sony Design / Sony|url=https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/design/gallery/WM-2/|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Sony Design|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Frog Design's Hartmut Esslinger On Design in 1979|url=https://gizmodo.com/frog-designs-hartmut-esslinger-on-design-in-1979-5316735|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Gizmodo|language=en-us}}

File:Apple IIc with monitor.jpg|Apple IIc and the Snow White design language ({{circa|1984}}){{Cite web|last=Bohn|first=Dieter|date=2019-06-26|title=A photo history of Frog, the company that designed the original Mac|url=https://www.theverge.com/design/2019/6/26/18758789/apple-mac-design-snow-white-frog-polk-photo-essay|access-date=2022-01-13|website=The Verge|language=en}}

File:NeXTcube.jpg|NeXTcube ({{circa|1990}}){{Cite web|last=Brownlee|first=John|date=2016-02-16|title=Remembering The Design Legacy Of Steve Jobs's Other Great Computer Company|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3056684/remembering-the-design-legacy-of-steve-jobss-other-great-computer-company|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}

File:DisneyMagicdepartsCanaveral.JPG|Disney Magic ({{circa|1998}}){{Cite news|last=Iovine|first=Julie V.|date=1997-01-16|title=Now It's Heigh-Ho, Off to Sea We Go|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/16/garden/now-it-s-heigh-ho-off-to-sea-we-go.html|access-date=2022-01-13|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|title=Magic: elegant outside, surprisingly ordinary inside|url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Magic--elegant-outside,-surprisingly-ordinary-inside|access-date=2022-01-13|website=www.travelweekly.com|language=en}}

File:SAP-Logo.svg|SAP Corporate Identity and digital design language ({{circa|2000}}){{Citation|title=Episode 8 - Design for Life with Hartmut Essingler, Founder Frog Design - Leading with Gratitude with Chester Elton|url=https://www.buzzsprout.com/1325053/6438316-episode-8-design-for-life-with-hartmut-essingler-founder-frog-design|language=en|access-date=2022-01-14}}

File:TouchTunes (7984914359).jpg|Touchtunes ({{circa|2010}}){{Cite web|last=LaBarre|first=Suzanne|date=2011-03-02|title=Frog Creates a Jukebox for People Who've Never Touched a Jukebox|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1663333/frog-creates-a-jukebox-for-people-who-ve-never-touched-a-jukebox|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}

File:Let the Magic begin -disney -magicbands (22988341716).jpg|Disney Magicband and MyMagic+ ({{circa|2015}}){{Cite web|last=Carr|first=Austin|date=2015-04-15|title=The Messy Business Of Reinventing Happiness|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness|access-date=2022-01-13|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine|last=Kuang|first=Cliff|title=Disney's $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/|access-date=2022-01-13|issn=1059-1028}}