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Message Customized buttons Through salvaged rolls of denim fabric, Levi’s created an American icon. With blue jeans, the company popularized the copper rivet and the button fly. Now, Levi’s is letting people individualize their britches with a collection of button covers that let them express their personal style. Originally, Levi’s came to IDEO to explore opportunities for innovation, such as customization. Levi’s tapped IDEO to research five innovation platforms and specify a material and manufacturing strategy for one option of customization that they selected from IDEO’s prototypes. IDEO then focused on helping Levi’s move the concept from initial design to final production. The customized button-fly concept was part of a larger Levi’s initiative, the “Live Unbuttoned” campaign to re-launch the 501 brand and target the young and hip. To complement this release, Levi’s wanted to customize the 501 buttons — something that would highlight the button fly and let wearers showcase their style and identity. IDEO’s design exploration and feasibility assessment helped Levi’s connect the button, the graphic elements, and the packaging as a unified product offering. The design was largely driven by final material selection. Because stainless steel is a core element of the Levi’s brand and used with the company’s existing buttons, the team featured the material in the new button fly. The customized button cover is made of two stainless steel pieces that snap onto (and cover) the existing buttons on 501 jeans. Artwork by three illustrators from San Francisco, Tokyo, and Australia is printed on the button covers. Functional highlights include snap features created in metal-injection-molded (MIM) stainless steel parts, within a compact footprint that makes manufacturing more efficient. The bottom half slides onto the shaft of the button and the top half connects to the bottom and easily snaps onto the base. A recess on the bottom half of the cover allows users to unsnap the pieces without the use of a tool. Innovative and highly intuitive packaging concepts link the button cover to the cardboard packaging, which shares the look of the iconic Levi’s button fly. Levi’s customized button covers are the first of their kind for denim manufacturers. Through this project, Levi’s has entered a new business space and built stronger connections with younger customers. Eventually, users may be able to download their own artwork in stores and customize it onto Levi’s button covers printed on site. The button covers are currently available in Japan, Europe and North America. http://www.ideo.com/work/customized-buttons/