Icycle

thoseglassesfromkickstarter.com

@icycle.eyewear

IntroductionStory

Project modelProductTeam bio

Introduction

The team behind Icycle has spend a year

crafting a product and its supply chain that

fulfills the aspirational goals of environmen-

tal, economic and social sustainability at

once. The team of Icycle has worked together

with local initiatives in India as well as op-

tometrists and eyewear manufacturers

throughout the UK to develop a product made

of 100% recycled plastic, handmade and de-

signed to contribute to the development of a

circular economy.

Fixing the planetis our Job.

Story

It was in summer 2017 when Jonathan, Icycle’s

co-founder, was travelling through India to

immerse in and learn about a new culture.

While doing so, no matter where he went, he

saw plastic waste everywhere, and people

struggling to deal with it. When he started

talking to people about it, he realised that the

problem is not the people themselves, but the

means they have in order to deal with the

piles of plastic that comes with previously

unpackaged goods. Without proper recycling

facilities and waste collectors, but growing

plastic consumption and simple inexperience

about its consequences, the locals emerged

as the victims of a lifestyle forced upon them

for which they were not ready to deal with.

He witnessed waste-pickers spending their

day going through trash only to sell it for

almost nothing, not being able to feed their

families or themselves. So he left with an

image of India etched into his mind that por-

trayed the country as deeply struck by a det-

rimental problem. So he decided to make it

his mission to do something about it.

Coming back from his trip, he found a team of

cliche students looking to imprint their good-

will on this world. As a team, they then real-

ised that what Jonathan was telling them

about is as much a problem as it can be an

opportunity. This marks the beginning of Icy-

cle’s journey to create what turned out to

become an attempt to revolutionise how con-

sumer goods are manufactured.

After brainstorming what could be the perfect

product to start for Icycle, we came to the

conclusion to follow our own passions and

design a literally visionary product. We

hopped on to a growing market trend of sus-

tainable eyewear and saw opportunity to de-

velop the underlying supply chain behind Icy-

cle’s sustainable manufacturing process as

a result.

Project Model

Having an engineer on Icycle’s team, Paul, we

are able to both model as well as prototype

several pairs, continuously reiterating our

design and quality, while crafting a supply

chain that can provide Icycle with recycled

plastic throughout. In order to do so, Icycle

formed crucial partnerships with initiatives

onsite in India and began planning production

together with them. Taking into account the

lack of technical knowledge in underserved

communities Icycle has tailored the process

towards their abilities while allowing them to

upskill during the production of its high-qual-

ity eyewear.

Solution: make our own glasses. For good.

> Locals collect household plastic waste

throughout Pune, India before it enters

the local landfills

> The plastic waste gets sorted, washed and

shredded into recycled flakes ready for fur-

ther processing

> The plastic flakes are processed via semi

auto matic injection moulding, cnc milling

or 3d printing nearby the plastic collec tion

points

> The processed plastic parts are returned

to the recycling facilities for assembly and

finishing

In the end, Icycle seeks to learn from the expe-

rience of producing sustainable high-quality

eyewear, learn about the way manufacturing

and engaging a local community works, and

expand to ever new use-cases for its mission

to make this planet a happier one. Because in

the end, it is not only about using less plas-

tic, but about reusing, repurposing and recy-

cling what is already there, and that is Icy-

cle’s mission.

Sourcing

Recycling

Redesigning

we go broke once the planet is fixed.

Product

Icycle’s glasses are designed to be timeless

and still unique, everyday and still special,

consciously handpicked and sustainable

throughout. Its design is simple and sleek,

without additional kitsch, to draw and keep

attention to the unique process it went

through and the unique materials it is made

of.

Every pair of glasses is just alike itself only.

Being comprised of an individual mixture of

plastics sourced and moulded into a particu-

lar pattern, none of Icycle’s glasses is the

same. The handpicked process of manufac-

turing each pair leaves its mark on every

product.

Regarding the lenses available, Icycle wants

to serve a broad customer base that uses

eyewear mainly for protection from sun

and/or digital surfaces. The glasses thereby

comes in twp different versions:

> as dimming-the-lights glasses, and

> as blocking-the-screen glasses

All parts contain 100% recycled plastic saved

from the environment. The glasses are de-

signed to be recyclable thereafter. Production

involves mostly manual work and teaches

real craftsmanship. As a result, those work-

ers involved learn how to add value to their

everyday work by not only collecting plastic

waste, but by producing something from it.

See the next two pages for further details.

Round Glasses.

Round Impact.

Dimming-the-lightsGlasses

polarised

UV 400 Protection

multicoatedanti-scratch

recycled

resilient

handmadeunique

hypoallergenicreadingdiopters

blocking-the-screenGlasses

hypoallergenic

blue-lightprotection

anti-scratch multicoatedresilient

recycled handmadeunique readingdiopters

Team Bio

jonathan Karlstrategy and marketing

Initiator, Runner, Dreamer but in the end just

a guy from Hamburg.

We all ask ourselves that one question all the

time. Who am I? What makes me? While I can

tell you what I do and what I believe, I can't tell

you who I am as the answer to that question

is constantly evolving. One shall stay in

motion, try to do the right thing, stay hungry

for more and never stop working towards

making this world a better place...in the end,

what else are we here for?

And you know what I stand up for? Sleep. It

sounds boring, but there is so much more to

these hours that we spend every night lying

around. Trust me, you need 8h a night to get

rid of all the adenosine that piles up in your

brain, so you function like a decent human

being the next day.

Paul TanuMechanical engineering

I chose mechanical engineering as my destiny

because I like making things, I help turn peo-

ple’s ideas into the 1000 words image.

I am the team’s resident wizard (a.k.a engi-

neer), my team gives me a few poorly drawn

sketches and after a while they get through

their letter box a prototype. They see it as

magic, psst don’t tell them that my computer

does all the heavy-duty work. The rest of the

time I share with them war time stories about

how one turns plastic bottles into wearables.

And my recommendation: Adam Savages’

“Every tool’s a hammer”. One thing I took

away from it is his definition for a maker, “(a

person) putting something in the world that

didn’t exist before”. Every body should take

permission from this book to go try the thing

that they are afraid to try or to explore that

hobby that you might consider weird.

Aaron BawSoftware engineer and design

Coffee eccentric, tinkerer, and an avid cre-

ative. Not afraid to break the rules. and chal-

lenge conventions.

What really motivates me is the thought I get

to do it with a team of incredibly talented,

fun, and awesome people. I knew early on that

I'd be involved no matter what we ended up

doing - the energy we all bring makes me feel

like we could accomplish whatever we set our

minds to - whether that was designing fash-

ionable crocs or changing the world through

recycled plastic.

I recommend: bulletproof coffee. It's jet fuel

for the mind. Try this and thank me later:

1 cup organic mycotoxin-free coffee (fair

trade sources if possible).

2 tbsp organic grass fed butter.

1 tbsp MCT oil.

Shake (not stir!!) to satisfaction.

Mads HoeferStrategy and Design

Resting in restlesness, constantly on a jour-

ney towards becoming a professional world-

backer

Although we call ourselves homo sapiens

still, I think we should emerge from the posi-

tion of being an intelligent being, to becoming

a conscious one, a homo sentiens. I can't help

but picture a world in which people care, and

push towards a more sustainable life, simply

by making it easier and more beautiful to do

so. With Icycle, it feels like the first stepping

stone for me into the right direction.

I can recommend the book “Zen and the art of

motorcycle maintenance”. It is a clash be-

tween those with a romantic viewpoint to life

focused on being "in the moment"; and a clas-

sic viewpoint with application of rational

analysis, vis-a-vis motorcycle maintenance.

Helps you figure out what you want from life.

Nabeel Sroya-Varaeywear specialist

Eyewear Enthusiast, DJ, Enterpriser, Joan Miró

admirer and Aimé Leon Dore wearer.

Our "Round Glasses, Round Impact" initiative

is my motivation. Giving back glasses made

out of recycled plastic to communities which

don't have access to basic eye-care, whilst

correcting their visual acuity drives me. This

will help improve productivity levels tenfold -

which in return contributes towards a growing

community and economy.

Part-time, I am also the group’s DJ. Therefore,

here’s a cult classic for you: "Slum Village -

Fan-Tas-Tic Vol 1". For an education on the

birth of Neo Soul featuring J Dilla’s intoxicat-

ing production along with T3 and Baatin’s

silky smooth flow. The album is a journey of

raw beats, heavy bass-lines and grandiose.

Together, weCreate.

g the worldWhy Not?

Savin-