frog Celebrates 40 Years of Shaping the Future

The return of the now legendary frog party comes during the 40th year of the company's existence. 1969 was the year our founder, Hartmut Esslinger, started the outfit, under the name, esslinger design, as a college student in Germany's Black Forest. He changed the name to frog several years later because he and his partners wanted something more catchy and provocative and because frogs are considered something like the official mascot of Altensteig, Germany (the town is surrounded by ponds and at certain times of the year, the frog migration in the region can close down the highways).

frog is also an acronym for "Federal Republic of Germany," so that was another good reason to choose the name. The company actually did have a pet frog for many years after moving to California to help design the original Apple macintosh computers in the early 80s. It was a Brazilian Tree Frog and was the star of company advertisements in Form and ID magazines for many years. The designers fed it and kept it warm during the cold winters until the dark forest reclaimed the little bugger.

Since then there have been no more amphibians in the studios (not counting some members of the interactive design team), but we still do like to keep surprising everyone. Thus the ongoing SXSW opening party.

So if you're in Austin, come celebrate. There's gonna be entertainment. Lots of it. Burlesque. Bands. Parades. Technology.

frog design SXSW Interactive Festival Opening Night Party
Saturday, March 14th
8-11pm
Mexican American Cultural Center
600 River Street
Austin, TX 7870
Go here to view this invitation on Facebook.

And if you're attending the conference, check out these frog-featured panel discussions

Designing for Irrational Behavior featuring frog Executive Creative Director Robert Fabricant
Room Hilton C
Saturday, March 14th
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Creative Employment Confab Presented by Coroflot featuring frog Senior Design Analyst Jon Kolko
Room Hilton 602
Monday, March 16th
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Rethinking the Digital Prototype featuring frog Senior Technologist Josh Bloom
Room 6
Tuesday, March 17th
10:00 am - 11:00 am