frog (styled as "frog, part of Capgemini Invent") is a global creative and design consultancy founded in 1969 by
industrial designerHartmut Esslinger in
Mutlangen,
Germany, where it was initially named “esslinger design”.[6][7] 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[8]). 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.[9]
History
The firm's first designs, in 1969, were for
WEGA,[10][11] 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.[12][13] 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.[14] The firm designed the
NeXT Computer in 1987[15] and
Sun'sSPARCstations in 1989.[16] More recently, the firm is known for its work with
General Electric (2010-2015) and on Disney's
Magicbands and
MyMagic+ (launched 2015).[17]
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.[18][19] frog was later acquired by engineering firm
Aricent, which itself was acquired by
Altran, which in 2019 was in turn acquired by its current parent company, the consulting firm
Capgemini. Today, frog is organized under the “Capgemini Invent” umbrella, integrating staff from Fahrenheit 212, Idean, June21, and Capgemini Invent into the frog brand.[20]