outerspace design for Rx Smart Gear
outerspace design
(est. 1990, Melbourne)
Rx Smart Gear
(est. 2009, El Cajon, California, United States)
outerspace design is a product development studio with offices in Melbourne and San Diego. Its multidisciplinary teams collaborate across design, mechanical products, electronics, firmware and systems engineering to manage the product development process end-to-end.
The RapidFit jump rope, designed in 2016 for Californian company Rx Smart Gear, is the world’s first dual-bearing handle jump rope with length adjustment. With the humble jump rope (or ‘skipping rope’ in Australia) experiencing a resurgence throughout the mid-2010s, outerspace’s brief was to create a jump rope whose length could be quickly, intuitively and easily adjusted within seconds without the need for extra tools. The result is a rope that adjusts in small increments, with ten settings that can be activated by simply pushing a button on the handle. The RapidFit jump rope is designed to reduce frustration, improve skipping technique, and eliminate twists and tangles. The product can also be easily disassembled and maintained, and includes replaceable interchangeable parts to ensure longevity.
With skipping rising in popularity in the years after the RapidFit jump rope was released – and more so during the COVID-19 pandemic – the release of the RapidFit jump rope was serendipitously timed, providing a low-cost, portable and effective way to workout for seasoned jump-ropers and beginners alike.
The RapidFit jump rope won the Sport and Active Lifestyle prize in the 2018 Good Design Awards Australia, while outerspace’s designs, more broadly, have won numerous prizes in the same awards program, as well as awards from the Powerhouse Museum, Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Industrial Design Excellence, CES Innovation, Worldstar Global Packaging, Packaging Council and iF.