The collaboration bike
Is that still a bike or is it already art? The Munich artist Michael Wiethaus, also known as “Mixen”, was allowed to design one of our SUSHI BIKES according to his ideas. And from now on you have the chance to auction off this unique artistic piece.
Did you know that SUSHI BIKES comes from Bavaria? To be more precise, we come from the Bavarian capital Munich. This is where the idea was born to revolutionize the classic e-bike and strive for green mobility for everyone. This is where the first prototypes were developed, test rides were undertaken and the very first SUSHI BIKE was sold.
As a thank you for this great city and the great experiences and memories, we have come up with a unique artistic collaboration - in Bavarian, of course!
Wiethaus x SUSHI: The collaboration bike
While we continue to work on making green urban mobility accessible to everyone, the Munich artist “Mixen” is trying to save something from extinction with his project #DerButter: the Bavarian dialect.
With his very own typography and some old-fashioned Bavarian sayings, he creates a perfect mix of tradition and modernity. Like us, he brings a contemporary twist to the familiar. We visited Mixen - or Michael Wiethaus, as the artist and graphic designer's real name is - in his studio in Munich and asked him to decorate one of our MAKI 3.0 bikes with his art.
“Dialect is the tone of the city”
Before we can get started, Michael has to refill his pen. The black color slowly runs out of the refill cartridge into the marker. A few drops miss it and land on the white paper below. Michael Wiethaus is more than experienced in using the black marker. For him, art is an inner drive. A desire to do and attack things. The artist has been capturing dialect in the form of posters and merch since 2014. Or the “sound of the city,” as he calls it.
With #DerButter, Michael wants to secure these traditional expressions, sayings and sayings of Bavarian culture for the future. In our fast-moving world, cultural assets such as dialect seem to be in danger of extinction. So Michael preserves sayings like “The whole idiot” or simple phrases like “Ja mei” in his posters. With his project #DerButter he shows that love of home does not have to be conservative and out of date. And have success with it!
A SUSHI BIKE in #derButter style
With Michael we not only share our connection to Munich, but also our commitment to a greener future. Since his youth, the artist has been cruising through the state capital primarily on a bicycle or skateboard. And even today, in everyday life, he prefers to get on the saddle rather than behind the wheel: “I don’t have a car and I ride my bike a lot. That’s sustainable mobility for me.” That’s why we asked Michael to design one of our bikes in the unique #DerButter style design.
At his desk, he effortlessly moves the marker across the paper. The sweeping, targeted movements create a special typography of our SUSHI lettering. A lettering for which Michael Wiethaus is known beyond the Munich city limits.
From sketch to sticker
With the drawing in his hand, he strolls to his scanner. The newly created lettering must now be digitized. On the laptop he corrects small imperfections in Photoshop and ensures a clean look. The drawing is then transformed into a vector graphic, so the edges of the graphic always remain sharp - no matter what size it is scaled to.
The work can then be printed. Of course, Michael can't just put our bike in the printer. So we work with a so-called plotter. This is a type of printer that is used to cut out the drawings as stickers from a special vinyl film. These stickers will later stick firmly to the frame and will not come off even when you clean the bike.
“Yes, I’m on my bike”
Michael carefully attaches the finished stickers to the frame and rims of this unique bike. For example, “Let's roll” is written on the front wheel, or “Yes, I'm on my bike.” A SUSHI BIKE in #DerButter style. He carefully removes the protective film from his signature and the new interpretation of the SUSHI lettering and looks at his work with satisfaction.
The Wiethaus x SUSHI collaboration bike is a very special one-off - without attracting much attention. The simple, white words and lettering decorate the wheel and give it that certain something. The clean aesthetics of the bike are still retained. An e-bike for the city couldn't look better. And soon it could be yours!
Auction: Get the #DerButter bike
To properly celebrate the collaboration with Michael Wiethaus, we will be releasing the #DerButter bike between May 8th. and May 15th. auction. This special unique piece is not only a bicycle, but also a work of art. If you want to take advantage of your chance, take part in the auction and look forward to your unique piece!
And because we want to do something good not only for you, but also for the city of Munich, we are launching a new social project at the same time. From now on we will donate all bikes that we no longer use directly to social projects in Munich! Stay up to date: We will report on this campaign in more detail in the coming weeks.
