Project Info
The brief for this project was simple, to create a head protection device, aka “helmet”, for any activity of your choosing. The objective was to come up with a helmet that is different than anything currently on the market.
I am an avid skier and have been skiing since the age of five. Skiing is one of the most freeing activities, a chance to test your physical abilities while enjoying the outdoors. However, it is not one of the most safest leisure activities. Luckily I have not sustained any major injuries while skiing, but have had many close calls. The closest was one afternoon when I was ten years old, which resulted in my hitting my head against a tree and tumbling down the hill.
For my helmet, I was really driven with the goal of trying to make skiing safer. Inspired by several inflatable avalanche ski jacket concepts, I wanted to incorporate some sort of inflatable safety device into my ski helmet. I have created the Snow Ball helmet, a ski helmet with an inflatable airbag shell, that will deploy whenever it senses a severe fall or detects an avalanche approaching.
Currently I do not possess the abilities to manufacture an inflatable airbag, strong enough to protect an individual from a severe fall or avalanche. However, my helmet was created to mimimic the shape of the intended helmet, using modeling form. This allowed me to understand the vision of the helmet in a 3D environment. Accompanying the helmet is product packaging, designed with the overall aesthetic of a wooden ski lodge, with industrial elements.
Overall this project strengthened my ideation processes, allowing me to fully conceptualize a product from an idea to all the way to a store shelf model. It also helped bolster my model making abilities, challenging me to perfect and fully construct a model as if it were a real product.
Mood Board
Helmet Sketch Model
Process Photos
Final Photos (On Person)
Final Photos
