Client: Hexr
Project: Hex One
Services: Consumer/Market insights, Persona exploration, Product strategy, Concept design, Concept development
Born from the investigation of materials and structures, the Hexr .1 is the worlds first custom 3D-printed helmet designed and crafted to the exact contours of each cyclist who wears it. Built on a patent pending honeycomb structure that’s 68% better at controlling impact than foam, the helmet buckles and bends during impact which then softens to reduce pressure, sitting perfectly to give your head’s most critical areas protection. Hexr uses polyamide 11 which is a 100% renewable material and 3D printing as a way to manufacture, so the helmet itself will only exist when it has been asked for helping towards a less plastic polluted environment.
Hexr excels with its seamless, fast and precise fitting process. There is no need to guess a user’s size or use a tape to measure around the head as the scanning app used by the team at Hexr accurately scans around the head of the user while wearing a cap to help flatten down hair. The scan creates a 30,000-point 3D mesh with a bespoke inner structure which is shared to you via email in seconds.
The vision of Hexr is to produce a helmet that performs better than any other in the world, helping cyclists to excel and save lives.
Made to your exact specification.
All heads are anatomically unique and every Hexr helmet is produced as a one off when requested by a user. Made to the precise dimensions and curvature of any head, based on a 30,000-point scan accurate to the nearest micron - less than the width of a hair. From your data, the algorithms generate a completely bespoke inner structure in real time to fuse a unique honeycomb structure that’s made from 100% renewable raw materials that is then capable of being 3D printed.
The process of Hexr.
At curventa we firmly believe that to create a disruptive product that is being released into a very mature market such as cycling helmets, it requires a unique approach that allows us to get a deeper understanding of the users to recognise their needs and requirements.
We worked closely with cyclists of all different experiences and Hexr’s tight knit team to produce a truly desirable and disruptive helmet that users could engage with from the consumer insights gathered from targeted focus groups. This helped us to create a tailored and crafted set of categories that the product had to abide by in terms of its visual communication. This allowed us to develop a large range of concepts varying from the less crazy ideas to the more outlandish concepts which allowed us to push boundaries.
We also continue to approach our projects hands-on with models which we craft and create before moving into any CAD. By doing this it gives us the freedom to explore the form and different ideas and physically see the helmet before we agree on a final design.
Hexr | User focus groups
Hexr | Consumer cycling research booklet
Our approach.
Below is a summary of our front end approach when it comes to projects of this nature. Due to confidentiality reasons, we are only able to show snippets of our creative process involving sketching and foam modelling.
Hexr | Concept development and foam modelling
Hexr | Developed concept route
Hexr | Chosen concept visualisation (digital sketching)
Hexr | Foam modelling
Hexr | Sketching detail development
Finalised design/visuals.
As the project moved on further down the stages, changes and tweaks were made based on feedback from users and helmet/cyclist experts to make sure the helmet was at its optimum capabilities and to make sure this was a helmet users really wanted to own. Changes were made to the form, ventilation, features etc to push the helmet to be the best version of itself. Below are visuals of the Hexr helmet with all its features and finalised changes.
Hexr | Finalised design visuals (not produced by curventa)
Press and coverage.
Hexr was featured on BBC on Friday 16th November 2018, where co founders Jamie Cook and Georgie Smithwick spoke to Tom Edwards on the launch of Hexr helmets.
If all this talk of Hexr has got you keen to purchase one, the Hexr .1 is available here: