Overview

Cycling helmets have been made with EPS foam, a material mainly used for packaging, since the mid-1970s. We met an Oxford engineer who was exploring the possibility for new, sustainable materials and technology to radically challenge that. His research proved that organic cellular structures - like a honeycomb - could provide a better crush strength to weight ratio than foam. Meaning a helmet could be safer and lighter. Better still, these cellular structures can be 3D printed on demand to match the exact curvature of anyone’s unique head shape. So: a perfect fit.

We joined the project with a mountain of research in the bank and a sprint to the finish line. 12 weeks to mould years of theory into a brand, a name, and a consumer product ready to ship at the world’s premier cycling exhibition, the Rouleur Classic. We embedded with Jamie Cook’s team to completely immerse ourselves in the science and culture of protective outerwear.

We built a brand book with guiding behavioural principles that captured what we’d learnt from the team about their ambitions with the product. From that process, and a full competitor audit, came the initial name. HEXO - a portmanteau of the hexagon structure and ‘exoskeleton’ - later tweaked to HEXR (‘R’ being the mathematical symbol for curvature).

We partnered closely with industrial designers Curventa to steer the design of the product itself, ensuring the decisions matched our brand intentions. We developed a full suite of visual and verbal language for use across all marketing materials, from explaining the product and its benefits on the website, to popup retail stands and POS, to the finishing touches on the bespoke packaging. Under the hood, we owned the UX and design of the app that powered the experience - a tool for iPhone or iPad to generate a 30,000-point head scan, accurate to the nearest micron (less than the width of a hair). The finished product is Laser Sintered layer by layer, melting Polyamide-11 - a material made from 100% castor bean oil - into each bespoke honeycomb structure. It’s not just the best-fitting helmet you’ll ever wear, but the most sustainably manufactured.

We’re still at the dawn patrol for HEXR, but already the company has earned press attention from Wired and airtime on BBC News. The product has been honoured for Design Excellence by the iF World Design Guide awards too.