The Airhead face mask is intended for use under increased physical activity in the urban outdoor environments with a high level of air pollution. Its primary target market are city cyclists, but it can also be used by joggers, scooter riders and anyone working outdoors for long periods of time, such as delivery personnel and traffic wardens.
Made entirely in the UK, the mask was designed and developed by a partnership between Airhead, Brunel Design School and Realise Product Design, as part of the project Impacting Business by Design, funded by Research England. As keen cyclists in London, the three co-founders of Airhead have always been aware of the threat of urban air pollution, but despite a lot of searching, they never found an anti-air pollution face mask to meet their cycling needs. The available masks were too hot, uncomfortable, looking embarrassing and not properly sealed. To address this gap in the market, they partnered with Brunel Design School and Realise to create a face mask of their own.
The unisex mask combines a high-performance air filtration capability with a moulded facial seal to ensure an airtight face fit for variable face sizes. The steaming up of spectacles experienced when using traditional face masks is prevented by the two exhalation valves positioned at the rear of the mask, which direct the warm, moist, exhaled air away from the face and glasses. The flexible frontal part of the mask can be easily unclipped and opened up to catch a quick cooling breeze, make a phone call or enjoy a drink without having to remove and then refit the mask.
An added innovative feature is the AirSkin®, a removable fabric cover stretching over the body of the mask to allow for easy cleaning and a low-cost customisation of the mask’s appearance. This feature can generate the additional revenue streams from both B2C and B2B markets. The multi-layer filter in the mask blocks the air pollution particulates down to 0.3 microns in diameter, including the larger PM2.5 and PM10 particles. The overall particulate filtration efficiency of the mask is >99%, while the activated carbon layer in the filter also combats various harmful gases.
Designed with sustainability at the front of mind, the Airhead anti-air pollution face mask is highly durable and its integrated air filter can be easily replaced. These two aspects mean the mask is arguably reusable for life. All parts of the mask clip together and there is therefore no need to use any glue or solvent. Such construction makes the mask easy to refurbish or recycle.
The initial production run of 8500 units was made possible thanks to two highly successful crowdfunding campaigns that raised circa £460,000.
Category:PersonalYear:2023Designers:Vanja Garaj, Ian Ferris, Philip Phelan, Arash Sepahi, Peter Bessey, Impacting Business by Design, Brunel Design School, Brunel University London and David Aitken, Callum Taylor, Alex Lomer, Andrew Redman, Realise Product DesignManufacturer:Airhead, Littlehampton, United Kingdom
