L’Oreal’s high-tech hair dryer will dry hair faster and use less electricity

How many people does it take to turn on an air dryer? It may sound like the beginning of a joke but actually this is a real question and the answer is around a hundred people make up the team that has created one of the most high-tech hair dryers. But there’s also a surprising twist with this team as it’s actually made of engineers and scientists that used to create drones. Your hair dryer will not fly in the sky but you’re getting something pretty high-tech.

Designer: Zuvi

The Airlight Pro was unveiled last month at the Consumer Electronic Show and is considered a “next-generation hair drying tool” that can be for professional hairdressers, stylists, and ordinary consumers at home. This was developed by L’Oréal in partnership with hardware startup Zuvi. The latter was created by drone engineers and scientists, most of whom came from technology company DJI, so you know that this is definitely a device that comes with good tech. It uses infrared-light technology and wind to have the hair dry faster and also use 31% less energy consumption.

The hair dryer uses a special 17-blade, high=speed motor, and patented infrared technology as well as tungsten-halogen bulbs so that you don’t use excessive heat when drying your hair. This also means that your hair is properly (or naturally) moisturized since the water is dried on the hair surface and the heat will not excessively dry it. Design-wise, it looks like a typical, high-tech hair dryer so there’s nothing really extra special there. But the fact that its technology can dry your hair quicker and still keep it shiny and smooth is the selling point.

The AirLight Pro has a small display in the handheld grip and can also be connected to an app so you can customize the settings depending on your hair type, length, and style. There isn’t a price tag announced yet although they may be looking at something below $400.

The post L’Oreal’s high-tech hair dryer will dry hair faster and use less electricity first appeared on Yanko Design.

This conceptual travel kit is a modular, portable hairdryer and clothing iron!

This conceptual travel kit is a modular, portable hairdryer and iron designed to give you an ‘Edge’ over others!

Edge is a compact 2-in-1 appliance that gives you more than your toiletries. It consists of three parts: ‘Multi Handle’, ‘Edge Hairdryer Module’, ‘Edge Iron Module’. ‘Multi Handle’ has a button to control the product for using and both modules work with ‘Multi Handle’. Specifically made for those who have meetings on-the-go, the hairdryer and iron help to wash away the weariness of travel and smoothen the wrinkles so you look fresh (or should I say profesh?). “We have adopted a slide structure for intuitive and easy combination of each module. This not only allows the user to easily combine the modules but also reduces the risk of the module being easily detached while using the product” says the team. This helps save time and effort into asking your hotel for the appliances and in case you don’t can’t make a stop and have to rush, Edge can come in handy anywhere you are!

It combines the structural similarities of the two products into one and uses one power supply to run both. The dial button makes it easy to adjust the intensity of the heat for both uses. As this product with module has to work as both iron and hairdryer, the team added a button that would allow a user to operate it without being confused even though it has a single handle. Like most devices, it can be charged using the common USB-C cable. Edge adds another necessary dimension to travel kits!

Designers: Chanhong Park, Yonghun Cho and Taekkyung Lee

How a Japanese Designer is using traditional crafts to change our perception of disposable product designs

Let’s start with a question, the last time you went looking for a product, say a hairdryer, what did you look for in that design? The common answer would be the features of the product, price, color, form, and of course brand – to name a few. But we never wonder about what happens to the product once we are done using it. I believe any design is truly sustainable when the designer has a solution for the treatment of the product after we are done using it. Designer Kodai Shimizu is actually implementing this thought with his collection of designs titled the Craft-Techmen Project.

The philosophy behind these designs is simple – if we create an emotional aspect to our products along with an easy way to repair them at home, each of these previously disposable designs will become an heirloom to be handed down across generations. Kodai Shimizu, who is a graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, decided to change our approach to everyday objects by using a thread as a conductive material. The products included here are a hairdryer, a radio, and a speaker as of now. This collection of threads replaces the switches and controls but rather gives us a new mechanism for controlling the volume, speed, or temperature of each of these products. Also, the design being so simple, it is easy to dismantle and repair the device if need be!

“Since threads are used to assemble the parts together in this project, not only is it easier to disassemble and repair, but it is also possible to add new functions to home appliances by using current-carrying threads. By rotating a part of the home appliance, the threads touch each other, and the voltage changes and the microchip inside the appliance responds according to the value, and the thread that conducts electricity acts as a dimmer switch” says the designer.

The Craft-Techmen Project is almost a rebellion to the mass-manufactured products available in the market today. Using wood for the body of the products ensures each product ages gracefully over time, almost changing with each year the product is used, absorbing the memories and characteristics of the user. I know technology progresses very fast and yes, the hairdryer or speaker of the future may be a whole new device after all, but tell me this, would you let a beautiful timeless radio like this handed down to you, be thrown away or would it be as treasured to you as your grandpa’s favorite vinyl disc and turntable? I know I would treasure mine.

Designer: Kodai Shimizu

The Hairdryer

The hairdryer’s transparent top doubles up as the temperature control. A simple twist of the surface relates to a higher temperature. The almost analog-like beauty of this design lets you actually see the physical interaction ( and the twisting of the threads) that causes this temperature change.

The Radio

Rotate the wooden disc atop this radio to see the threads interact and the channel change. I can see people across the ages – a grandfather and his grandson watching in wonder as they almost play with this device to get their favorite radio channel.

The Speaker

Although lacking a see-through surface to enjoy the interactions, this chunky speaker design holds the details atop the speaker and you can see them move as you adjust the volume.

While these are just three products displayed here, the project suggests a new take on everyday objects for our modern daily lives to question the materials and electronic technologies surrounding us. And after seeing this collection, it sure has given me some food for thought.

This complete pill-shaped object is actually a hairdryer

Form and function marry well in the conceptual BR555 portable hairdryer. Inspired by the Braun 550 series – from 1976 – the new-age BR555 is designed to fit in your travel case. The power of the Sirocco fan, used in its construction, is good enough to work noiselessly as well dry your hair efficiently.

The design is very fluid if you ask me, it can be used as a travel piece, but at the same time it can fit well into any bathroom or dressing table. I like the fact that it has a completely folding form, and giving the dryer a completely compact footprint and making it easy to store it.

Designer: Jaekyu Jung

“Hairdryer products have more time not to be used than when they are used, so we have been considering designs that can harmonize in space such as bathrooms and dressing rooms,” Jung told Yanko Design.

“This hairdryer adopts a Sirocco fan. The Sirocco fan makes less noise. It features storage and portability by applying a structure that rarely folds the steering wheel among the Sirocco type. Minimalistic intake pattern, expressing the beauty and space harmony as a beauty product.”

“I disassembled a couple of hairdryers to see how that works also how the internal structure looks like and designed for and then tried to make a 1:1 prototype model to check the scale. The 90° is cordless and is powered by Li-ion battery, the body is made of ABS plastic and has a high polished finish. Its foldable design reduces baggage space making it ideal for both traveling and everyday use.”

Not Your Conventional Hairdryer!

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Sometimes we come across designs that we certainly didn’t expect to ever see, and this unique design falls into this category. The Clankin is the result of combining the functionality and use of a hairdryer, with the aesthetics and design style of a firearm… that’s not something that you hear every day! But it unarguably creates a really interesting device that is sure to add a bit of interest into the hair drying process.

The conventional, and somewhat mundane, temperature switch has been replaced by a bolt action lever that will make adjusting the temperature feel slightly more badass! Clankin’s organically shaped design has been finished in a combination of matte and glossy black plastic… there’s even a scope decal present!

This is undeniably a unique design that you probably didn’t expect to ever come across, but if it’s going to add interest into the extremely boring task of drying hair, then it’s a worthwhile product to me!

Designer: Hyeonil Jeong

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A Hairdryer for Lumberjacks?!

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While, for many, using a hairdryer is part of our daily routines, a convenient storage method for such devices hasn’t quite made itself noticed yet! Instead we must make do with either shoving them into an already crammed draw, which could lead to them getting damaged, or leave them on the side to clutter up the room!

However, this quirky looking hairdryer may just hold the answer to our problems, and it goes about it in such a clever way! Greatly inspired by how lumberjacks hold their axe in a piece of wood, ‘Lumberjack’ mounts gracefully onto the wall-mounted cradle, giving the hairdryer a place to live when it’s not in use.

The lumberjack analogy continues further into the form of the device, where the conventionally round barrel is instead far more rectangular, adding to the device’s uniqueness! What a wonderful solution to an annoying problem!

Designer: Jae Kyung Oh

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This Hairdryer Doesn’t Belong in A Draw!

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Hairdryers are not the easiest of product to store in draws, they are large, they are bulky and most of all, they are an incredibly awkward shape! As well as this, due to the nature of their use they are used extremely often so a lot of the time we leave them on the side, and in doing so we just litter the room with clutter.

‘Vase’ is a very different approach to solving this problem, but one that we think works beautifully. The elegant, sculptured form of the body is reminiscent of a flower vase, this metaphor is continued with the gently colored vent, that represents beautiful flowers in full bloom. Towards the bottom of the device is the power cable, that’s green in color to take on the form of the roots.

These subtle design cues create an alluring product that looks wonderfully at home on the side-table.

Designer: Eui Ju Lee

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A Truly Practical Hairdryer!

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For many, the hairdryer is a device which is used daily, so putting something that is used so often after every use is a bit of a hassle and it’s not as if the awkward shape of a hairdryer is always easy to fit into a draw!

Junbyung Choi identified this issue and set out to design a far more practical hairdryer, and the solution came in the form of Objet. With a design that’s inspired by crossroads extending from one stem to two branches, it is clear from first glance that it is far from a conventional hair dryer. Rather than being stored in the draw when it is not in use or cluttering up the room if it is left out, it neatly mounts onto the wall.

The wide range of neutral colors that are offered paired with the simplistic and fuss-free design makes Objet a perfect fit for any room, with any style of interior décor.

Designer: Junbyung Choi

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A Draw-friendly Hairdryer!

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Hairdryers are one of the most awkward devices to store; their unusual shape and long cable doesn’t make them ‘draw-friendly’ products. But because of this they are left out, making the room look messy and unorganized.

The, rather appropriately named, Square Circle Square hairdryer’s primary goal is to be easy and hassle-free to store, and this is achieved thanks to a few neat features! The uniquely shaped body that consists of, you guessed it, a square a circle and another square, allows the fabric-coated cable to be wrapped around and then held in place. This combats the annoying issue that conventional hairdryers suffer with, which is the cable sliding off and becoming a tangled, frustration-causing mess.

The hairdryer’s handle rotates 90 degrees to become parallel with the minimalistic body, creating a far more draw-friendly shape!

Designer: Seungyeol Lee

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