Sometimes it’s all in the hips, like with golf or dancing, but when it comes to ironing our clothes, it all boils down to the grip. The best ironing requires finesse and precision, which prompted designers, Junjie Chou, and Jiashun Lin to draw up their own interpretation of the emblematic household iron. Using software programs, Cinema 4D, Rhino, and Octane Render, the designers produced a concept design for the electric iron that implements an adjustable handlebar that will allow users to change their grip according to the shape and material of any given piece of clothing or ironable fabric.
The electric iron’s main event, the handlebar, is what turns this iron’s heat up. The electric iron’s heel-rest will move up and down a vertical track for holding distance adjustments. Then, the actual handlebar moves like the classic fireplace bellows hearth accessory, or even your own elbow, in order to give the user different angular options when ironing varying pieces of fabric. The hinge mechanism encased in the iron’s globular, orange centerpiece, also works like your elbow might, hinging from the center and outwards to increase the area of which the electric iron can slide over. If you’ve got larger pieces of fabric to take on, simply pull on the handlebar, like you would open a door, and you’ll be able to cover a lot more area. It’s a little bit like rotating your phone back and forth from landscape and portrait mode. Sometimes, when our phones are put into landscape mode, it just gets the job done quicker.
Setting up the electric iron will feel familiar for any user who has ironed their own clothes. The concept design for this electric iron wears a familiar shape and approachable, intuitive control buttons. Just like any other steam iron, the user will have to fill up the water tank to the desired water line and let the electric iron put on some heat before sliding it down wrinkled t-shirts and bedsheets. Once the electric iron is all ready to smooth out those wrinkles, users will be able to move the electric iron whichever way feels best. The electric iron’s quirky, orange sphere connects the handlebar to the electric iron’s shorter lever and showcases the design’s only on and off button. Just below the handlebar, alongside the iron’s heating plate, users will find the steam release function, which can either produce clouds of steam to envelop wrinkled clothing or burst streams of steam to pinpoint specific regions of wrinkled fabric that need attention. Just remember, it’s all in the grip.
Designer: Junjie Chou, Jiashun Lin
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