Skjold Respirator
The Skjold Respirator was a project done for a senior level Industrial Design class where we had to adopt the design language of another brand. However, my class had to use the design languages of two brands, and we all had the option to include an additional brand if necessary. The two brands assigned were Scandinavian furniture company Muuto and Japanese design firm Nendo. Alongside side the assigned brands I decided to include 3M due to my chosen product for the assignment. Product in question, an ergonomic respirator mask for industrial and workshop use.
The name “Skjold” is Danish for shield, which symbolizes the main job of the product, protecting the wearer’s lungs. The reason for the use of a Danish word is because much of its design comes from the Scandinavian company Muuto, whose design philosophy focuses on functionality and making the customer feel “right”. The comfort aspect was what led to curved shape in the respirator’s filter housings which allows the wearer to have a greater degree of motion when rotating their head. The more minimalist elements come from the Japanese brand Nendo which led to me designing the mask to be streamlined as if aerodynamics was a necessary factor in the design. 3M’s contribution was the overall engineering and function of the respirator unit.