scott henderson rethinks the face shield. covid-19.
“when zverse asked me to help them rethink the face shield i jumped at the opportunity. there’s no better time than now for designers to apply their unique skills and knowledge, and the face shield is one of those products that hasn’t seen that much holistic innovation” ~~ scott henderson
the surgical face mask, invented in the late 1800s, and the welder’s helmet, invented in the 1930s, up till now during covid-19, have been doing admirably well outside the confines of the operating room, the icu, a metal shop, for which they were designed. four months into covid-19 we’ve had the occasion to observe the limitations of these specialized items in the more diverse service industry.
the face shield in particular, has proven to have a higher functional diversity ceiling. for example, to talk you don’t have to take a face shield off. however, putting on or removing a face shield can be a to-do and some service positions require a hat.
new york designer scott henderson, with his client john carrington, ceo of zverse, hit a brilliantly conceived and executed bases-loaded home run with their zshield flex.
the zshield flex is designed primarily as a business-to-business solution mainly for service industry workers—such as the food service industry, selective medical, the education sector, beauty and hair salons, and regular consumers as well.
[design criteria ]
> the zshield flex does not strap on the head, impacting a person’s outward presentation.
> the zshield flex is a friendlier, more calming presentation than the shields meant for front-line healthcare workers.
> front-line healthcare workers need ppe to protect themselves, because the environment they operate in is high-risk. the zshield flex will be used in lower risk environments, and is meant to protect the people around the wearer from direct exposure from forward-projected droplets that we all expel through normal talking, sneezing or coughing.
> the unique and unprecedented come-from-the-bottom format of zshield flex does not limit head movement or visibility
> the zshield flex is practically invisible when worn.
> the zshield flex offers different sizes—small and large neck mounts, visors that curves around the face all the way to the ears, and a kid’s size for returning school children.
[ zverse ], the manufacturer of the zshield, also offers a standard face shield for front-line healthcare workers.
[ scott henderson ] is among the top industrial designers working in america today. scott’s product designs for his global fortune 500 client base have become best selling industry disruptors.
scott’s point of view is that design should achieve “clever-freshness”. “clever” is ingenuity combined with a sense of wit. “freshness”, in turn, evokes feelings of health and happiness – lightness as opposed to burden – a feeling of rebirth and an inspiration to move forward.
aside from his world-renown and award-winning work in industrial design, scott is a consistent generator of unique intellectual property, as evidenced by his portfolio of over 50 patents in the u.s. and europe for novel innovations in fields as diverse as housewares and home accessories to consumer medical products and electronics.
scott’s work is included in the permanent collection of the brooklyn museum, the cooper hewitt smithsonian national design museum and the alessi museum, and many of scott’s products have been sold at the moma design store. scott is a sought after presenter on the topic of design, both nationally and internationally.
over 90% of scott’s projects have been mass-produced, a track record few designers can claim. more to the point, products scott has designed have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for his clients. indeed, many of scott henderson’s products have become industry best sellers.
