You might have noticed an eye-catching bike helmet making the internet rounds recently. It looks like brown plastic hair sized up from a toy figurine to fit a full-size human head. At first glance, you probably thought it was modeled on the hair worn by Lego minifigs. The truth behind the prototype concept helmet is that it's designed to mimic Playmobil hair. Playmobil is a classic childhood toy series still in production today. Playmobil figures are taller than Lego minifigs and the toys are less about building and more about straight-up pretend play. The bike helmet, which was brought to our attention by Bored Panda, was originally created in 2015 as a collaboration between marketing agency DDB and design firm MOEF. The purpose of the project was to find a way to make helmets more appealing for kids. The creators took 3D scans of a Playmobil hair piece, scaled it up, printed it out and painted it brown. Padding and a chin strap finish out the design. The helmet is a one-off and is not available to buy.
Simon Higby, one of the helmet's creators, tweeted to both Lego and Playmobil on Monday asking which company would be the first to produce a real helmet based on the idea.The design is a lot of fun, but there may be some questions about the raised parts of the faux hair catching on pavement or other surfaces in case of an accident. If the helmet ever passes safety tests and goes into production, then our streets may one day be filled with biking Playmobil clones. The helmet was made with kids in mind, but there are plenty of adults who would like to wear one. Moto Z, this is your mission: Make Motorola relevant againCyclists are sometimes difficult to spot, but there’s no way you’ll be able to miss somebody wearing one of these bike helmets. After all, how many human LEGO figures do you see on the roads every day? We’re guessing not many. We tried it on a real person in PS, and it looks really great! Image credits: Tom Shaw Watch the video below for more info:
This is the LEGO minifig hair inspired bicycle helmet created by European creative agency DDB to get kids "excited about bicycle safety." I'm going to be honest, getting excited about any kind of safety is an uphill battle. Safety is inherently not exciting. Danger -- danger is where the thrills are at. My mom could buy me the coolest astronaut bike helmet and I'd still hide it in the garage before a bike ride. Hey you -- light my sweatshirt on fire and film me while I bomb this hill. Keep going for a video of the helmet's creation. Thanks to Pesche, who takes bicycle safety so seriously he installed a seatbelt. *bring bring* That was me ringing my bell. Meow Meow: Lady's Blouse With A Kitty Collar Apocalypse Ready: The Ronin Bulletproof Ballistic MaskWANT (Picture: Simon Higby) Giving a new meaning to the idea of helmet hair, we bring you the Playmobil hair bicycle helmet. You suddenly really want to ride a bike to work, don’t you? The picture of the helmet was shared on Imgur this weekend by user and everyone was in agreement – it’s awesome.
People wanted to know if it came in different shades and styles. There were quite a few requests for The Trump. But, mostly, people just wanted to know who they should give all their money to. Sadly, however, the helmet has turned out to be only a prototype at this stage. It was the brainchild of two DDB colleagues – Simon Higby from the Stockholm office and Clara Prior from Copenhagen – and formed part of their MBA thesis. To get more kids to wear bike helmets voluntarily, they came up with the novel idea of designing a helmet children would actually want to wear. They enlisted Danish design company MOEF to make a model for them last year. They took the head off one of their Playmobil figures, put it through a 3D scanner, played with the dimensions, did some colour-matching and, after all that, they had themselves a perfect plastic replica of Troy Bolton’s hair in High School Musical. Or Justin Bieber circa 2007. But, sadly, Simon and Clara didn’t get further than a prototype.
Asked if they were tempted to get someone to produce them, following the reaction online, Simon told Metro.co.uk: ‘I would love to do that. ‘We just don’t know who right now.’ MORE: Wearing a bike helmet reduces risk of serious head injury by almost 70%, says study MORE: Custom-made bike helmets are designed to look like shaved human heads Hopping on a pedal bike and cruising around town is a rite of passage for many children. But according to the Centers for Disease Control, less than half of riders from the ages of 5 to 14 wear a helmet. Advertising agency DBB and Danish design firm MOEF are looking to change that. They’ve come up with a prototype bicycle helmet designed to look like the distinctive plastic hair sported by LEGO figures, according to Bored Panda. The idea, according to DBB, is to create safety apparel that children will want to wear. (Considering the popularity of LEGO building among adults, they may want to consider larger sizes.)
For now, the helmet is just a prototype but co-designer Simon Higby is petitioning for LEGO to take a look at the viability of mass-producing the helmets. You can take a look at their entire design process below.NewsIt's the 'lego hair bike helmet' designed to motivate children to wear head protection every time they go for a rideThe prototype of the classic brown and shaggy bonce is on the market after statistics show that 44 per cent of all kids never wear a helmetA company has unveiled a Lego hair style cycle helmet to try and motivate children to wear them every time they go for a ride. Worrying statistics show that 44 per cent of all children do not wear a helmet, according to MOEF a Danish innovation company. So they decided to create a prototype of the classic brown and shaggy looking hair and make it into a unique cycle helmet, youngsters will want to wear. The helmet is the brainchild of Simon Higby and Clara Prior, two employees from the Stockholm and Copenhagen offices of worldwide advertising agency DDB, who enlisted the help of design company MOEF to bring the project to life.