patrick schuur channels dieter rams to redesign classic shaving razor

patrick schuur channels dieter rams to redesign classic shaving razor
(above) starting out, the razor redesign had four main requirements
all images © 3D hubs

after becoming increasingly concerned by the state of design around him in the early 1980s – or what he called ‘an impenetrable confusion of forms, colors and noises’ – industrial designer dieter rams established for himself what is now known as the ten principles of good design. these design principles – which have since been used by many companies including apple – include ‘good design makes a product understandable’ and ‘good design is long-lasting’, among others.

more recently, dutch industrial designer patrick schuur put these ten principles into context when he set out to redesign the classic men’s razor for a client who wanted to create a no-nonsense wet shaving system that merges rituals of the past with the comforts provided by today’s manufacturing capabilities. starting with four main requirements for the finished product – comfort, sustainability, beauty and value – from RZR founders marco vermeer and remco smit, schuur dove head-first into bringing the next-generation razor concept to life with modern design and rapid prototyping processes.

comfort: create a classic razor shaver that will be as comfortable as modern shavers

‘when they first came to me in 2013, marco and remco were explicit that the shaver was as comfortable and safe as modern razors but had the style and substance of an old-fashioned razor,’ explains patrick. ‘additionally, they strongly believed that a razor should be able to last a lifetime and be passed from father to son while remaining cost effective to both manufacture and maintain – like an original safety razor design but in a modern package.’

to kick off the design process, patrick worked through some quick 2D sketches with marco and remco before jumping into solidworks to work with his ideas in 3D. along the way, he used luxion keyshot to create lifelike visualizations early in the process to ensure that the models exuded the same qualities found in the old fashioned razor systems – before jumping into physical 3d printed prototypes.

beauty: the modern shaver’s shape and material had to radiate the style and simplicity of an old fashioned shaver

to create the final RZR prototypes before investing in the significantly more expensive production prototypes made from metal, patrick turned to the polyjet materials through the 3D hubs online 3D printing service, which paired him with a local 3D printing expert who was able to provide professional guidance with each iteration along the way.

‘the polyjet 3D prints gave us a really good idea about the size, fitting, look and feel of the final parts,’ adds patrick. ‘we were quite surprised when we got the aluminum cnc milled prototypes back and compared them to the original polyjet prototype samples – they were very close. needless to say, finding a local 3d printing expert through 3d hubs to help along the way proved to be invaluable’

sustainability: the shaver should be given from father to son and must last a lifetime; the blades should be metal only

after three years of prototyping, user testing and design tweaks, patrick, marco and remco finally arrived at the final rzr design in early 2016. designed to last a lifetime, the sturdy and minimal titanium razor system is free of moving parts commonly found in today’s disposable razors and marries modern comfort with the style, substance and durability of an old-fashioned safety razor.

value: the consumable of the shaver should be metal only and cost effective to produce

‘at RZR we wondered if it was possible to design and develop a no-nonsense wet shaving system with the beauty of the past and the comfort of today,’ adds the team, who recently launched the project on kickstarter. ‘after 3 years of research & development and extensive testing with 3D printed models we are now ready to begin manufacturing and help today’s men return to the traditional male shaving ritual.’

the blades consist of metal only and will get picked out by magnet in waste cycle and recycled

glued in razor blades from razors

before investing in getting aluminium CNC milled prototypes they decided to do a final check using 3D Hubs HD

they got the RZR printed using the polyjet process

designed to last a lifetime, the sturdy and minimal titanium razor system is free of moving parts 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: juliana neira | designboom