2. INTRO AND USER
ORIGINAL PRODUCT
The Easton Natural is the flagship helmet for Easton baseball.
Its iconic silhouette has driven it to be the best selling
helmet Easton has ever made.
The new natural must not only work with but
elevate the newfound Easton baseball
design language.
LANGUAGE
The helmet will be used by players from little
league to college ball.
USER
Z5 BATTER HELMET
3. INITIAL IDEATION
Initially I explored everything from external fit systems to
collapsable consutruction in order to ensure the perfect
fit and minimal weight for the athlete.
Z5 BATTER HELMET
INITIAL IDEATION
Initially I explored everything from external fit systems to
collapsable construction in order to ensure the perfect
fit and minimal weight for the athlete.
4. Z5 BATTER HELMET
SILHOUETTE STUDY
I conducted a silhouette study in order to see where
the outermost edges of our helmets lie when compared to our
competitors. This will help us define shell and foam thicknesses.
DESIGN DIRECTION
I took a lot of inspiration from the Porsche 911
redesign in order to “revitalize” the old helmet design.
competitor 1
competitor 2
competitor 3
competitor 4
competitor 5
competitor 6
competitor 7
competitor 8
existing helmet
competitor 9
intended Silhouette
competitor 10
5. Z5 BATTER HELMET
PROCESS
Sketches, taped samples and foam half scales were all
necessary to find the appropriate proportions for the
features of the helmet.
6. Z5 BATTER HELMET
FINAL DIRECTION
After much deliberation the final direction was set.
The above features mark the evolution from the
previous design.
VENT HIGHARCHY PORSCHE COMPARISON
VENT HIERARCHY
The main vent weights were
exaggerated in order to communicate
the main gesture of the helmet concisely.
RHYTHM
The vent bone lines flow freely into
each other taking the eye all around
the helmet
MOLDED DETAILS
Due to cost we were not able to afford any
external trim so I added branding detail to
the tool itself.
DUAL DENSITY FOAM
The helmet interior energy management
system consists of two different density foams
optimized to absorb energy in each impact zone.
7. Z5 BATTER HELMET
CLAY
I carved a clay “half master” to further refine the curvatures and radii of the design.
The half master was scanned and turned into CAD for tooling.
8. Z5 BATTER HELMET
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
At the 2014 Little League World Series the Z5 stole the show.
