FEND | 2022

Designer: Robert Brunner, Emerson Holladay, Ammunition, LLC., San Francisco, California, USA
Manufacturer: Ursatec GmbH., Tholey, Germany

FEND is a therapeutic airway hydration platform aimed at improving breathing in a world of dry and dirty air. It is designed to hydrate, cleanse, and filter the air you breathe by targeting your upper airways with a proprietary mist.

The device’s beautiful geometry, small form-factor, and precision misting ability makes for a simple, inexpensive airway hygiene product to help the world breathe better.

FEND uses hydrating salts delivered in a specific droplet size, to reach further than traditional saline sprays. By precisely blending these salts with an ultra-fine mist that carries them throughout your upper airways and sinuses, FEND supports rehydration. And when inhaled through the nose, they help strengthen natural defenses against dirty air, by pulling in more water and enhancing your body’s ability to clean away airborne particles and environmental irritants.

To achieve this precise targeting and delivery, the FEND team used primary scientific research to drive mist and pump requirements on the engineering side. Similarly, the Ammunition team used design research, prototyping, and scale models to iteratively refine the ID concepts, then test and validate the physical product designs.

Influenced by conventions more typically associated with health and beauty products, FEND came together in a compact hourglass shape; a shape that could wrap the precisely engineered internal components in a sleek exterior geometry. In essence, a design that is easy to use with one hand, and small enough to carry in a pocket or bag throughout the day.

Though Ammunition was hired in large part to create an iconic industrial design for this product, in order to support these industrial design activities, Ammunition also produced other key tracks of work for FEND.

These included the initial product definition and positioning, followed by brand identity and product packaging. As a result, FEND’s new industrial design, brand strategy, visual identity, and packaging solutions reflect the clear, optimistic, and scientific nature of the company’s technology, messaging, and founding team.