Beqlear
Air Purifier
Beqlear started with a simple problem: I wanted an air purifier that addressed the reality of living with air pollution in China without looking like a piece of industrial equipment.
I explored the idea of treating the purifier more like a piece of furniture than an appliance. Working with an electrical engineer and an architect, I developed the product concept across industrial design, branding and electronics, building early functional prototypes to explore both the technology and the physical experience.
The project turned a personal need into a complete product concept, from the brand and form through to the underlying electronics and functional prototype.
I didn’t want an air purifier
I needed one, but I didn’t want another machine sitting in my living room.
So I treated it like furniture
Once I stopped thinking about it as an appliance, the shape, materials and controls started to make much more sense.
That also changed the engineering
If it sits in the middle of a room, air can’t just come in from one side. The 360° airflow became part of the form.
Make the vent disappear
The air still has to get in somehow. I wanted the intake to feel like part of the object, not a technical feature stuck onto it.
Make sure it can actually work
A nice 3D model is easy. Getting the fan, electronics, controls and housing to work together was the more interesting part.
Keep the controls simple
There are only a few things you actually need to control. One physical dial was enough.
The technology is still useful
The sensor knows what the air is doing, and the app lets you see it without turning the product itself into a screen.
Give it some personality
If you’re going to live with something every day, you should have some choice in what it looks like.
Put it in a home
The product only really made sense when it was sitting next to the things it was designed to live with.
Don’t forget the annoying bit
Nobody likes changing filters. Making that easy is part of designing the product.
The same idea can take different forms
Once the basic product worked, I could explore what the same platform might look like in a different context.
Make the brand part of the object
I designed the identity at the same time as the product. They should feel like they came from the same idea.
At some point you have to build it
The prototypes were where all the nice ideas had to survive contact with reality.