The ICON Airmada Medicine Man Helmet
We appreciate layers of synthetic stuff that lessen the impact between skulls and things that are harder than skulls. At ICON Motosports, there’s some impressive tech goin’ on within the structure of their helmets, but they value a killer facade, too. So do we. Read how we helped design an aggressive skin for their beautifully-sculpted Airmada shell. Meet the recently launched Medicine Man…
The assignment rolled in to the Wilkinson Bros studio from Justin, one of the creative minds at ICON, steering us in a direction of 70s pinstriping and airbrush-through-lace techniques. It needed to look fast; a modern slant on an old-school style. There would also be a skeletal element to incorporate into the design, which was conceived by Oakland illustrator and musician, Mike Sutfin.
There’s quite a bit of back-n-forth between ICON and us, a healthy collaboration when dialing in colors, graphic elements and details. We strategically angled each line to create a lurch-forward stance and embedded Sutfin’s hand-drawn elements in deep layers of lace.
The helmet comes in two colorways: an in-yer-face orange n’ black or an ominous greyscale. Choose wisely (or get both and choose according to your mood at time of ride). This Airmada shell is made to comfortably fit a ‘long oval’ noggin and the interior is made of the ever-so comfy, moisture-wicking HydraDry material (removable and washable). It’s shipped with the clear lens, but we quickly snapped on the dark smoke lens. Either way, those fog-free lenses live up to their claims.
I know what you’re thinking, “Where can I buy one of these fab, racy lids?” Of course, supporting your local brick-n-mortar motorcycle shop is always nice. If they don’t happen to carry the ICON Airmada Medicine Man, well, maybe they can order it right away.
Or, you can do what we did. We narcissistically added a second one to our collection by ordering it online through Revzilla. We hadn’t used those guys until recently and the experience has been great. It was quick and the package contained stickers and other extries.
This was a fun project for us. It’s neat to create 2D graphics on a 3D surface while creatively working around vents and tabs. Our late-in-the-game role is miniscule compared to ICON’s initial industrial design effort of concepting and creating the Airmada shell itself. It’s a work of art even in its one-color variation (which is also available in 6 different solids, folks). There’s also a painstaking process of getting our files to properly translate onto the helmet that is carefully overseen and manipulated by the ICON team.
Flashback: We were also fortunate to have breathed life into another previous ICON helmet. Check out the psychedelic splendor of the Alliance SSR Headtrip below. Even further below, you can get a sense of how we start our illustration projects with good ol’ pencil and paper. (Cue: ‘Incense and Peppermints’)
A big thanks to ICON, for letting us collab with them on these great projects. Keep an eye out for other creative motorsports and motorcycle marketing projects from Wilkinson Bros in the future. We love combining our trade and passion for motorcycles, then showing it off a li’l bit. 🙂
