Bolin Webb.
Turning the daily shave into a premium ritual.
Derrick Webb, founder of Bolin Webb, spotted a gap in a male grooming market stuck between cheap FMCG razors and overpriced products that hadn't changed in years. He came to WMP to bring male grooming into the 21st century: a range of highly aspirational, contemporary products, appealing to men and to the women who often buy for them. The result is a multi award-winning range that's redefined the category.
Sectors
Expertise
Background.
Designing for a market that had been ignored for too long.
Bolin Webb was founded by Derrick Webb in 2009, and launched at London's Pulse Trade Show in 2011 with Harrods as its first major retail partner.
Male grooming had long been an overlooked area of design: products tended to be either low-value FMCG items or overpriced traditional products that hadn't changed functionally or aesthetically in years. The brief was to create a range of highly aspirational, contemporary products that would appeal not only to men, but to the women likely to purchase them too.
The Solution.
A full development, from concept to a multi award-winning ecosystem.
Taking design cues from automotive design, not grooming.
The product range takes its form inspiration from high-end automotive design, underpinned by premium materials and automotive-grade finishing that hugely elevate the value of the products. Every touchpoint of the user experience was considered, always focused on adding value through innovative ideas and a very high level of attention to detail.
Testing for weight, comfort and balance in the hand.
We carried out a thorough programme of prototyping and testing to identify optimum weights, and to refine comfort and balance in the hand.
Building in enough variety to win premium retail partners.
The ability to create multiple colour and finish variations has been key to generating successful high-end retail partnerships, giving retailers a range that felt considered rather than one-size-fits-all.
Controlling every supplier to hit a very high tolerance spec.
To design something beautiful is one thing, but for a product to command a high retail price, it also needs to feel premium and stand the test of time. Our job was to control every part across multiple specialist suppliers to meet a very high tolerance specification. All Bolin Webb products undergo stringent quality control and come with a two-year guarantee, and WMP helped source suppliers and managed the detailed liaison process through to mass production.
Ready to make brave ideas real?
Designing the Razor Case around a single material, in a single tool.
The goal was a simple product that was totally fit for purpose: flexible enough to perfectly encase both the R1 and X1 razors, made from materials that are robust, tactile, protective and non-absorbent, since the razor is often put away still wet. Like every Bolin Webb product, it needed to feel innovative, contemporary and have a sense of movement and poise, so we set out to find an elegant solution made from a single material in a single tool, with no superfluous details. Like most simple designs, the final product came from several rounds of development and prototyping, simplifying and refining it each time until it looked and performed exactly as it should.
The impact.
Red Dot's 'Best of the Best', and real retail traction to match.
The Bolin Webb Razor Case won Germany's Red Dot 'Best of the Best' 2017, the highest distinction in the Red Dot Product Design awards: only 100 of the 5,500 entries received it that year. The X1 razor and magnetic stand also won Germany's iF product design award. Backed by that recognition and a range of colour and finish options, Bolin Webb built a strong retail presence starting with Harrods, its first major partner after launching at London's Pulse Trade Show in 2011.
