In partnership with one of the world's most innovative product design studios, Coway's new Icon Air Purifier was designed to bring wellness, address preventative health, and support healthy-minded individuals by helping to control air quality in homes, tight spaces, or spaces with debris and poor air circulation. Delivering an air purifier that is designed to elegantly fit into any home was critical to its product differentiation and marketability.

Icon redefines the air purifier category by blending a high-grade wellness device with a furniture philosophy. The design team defined three overarching principles to drive the design of the Icon Air Purifier. Transparency: Communication with the customer base is critical. The status of the air purifier needs to be easily communicated in many that distill the complex language down to a more straightforward messaging system. Clarity and clean data for the user allow them to best understand the air purifier's benefits. Intuitive Intelligence: Changing out the filters need to be an easier process, and the ability the have advanced controls remotely and/or via Wi-Fi is very much needed. Expressing the air purifier's functionality through emotionally intelligent details echoes the legacy of both the brand and the design studio's ethos. Lifestyle Oriented: To be marketable, an air filter must ultimately fit into the home without being disruptive. A design—with form balanced form and details—that elegantly and unobtrusively allows the product to coexist is crucial.

The design studio, alongside Coway's client team, both fundamentally believe that breathing clean air is a basic human right—which is why seeking to break new ground with innovative technology and appropriate design to deliver cleaner, healthier air at home, work, and during leisure lies at the center of the Icon air purifier. The health effects of air pollution remain a public health concern worldwide. Our design for the Icon air purifier provides a design-forward solution to an otherwise mainly utilitarian product. Any medical and health-conscious users can feature this device in their homes without feeling like it should be hidden. The air purifier also provides Wi-Fi connectivity for more usability and functionality, as well as allowing users to control the air purifier from a smartphone. Additional features include a built-in, inset table for iPhone charging or resting small items. The addition of remote, user-control via the mobile app also elevates its overall offerings. The app gives users a status report on the current air quality, outside air quality based on location, and the current state of its filters. The app can also give users a percentage of the remaining lifecycle and let you know when cleaning or replacement is required.

We are proud to present the new Icon air purifier, designed with internationally renowned life care science company Coway. The Icon aims to improve human health, as both the short and long-term effects of poor air quality on public health are of major global concern. Pollutants from the outdoors; tobacco smoke and cooking; gases from cleaning products and building materials; and dust, mites, mold, and pet dander all impact indoor air quality. Coway's air-purifiers have consistently been recognized as best in class, capturing a remarkable 99.9% of ultrafine dust and odors and taking top spot in reviews from The New York Times tech review site Wirecutter multiple times.

The positive response from consumers and technical success of its predecessors informed fuseproject's approach to refining the air purifier's design and integration into the home, performance, and user experience. The Icon air purifier's design ethos centers around improving health while serving as a beautiful and practical object in the home. In contrast to the utilitarian and plastic category, our design fits in a room discreetly and elegantly while delivering top performance that is both powerful and quiet.

The Icon follows Coway's previous models—both of which fuseproject designed: the Airmega 400 and Captain. Rather than imposing a boxy or round plastic object that stands out as utilitarian technology, the Icon uses new geometry that allows the air purifier to sit along a wall, further blending smart technology into the home environment. We worked with Coway to develop a smaller and flatter form factor that gives the air purifier a much lower profile and flexibility in room placement. The rectangular configuration minimizes the size impact while appearing as a small commode or side table at first glance. To create an even more seamless integration into the living space, the Icon's design features include invisible LED lights, neutral color palette options, and dual functionality like wireless charging. The refined materials and wood finish, neutral color palette textiles, furniture feet, and simple details add beauty to any home or workplace.

Analyzing consumer feedback from the Airmega 400 model, the design team arrived at several guiding principles for the Icon edition:

Transparency: Clear communication to the user is key. The air purifier's UX status was designed through straight-forward messaging that lights up to the touch through the top surface, and then disappears shortly after. We designed the subtle touch surface to display a lightweight font and data as an easy way to understand the air purifier's benefits and efficacy. Additionally, mood lighting can be set with different colors.

Intuitive Intelligence: Changing out the filters needed to be an easier process, and consumers wanted more advanced controls that could be operated remotely and/or via Wi-Fi. Expressing the air purifier's functionality through emotionally intelligent details, mechanical connections and simple snaps echo the legacy of both Coway's and fuseproject's ethos.

Lifestyle Oriented: The design is balanced and elevated on elegant legs, which complements any space, large or small, and even adds a note of modern interest. People with specific medical needs, as well as health-conscious users, can feature this device proudly and stylistically in their homes. In addition, the Icon's top surface functions as a built-in wireless charging area for phones and other devices, which makes it a practical addition to any room.

Designed in two palettes of soft, neutral gray, and pink tones, the Icon raises the standard for products typically designed for utilitarian purposes. Its thoughtfully chosen, quality materials, and finish make this device suitable for almost any environment, including office spaces and residential homes, as well as hospitality venues.

The Icon's additional features include Wi-Fi connectivity and a smartphone app to control the device's settings from anywhere. The app gives users a status report on the current indoor and outdoor air quality based on the Icon's location, so they can make adjustments before returning home. Moreover, the app can also update users on the current state of the Icon's filters, its percentage of the remaining lifecycle, and when cleaning or replacement is required.