IDMR / Work / Coraza
Project · Industrial · Trail Helmet Concept

Coraza.

An extended-coverage trail helmet that puts deformable structure where side impacts actually land. Hexagonal crush pods over the ears, a deep occipital wrap, an integrated rear lamp and clip-on eyewear — modelled in Rhinoceros in a single day and rendered in Light Tracer.

Year
2026One-day design sprint
Sector
IndustrialSports Protection · Concept
Scope
SoloForm · Packaging · CMF
Software
RhinocerosLight Tracer Render
About the project

Coverage without claustrophobia.

Coraza — Spanish for armour — is a trail helmet concept that asks how far coverage can be extended before a half-shell stops feeling like one. Trail riders take their hardest hits low: temples, ears, the base of the skull. Full-face lids answer that, but most riders won't wear one on an ordinary loop.

The answer here is a deep-coverage shell that wraps the occiput and the jawline, with hexagonal crush pods over the ears — sacrificial, energy-absorbing volumes that keep the ear ventilated and hearing open while putting deformable structure exactly where side impacts land. An integrated rear light sits flush in the lower shell, and the brow accepts clip-on eyewear so glasses stow without a strap fight.

Built in Rhinoceros in a single day — one continuous modelling sprint from blank file to finished surfaces — and rendered the same evening in Light Tracer. The point of the exercise was speed with discipline: every surface decision had to be made once, correctly, the first time.

Form & protection

Armour, ventilated.

The upper shell keeps the language of a classic trail lid — deep intake ports, a low brow, a short peak — while the lower jaw section reads as a separate, softer-touch material zone. The hex ear pods are the signature: a structural honeycomb worn on the outside, open at the centre so the rider keeps situational hearing.

LIGHT TRACER · STUDIO PAIR
Coraza trail helmet concept shown front and back on two mannequin heads, rear light glowing
Front & rear The full system worn: clip-on eyewear under the peak, hex ear pods, and the rear lamp glowing through the lower shell.
LIGHT TRACER · DETAIL
Coraza helmet rear three-quarter close-up showing hexagonal ear pod and tail light
Hex ear pod The crush structure up close — a hexagonal pod that absorbs side impacts while leaving the ear open to the air and to traffic.
LIGHT TRACER · STUDIO
Two Coraza helmets floating in studio light showing shell and strap architecture
Shell architecture The two-zone build read as objects — hard upper shell, deep soft-touch lower wrap, and the strap system growing out of the jaw line.
Pipeline · Summary

One day, one pass.

Rhinoceros — the entire helmet was surfaced in a single working day: primary shell and vent cuts in NURBS, the ear pods and jaw wrap in SubD, merged into one watertight visual model. No revision loops; the sprint format forces the proportion call to be right at sketch stage.

Light Tracer Render — a GPU path tracer used for all stills. The monochrome studio set, the soft gradient sweep and the emissive tail lamp were lit in one session, trading render-farm ceremony for immediacy.

Working on something similar?

If you're developing protective equipment or wearable hardware — from a one-day concept sprint to production-ready CAD — let's talk. Send a brief and we'll come back within two working days.

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