It was one of my final-year projects at university. We were all given a starting point, and mine was handheld appliances. I got infatuated with irons. It’s been the same shape for quite a while. I looked at the morning routine of people quite a lot. Females used hair dryers and hair straighteners to steam out a crease or iron a particular part of their clothing, like a collar or around the buttons. One day I was looking at all the research and noticed a photo I’d taken of my friend ironing a sleeve with a hair straightener. It was applying heat on both sides, and the whole thing was that you didn’t need an ironing board. I started trying it out, and the heat and pressure worked out well to straighten creases. The prototype has gotten a lot of attention. Ideally I’d love for it to be associated with a company like Braun (PG). But it takes a long time to get things to market with electronic goods. — Laura Nelson, independent designer
