Housewares Design Awards

2005 Best in Category: Personal Care/Health Care and Garment Care Electrics

Zadro Products

Z’Fogless Lighted Fog Free Shower Mirror with Digital Clock

In the shower and makeup mirror categories, design is the primary way one company can differentiate its products.

Shower mirrors, which are designed primarily for men who shave in the shower, have a specific focus, and companies face limitations in terms of how far they can push the envelope in terms of design of these products.

In the case of Zadro Products’ Z’Fogless Lighted Fog-Free Shower Mirror With Digital Clock, the company wanted to design the item based on consumer input, which it managed to obtain by speaking with the specialty retailers that distribute its products.

“We found out what consumers were asking for in a shower mirror,” said Stephen J. Ritch, vp/sales and marketing at Zadro.

As it turned out, consumers were very specific regarding what they wanted in a shower mirror. They wanted it to have a light. They wanted it to be slim and sleek in design, and in a neutral color.

Consumers wanted a light on their shower mirror so they could see their faces better while shaving.

Adding a layer of complexity to designing the shower mirror is the fact that, while men are the primary end users of these products, females usually make the actual purchase. Zadro had to create a product that had what men wanted it to have, but that was also attractive enough to drive a woman to purchase it.

Slim & Sleek

Females historically have been complaining that shower mirrors on the market are “big and clunky,” Ritch said.

To remedy this, Zadro sought to create a product that was slim and sleek in design. The product’s color is bronze metal “to give it more of an updated, contemporary look,” Ritch said, adding, “It is also fairly neutral.”

Neutral colors are important because the mirrors must coordinate with the rest of the bathroom, which itself is often white, beige or neutral in terms of color.

Other features that were added to the mirror in an effort to broaden interest in the product category included a clock and an automatic shutoff.

“When you use the light as a countdown timer, it helps you pace yourself in the morning,” Ritch commented.

Storage of the razor blade also was an issue among shower mirror purchasers, so Zadro designed the unit to have a pull-out handle from which the razor can be easily hung.

As with Zadro’s other products, company president Zlatko Zadro designed the product himself, sketching it out on paper and then bringing it to a design company. “We do the concept here [inhouse],” said Ritch.

Completing the product is the inclusion of Zadro’s patented fog-free technology.

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