Out-of-This-World Helmet Projects Will Brighten Up Your Day With Outrageous Designs

If you search the internet for "human head helmets," some of the results, besides videos showing proper helmet use, are the images you see in the gallery. Take a nice long look, and then list the ones you'd love to own and wear.

How did we get here? Well, as most riders know, helmets aren't just for keeping your grey matter intact but are often used as a statement to the world around you. We've all seen those cute motorcycle helmets with cat ears worn by some riders. Some folks take things further and wear helmets resembling cartoon and movie characters. In short, there's no shortage of ideas for brain bucket design.

The first designer to be explored here today is Igor Mitin with his FunHeads collection. His works were unleashed upon the world in 2011, and he even went so far as to win a Red Dot award. Why? Well, there is a style for just about anyone. From shaved heads to bowl-cut hair and even walnuts and melons, Mitin has explored all.

But, a couple of the concepts stand out more than others. They appeal to my odd sense of style and expression. First on my list is that magnificent brain! Yes, a true brain bucket and one that will undoubtedly affect all those you ride past. Imagine heading to a cafe on Saturday morning with this on your head and setting it down on the table as you order a cappuccino. Are brains not your cup of tea? How about a strawberry? Pumpkin? No, wait, the moon!

Up next, the only other designer I could track down, aside from Chinese manufacturers that can replicate anything, is Jyo John Mulloor, a mind from Dubai that has had his works featured in several publications before. Funny enough, his designs are some of the ones being counterfeited by oddball manufacturers.

Which designs is he responsible for? The ones shaped and inspired by human heads. It even looks like real models lent their domes for inspiration. The result is two collections, and the first is dubbed Custom Made Helmets (AKA Skullmet). Four styles of cranial armor are found in the first set, but recently, a new group has been unveiled, and it's on a whole new level.

Skullmet 2.0 is the name of the most recent collection, and if you did explore the gallery, you agree that these puppies are on a whole new level. Sure, we'll find a few simple noggins similar to the ones from his first batch, but, as I dove deeper, I noticed wilder and wilder concepts, some of which have got to be damn near impossible to bring to life.

For example, to create a helmet like the ones with hair, your production process must now include machinery that embeds hair into a skin-like or composite surface, the way Barbie Dolls are made. The only material I would ever use for the ears is silicon. I'm not going to lie, though; they look damn cool! Further down the 2.0 collection, things get wilder and wilder, introducing new features, like hats, piercings, and even mohawks.

All this looks amazing, but bringing something like this to life is challenging. For example, a helmet manufacturer must introduce new production stages and equipment to execute this. Then there's the matter of creating an accurate design and one that still serves the purpose of using a helmet in the first place, protection. While they look cool, they must keep your bits in place.

This leads to the next problem on the list, materials. What kind of materials can be used to make something like this? You can bet a wide range of composite materials and underlying shapes will still offer that protection. Still, the outer layers require materials that closely resemble the human body. We're looking at plastic or wig-like hair with a silicone skin base.

All this begs the question: How much would you be willing to drop on such a helmet design? I'd pay up to $1,000, maybe $1,500, for that brain-like bucket. But it better come with grooves and all and be tested to ensure I don't spill my real one all over the asphalt. One thing is for sure; the human-head ones must look really gnarly if ever scraped against the ground. You'd end up riding home looking like the Terminator.

Now, I did some digging to see if anything along these lines can be found, and it can. But again, it's only "along the lines," and the results are as low-budget as possible. Still, you should still wear a helmet while riding, no matter what it looks like. Be safe out there.