A firm stand by Lyons Ames

Consultations with French sex experts, mounting of dildos and the design of a wooden penis – for presentation purposes only, you understand – are just some of the things designers at Lyons Ames have been getting up to. The consultancy has created Topaz, the first radical condom redesign for 50 years, according to partner Kerrin Lyons.

Topaz has a plastic applicator ring, enabling the user to apply it in one movement, and a snap-shut container for after-use. “You can dispose of it when you want to, so you can be in a hotel, at your aunt’s, anywhere,” says Lyons.

Innuendo was the norm during the design process, but was eventually discarded. “We had to take it seriously,” says Lyons. “It became pretty personal. We had to discuss how you would hold a penis so the product would adapt to the hand’s normal movements.”

The team created the wooden penis for the client presentation video, as nobody wanted to be the star. Male designers had to put it between their legs and try out Topaz, females experimented from other angles.

Topaz is set to “take the world by storm and change the way people make love”, according to its publicity blurb.

What a legacy for Lyons Ames.