The Vacuum Gets a Modern Makeover With Joseph Guerra’s Airsign

If you think vacuums suck (and not in the way they’re supposed to), you’re not alone. Joseph Guerra, founder and creative mind behind the award-winning design firm Guerra Office, is trying to change that. Launched today, Airsign is a new home appliance brand founded by Joseph and primed to shake up an industry historically dominated by clunky cleaners that are hard-to-store and visually unappealing. Born from Joseph’s own frustration with what was available on the market, the designer saw the opportunity to create his own vacuum—one that was made to be seen.

“I thought it was confusing that, for such a ubiquitous appliance, there wasn’t a user-friendly and built-to-last vacuum that looked as good as it works,” he says. With the modern consumer in mind, Joseph began to imagine what his dream vacuum would look like—taking into consideration a visually compelling design, but also one that was easy to use, worked well, and paid close attention to its environmental impact.

At first glance, the Airsign HEPA Vacuum may appear intimidating to some. The compact, canister-style vacuum sports an understated look that’s paradoxically bolder than its contemporaries: It has no overly tech-y appearance, exposed gears, or plastic faux-chrome finishes to suggest it’s meant to clean surfaces. In fact, the plastic semi-matte chassis actually looks more like a high-design suitcase than a traditional hoover. Ever-skeptical, I immediately found myself wondering if this vacuum was too good to be true. Could something that looked this good keep my floors in tip-top shape? I wasn’t completely sold yet but I was keen to investigate.

Available on Airsign’s website and priced at $295, the system consists of nine different components, including the vacuum itself: an aluminum wand, a handle, hose, tool holder, three different cleaning heads, and biodegradable dust bags. Besides the 100% recyclable aluminum wand (one of Joseph’s favorite elements) the vacuum is made from 20% recycled plastic and designed to be fully recycled at the end of its lifespan. Setting environmentally-conscious standards is something Joseph believes can’t be ignored. “As consumers embrace sustainability and demonstrate this in their purchase behavior, brands must transform and innovate their businesses in order to meet this need—and Airsign is no exception to this,” he explains.

Assembling the actual vacuum takes almost no time at all, and sliding dust bags out and in when you need to is also just as easy. I was immediately taken with how simple and user-friendly the vacuum was—and I appreciated the streamlined buttons for adjusting the suction power, retracting the power cord, and turning the vac on and off (though they do require more than a soft touch to get going). As soon as I switched it on, the suction power was evident, and though I had initially thought the floorhead’s lack of padding might be damaging to my floor, it actually proved to be deceptively gentle, while providing a close-contact clean that sucked up most debris in the first pass.