Brooklyn studio Good Thing and grooming brand Harry's have unveiled a collection of unusual shaving brushes, which include designs made from bobbly cast aluminium, towered stacks of magnets and a wobbly metal ball.

Good Thing and Harry's asked 13 emerging designers and studios to reimagine the handheld tool, which is used to lather soap and spread it evenly across the face before shaving a beard.

Presented at WantedDesign during this year's NYCxDesign festival, the A Brush With Design collection features a variety of shapes and materials.Each puts a new spin on the historic device, which has been traced back to decorative gold and ivory designs in the 1750s.

"As an ancient and often ceremonial tool, the brush has attracted the attention of designers throughout time," said Good Thing.

"Today's designers have engaged with the handheld brush with wide-ranging formal experimentation."

New York studio Chen Chen & Kai Williams responded to the brief by casting liquid aluminium around water-gel beads to create a blobby metal handle. The process takes cues from the studios' Liquid Metal Stools made for New York's Chamber gallery earlier this year.

Stacked magnetic circular wooden elements make up New York designer Pat Kim's tower-like structure, which is topped by the brush, while San Francisco design studio Branch Creative's brush slots into a green and white plastic, conical base.

This catches water residue, and also pulls apart to reveal extra storage space.

Washington-based Jonah Takagi pared back his design to a metal ball that wobbles in different directions before righting itself. A darker horizontal stripe in the hair bristles is intended to contrast the spherical handle.

Fredericks and Mae's interpretation is accompanied by a large volcanic pumice stone that hosts a moisturising balm, while Harry's own design team created a brush, bowl, and cover set made out of pink and green coloured glass.

Stockholm-based Studio E O produced a trio of colourful mouth-blown glass bases, and Singapore designer Gabriel Tan created a lava rock brush and bowl combo to offer an area for lathering up.

Visibility and Earnest Studio both made bases for its brushes, but one is in gunmetal, while the other comes in a lighter sandblasted solid aluminium.

Other pieces include a three curved wooden handles by Norma, a colourful clear acrylic set by Daniel Emma, and an "all-in-one shaving station" by MSDS complete with a pocket mirror.

A Brush With Design is on show at Terminal Stores in Manhattan as part of this year's WantedDesign, which closes today.

The trade show took place during NYCxDesign and was split across two venues, with the other location in Industry City in Brooklyn.

Good Thing, which was founded by Jamie Wolfond in 2014, also launched rugs, furniture and lights at International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which runs at the end of the citywide festival on 24 May 2017.

Earlier this year, the studio launched seven everyday tools for the home, including a dustpan and a tray with crinkled corners and a torch charged via USB.

Photography is by Caroline Tompkins.