 Target's ClearRx When Deborah Adler was a MFA student at SVA, she studied a variety of prescription bottles as part of her thesis project. She concluded that the round, amber bottle design was not user friendly. It didn't help users understand how to take their medication. She also concluded that the information is inconsistent across kinds of medicines. As a solution to the problem, she arrived at SafeRx.
It all started when Adler's grandmother accidently swallowed pills meant for her grandfather. To avoid such scenarios in the future, she decided to design the bottle herself. She focused on label, color-coding and information. Target took keen interest in Adler's concept. In collaboration with Klaus Rosburg, a Target industrial designer, she took the concept to the shelves. The packaging design ClearRx is patented.
The result was a more intuitive pill bottle and information system. The label is now easy to read. The information card is removable. The color-coded rings helps easy identification. The redesigned warning icons make sense. The system's primary goal is to clearly present important information to the patient.
With Rosburg, she worked on the shape of the bottle. Adler originally worked on a bottle design that looked like a semi circle, but later it was rejected for the difficulties it presented in fitting a child-proof cap. Rosburg eventually designed an upside-down bottle that has two flat sides and rests upon its cap. Rosburg also helped Adler refine her color-coding concept aimed at making it easier for different family members to keep track of their medicines. The name of the drug appears prominently on the spine, and a card with information about side effects slips into a slot aimed at keeping it with the pills. Target is already manufacturing the bottles in its signature red.
It is an irony, that in an industry where information is key, it was ignored until now. The ClearRx bottle was also a part of the MOMA SAFE exhibit. Hopefully there will be more such designs in the future.
Do check this link, which kind of summarizes Target's design perspectives.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
 NuDrive in use NuDrive is the world's first lever-drive propulsion accessory for manual wheelchairs. The basis of this design was to increase independence for millions of wheelchair users, with greater ease and less strain on the body. Apparently, it reduces the force needed to self-propel by up to 40%. This product acknowledges the fact that physical restrictions can be seen as creative challenges.
The user can propel themselves both forwards and backwards, maneuver and brake by pushing the levers. There is no need to spin the wheel rims by hand. This improves both posture and shifts the load on the shoulders. It is hygenic. Hands would stay warm and dry and won't come into contact with the usual dirt from the pavement. It is even suitable for users suffering from arthritis as it requires no fingers or hand dexterity. NuDrive is designed so that it fits almost any manual wheelchair with 24 inch metal spoked wheels in seconds.
Users who have owned NuDrive have had positive reactions. It is a lot easier to get up slopes, posture is usually straight and there is much less strain. The power behind each stroke is maximized. It has also helped tackle more difficult or uneven terrains. Now with NuDrive, the user can brake easily and avoid nasty clashes.
The system was conceived by Robert Orford when he was just 19. Robert came up with this idea while doing work with a disability group. He was encouraged by the fact that his idea could be useful when he saw his friend Emily using it. He won the Young Designer of the Year Award for his design. He founded Pure Global Ltd when he was 20. He has since raised more than £1 million to develop NuDrive and bring it to market. He developed the system in association with London Associates and the Aspire Centre for Disability Sciences at the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital. It costs £349.
If you are interested in knowing how it works, read this paper.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
 Wppt Contraceptives If a contraceptive is named Wptt, one wonders who would be buying it. But it sells in China. For the first time I see a communication that radically shifts its focus from the cliched messages such as pleasure, safety and fear.
I always come back to wit in graphic design and how important it is to attain a witty communicative messages. The packaging of Wptt condoms have portraits of national leaders who have an image of trouble makers. And it carries a message, "Such tragedy could have been easily avoided." The Wptt packaging is both loved and hated. Loved because of its novelty and hated because one of the portraits used is of Mao. The other portraits are of Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussain and Geroge W Bush.
Although the intention was to communicate that having sex without a condom can have painful consequences, the trouble maker approach works. After the new packaging was introduced, more than one lakh people have bought the condoms and the sales increased by more than 20%. The packaging also won a Yellow Pencil in the 2009 D&AD awards.
What I acknowledge here is the wholeheartedness of taking an idea forward even it it is not what one would expect it to look like. Graphically, it is engaging and many buyers may be saving it because they like the packaging a lot.
Do see the credits here on D&AD site. You should also see this, a coin design project, which one a Black Pencil. Brilliant.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
Today we are covering something that many may feel does not relate directly to design, but design can learn lessons from the small and peaceful country of Costa Rica, a country in Central America, and the first in the world to abolish its standing army.
One person’s intention can change the way thousands of others live. In 1948, after just five weeks of civil war, the leader, Jose Figueres, announced, “'The Regular Army of Costa Rica today gives the key to its military base to the schools ... The Government hereby declares the National Army officially abolished.” As a result, the nation’s resources were transferred into more worthy causes; namely, the improvement of healthcare and education. The country’s military bases became schools. Figueres also banned the Communist Party, gave women the right to vote, granted black immigrants full citizenship, and established a presidential term limit. Figueres nationalized the banks in order to promote economic diversity and eliminate coffee grower's control over the banking system. For decades, the elite coffee growers had dominated Costa Rican society and economy. Figueres also created The Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Today Costa Rica has the highest standard of living in Central and South America. There is ‘cradle to the grave’ healthcare for all Costa Ricans, with special services for women, children and seniors. Costa Rica has the second highest literacy rate of 96%, in Latin and South America, and an average life expectancy of more than 75 years. Costa Rica has no enemies or terrorism, and the last elections saw a voter turnout of 90%, a lot more than what most countries can boast of.
Costa Rica’s neighbours are struggling with civil war, military repression and poverty. Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, who was President of Costa Rica from 1986-1990, and 2006 to present, advocates education and vehemently believes too many countries sacrifice education to fund armies. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his work to establish peace and democracy in the region.
Costa Rica translates as ‘rich coast’, and the nation lives up to its name. It is near the top in the Human Developmental Index, the Environmental Performance Index, the Happy Planet Index, and is also the greenest country in the world. Former President Rodrigo Carazo Odio comments that, "Costa Ricans have cultivated a civilized spirit, a spirit opposed to militarization and violence. Armed with this spirit, the people are capable of seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts and respecting the rights of others." He states that this respect has survived and flourished because "education has fostered such an attitude and because in the absence of [military] weapons with which to impose an idea, the only weapon left is reason."
Why are we covering the country of Costa Rica today, on a site called ‘design is in’? Well, because in some ways the ‘design’ of countries, institutes, states and systems, are of prime importance. Innovation in leadership is the need of the hour. Creativity, change, and innovation is most needed in governance. Design is creating holistic solutions, not short term arrangements that create a new problem in place of the old one. Design is also about having the vision to take a bold step, even if it means doing something no one has done before, trading immediate economic gain, and power domination for more meaningful benefits, for countless future generations.
Hats off to you Costa Rica, hope there are more courageous enough to go your way.
By Armeen Kapadia
A. Bamublance Trailer Frame — bamboo
1. Hitch — bamboo and nylon webbing
2. Splash Guard — used truck tarp
3. Mountain Bike Tires & Dropout — welded metal
4. Disc reflectors — small plastic reflectors
5. Wheel Guard — used truck tarp
B. Bambulance Stretcher Frame — bamboo
6. Integrated Metal Foot & Stretcher Frame Spreader — welded metal
7. Ergonomic Hand-holds — bamboo and used truck tarp
8. Stretcher Bed & Indexing stripe — used truck tarp
9. Safety Belt — nylon webbing
Africa sees thousands of people die from diseases, serious illnesses and injuries because they have no access to emergency healthcare. Bambulance designed by a Canadian charity Design For Development (DFD) Society is a low-cost, practical and sustainable solution to transport victims during crisis.
Using bamboo, which is inexpensive, lightweight and strong, minimizes costs since it is locally available in many regions of Africa. The prototype will be designed at the Emily Carr Institute and DFD in Vancouver. Bambulance will be manufactured locally by two Nairobi based organizations and five community-based health organizations will participate in training, monitoring and evaluation.
DFD's aim is to reduce poverty and increase community self-reliance through demonstrated and advocated use of the design process. Bambulace is an emergency medical transportation device (EMTD) and its benefits are improved speed and comfort over options that are currently available, while maintaining cost efficiency and sustainability. It can easily transport patients who weigh less than 250 pounds. It was started to improve access to health services, introduce bamboo as an alternative material, generate income among HIV and AIDs affected and promote design as a problem-solving tool.
Bambulance was designed by two Emily Carr design students — Philippa Mennell and Chris Ryan. Currently the project is in need of donations.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
H2Zero is a viable and efficient waterless urinal produced by Caroma. It operates utilizing a new cartridge technology that incorporates Bio Seal, which is a one-way air tight valve to seal the cartridge from the drainage system and against back-pressure situations.
The Bio Fresh deodorizing block, also housed within the cartridge, is activated during use, releasing a pleasant fragrance into the bathroom. The Bio Seal lasts up to 10,000 uses.
H2Zero is an outcome of number of years of research and trials. The waterless cartridge can be removed and replaced. The urinal is world's most advanced water-saving design. This video above demonstrates how it works.
With its design, H2Zero addresses key challengs that have been associated with waterless urinals, including performance, operation, odor management, durability and waste build-up.
If you are interested in reading a three page technical manual go ahead and click here.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
 Linda from malariamustgo.com Malaria is one of the major killers worldwide, with around 40% of the world’s population affected, and every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. With a few simple measures, the disease can be prevented. Two students of the Royal College of Art’s Industrial Engineering programme, Katie Taylor and Andrew Stordy, have with come up two affordable products that help prevent malaria.
The two products are one that attracts and one that repels mosquitoes, Linda and the Koroboi Lamp respectively. Linda uses the most simple of everyday things, your smelly socks, that you have been wearing all day, and charcoal to attract and capture mosquitoes. At the base of the lamp charcoal is burnt to create carbon dioxide that then rises up to the top part where the sock is inserted. The combination of these two odors, carbon dioxide and the bacteria that live on human feet attract mosquitoes. The netting is impregnated with an insecticide, which kills the mosquitoes as soon as they land. There were many challenges while designing this product, which you can read about here. Linda can be used outside the house to attract the mosquitoes away from people. If lit before going to sleep, it can give a good night’s rest till the early hours of the morning.
The Koroboi Lamp was developed in Burundi with a local tinsmith. They can be filled with eucalyptus oil, or any other mosquito-repelling oil that acts as a mosquito repellent as it is vaporized. The Malaria Must Go project is a result of grass root level research, which included a trip to Tanzania, and user-centered design, with a focus on people’s attitudes and opinions. Malaria is linked to the cycle of poverty, so it was important that the product be locally made, and give employment to local people. Linda is being manufactured in a factory close to the users, and local artisans make the Koroboi Lamp.
The work has earned Stordy both an IDEA Gold award and a 2008 Dyson fellowship, among others. A strong sense of social responsibility, if inculcated at the student level, can have wide repercussions. Understanding of the local scenario is of prime importance, as good design exists in a context, and not in isolation. As Stordy says on his site, “The solutions we developed were generated by completely immersing ourselves in the problem at hand.”
Linda and the Koroboi Lamp, have a bright future, as they are designs that fulfill a very human need.
By Armeen Kapadia
 PlayPump in action Children have abundant energy. And it seems like someone is literally tapping into it. The PlayPump system is a genius idea. While children use the merry-go-around, clean water is pumped from underground to a water-tank. Even better, the surface of the water-tank is leased as billboards for advertisements and social messages.
Just to be very sure of the problem it is solving, here are some of the facts:
1. More than one billion people do not have access to clean water
2. On an average, 6,000 people die everyday because of water-related diseases
3. Around 40 billion hours of time is spent fetching water, mostly by women and children.
PlayPump as a system is lifting people out of poverty. PlayPump with its system:
1. Provides access to safe, clean drinking water
2. Improves sanitation and hygiene
3. Reduces barriers to education
4. Promotes play
5. Increases opportunities for women and girls
6. Spurs economic development
7. Helps reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS
The New York Times Editorial puts the effect of PlayPumps succinctly, "South Africa has already installed 500 PlayPumps, which are more efficient, easier to use, and cheaper to run than wells with hand pumps."
If you want to know more about how it works, click here.
By Sanjay Basavaraju
In the developing world, clean drinking water is a luxury. More than one billion people worldwide are without access to safe drinking water. Each day, around six thousand people, mainly children die from water borne diseases. Water is life, and clean drinking water could transform the way people live. It could save lives, keep families healthy and working, help keep children in school, reduce the need for women to walk miles for water, and is the first and most basic step of poverty alleviation.
An invention of Vestergaard Frandsen called LifeStraw, may be the first major step in providing millions of people with this most essential resource. It is a 25cm plastic straw, which is a low-cost water purification system. It does not need electricity, has no removable parts, and positive test results have been achieved on tap, turbid and saline water against common waterborne bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, Enterococcus and Staphylococcu. It has proven to be effective against waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea, and removes particles as small as fifteen microns. It has a lifetime of 700 litres, which is around one year's water consumption of the average person. Like any straw, one simply has to suck water through it, which even a child can do, and the germs are removed inside its plastic body.
LifeStraw is priced at around $3.50 (£1.85) a straw. A spokesman for UK charity WaterAid, which works to supply clean water and sanitation in 17 of the world's poorest countries, condemned the device as overly expensive, and said it was not a real solution. This is like telling a drowning man that you won't throw him a life-jacket because a ship 3000 miles off is coming to save him. If one considers the lives that LifeStraw can save, even if it is a so-called 'short-term' solution, then it is commendable. The 'long-term solution' is total eradication of poverty, which if not utopian, is definitely a long way off. If we sit around waiting for that solution to strike, millions will continue to die for lack of clean water, and it is exactly this need that LifeStraw fills. It takes years for governments and international organisations to provide drinking water infrastructure to vast areas of the developing world. Till they achieve their goals, LifeStraw can help thousands of thirsty people.
LifeStraw is protecting users from the deadly Guinea Worm disease. Besides LifeStraw, Vestergaard Frandsen also manufactures ZeroFly, the insecticide-incorporated plastic sheeting, which not only creates shelter for displaced people, but also prevents diseases like malaria. They also have PermaNet, a long-lasting insecticidal net that also helps prevent malaria. This is no small feat considering 40% of the world's population are at risk of malaria. PermaNet is a ready to use fabric, containing insecticide, that stays intact even after several washes, and is safe for children and pregnant women to use.
A straw, a plastic sheet , and a net were just ordinary items used by the poorest family in any developing country. Vestergaard Frandsen has transformed them into LifeStraw, ZeroFly and PermaNet, designs for the other 90%.
Companies that design for the most basic needs of people, are the companies of the future.
By Armeen Kapadia and Sanjay Basavaraju
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