Being isolated from the world at home while trying to adapt to a sudden and drastic change in daily life can be difficult, especially when there is only one topic on everyone’s mind. Studio Bompas & Parr, in partnership with Design Museum in London, is inviting designers, including aspiring youngsters under 18, to participate in their “Fountain of Hygiene” sanitizer design competition. Winners will get displayed in the Design Museum, with successful projects auctioned off by Christie’s, where proceeds will benefit the British Red Cross.
The competition aims to “explore the aesthetic, functional, social, gestural, and experiential possibilities of enhanced hygiene,” with the hope that it will accelerate the adoption of new behaviors and the exploration of how people can safely return to the public realm.
They will judge submissions based on innovation, functionality, social impact and aesthetic across eight categories — industrial design, luxury design, London & Partners sustainable design, gesture & ritual, awareness and communication, child-directed design, hygiene innovation that goes beyond the sanitizer, and finally, “Cadet Designer,” for the under 18 crowd.
Hand sanitizer is among the products that continue to be in scant supply, although some manufacturers like beer makers and distillers have stopped producing their beverages to shore up supply. The Fountain of Hygiene competition challenges designers to rethink hand sanitizer in a post-pandemic world, one in which sanitation and cleanliness will likely remain front-of-mind for a long time to come.
Bompas & Parr will be accepting submissions until April 5th with the full design brief found here.
