THE COLLECTION
Roelf Mulder (South African, born 1959), Byron Qually (South African, born 1973), and Richard Perez (South African, born 1970), of …XYZ Dot Dot Dot Ex Why Zed Design, Ltd. (South Africa, est. 2000)
Condom Applicator
SAFE: Design Takes On Risk
, October 16, 2005–January 2, 2006Curator, Paola Antonelli: Design can have a real impact on the world; it can save lives even. The HIV/AIDS pandemic that has spread all over the world is a crucial issue, and one that designers from every country have tried to tackle in different ways. Graphic designers, for instance, not only in Africa but also in the United States on the New York subways, have tried to use comics in order to educate people about ways to curb the pandemic: by using condoms, by spreading the word about safe sex, by being educated and aware of their actions.
This particular solution that we present here, by Dot Dot Dot Ex Why Zed, which is a company of designers based in Capetown, South Africa, is more direct. It's an approach to the problem of the resistance against the use of condoms all over Africa, and South Africa in particular. It tries to make using condoms easy by providing not only the condom inside its normal envelope, but also an applicator with it. The particular packaging also is very efficient because it enables one to unwrap and fit the condom within three seconds.
Born out of Necessity
March 2, 2012–January 28, 2013
Despite widespread campaigns to inform the general public about the importance of condom use in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV), their use in South Africa is still alarmingly low. One of the most often quoted reasons for not using them is that their painstaking application interferes with the sexual act. This cheap, fast, and innovative packaging, no bigger than the usual condom casing, allows the product to be unwrapped and fitted in three seconds, while at the same time protecting it from unhygienic handling. The applicator is sealed into a foil pouch together with the condom. When bent, the foil splits open on the correct side, and the applicator pops up and slides the condom out.
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