De-stigmatizing condoms by design, that is just what New York design student Tiffany Gaines did when she developed Lovability Condoms.
In the US a stunning 30 percent of the girls gets pregnant before the age of 20 and one in four girls between the ages of 14 and 19 is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Tiffany Gaines, a MFA-student in Design for Social Innovation at New York’s School for Visual Arts, wanted to do something about this and discovered that women often feel uncomfortable buying, carrying and providing condoms.
‘Condoms were simply one of those items that we dreaded purchasing,’ Tiffany writes on her website referring to herself and the girlfriends she talked to. ‘So much so, that in most cases, we avoided buying them and therefore relied on guys to be prepared with them. However, in many cases, guys aren’t prepared with them, and this can compromise a woman’s health and safety.’
Tiffany decided to redesign the packaging, distribution model and messaging for the product to fit in a young women’s lifestyle. Lovability Condoms come in a chic and discrete gold tin packaging, resembling more of a cosmetic product. The condoms are available at beauty supply stores, department stores, lingerie stores, and accessory boutiques.
The idea behind Lovability is to empower women to take responsibility for their sexual health. After launching the brand Tiffany got lots of reactions from women who offered their help to spread the word. From which evolved a Lovability Movement of women informing other women about safe sex and providing them with Lovability Condoms.
Who said design can’t solve things?