The Monthly Blush L'école de design Nantes Atlantique
To conclude the two year MDes Transcultural Design program I attended at l'école de Design Nantes Atlantique in Bangalore, India, I had to use design for positive social impact in an individual year long project of my choice. I decided to approach the topic of menstruation which, in an Indian context back in 2013, was very taboo.
The social stigma associated with periods is a major issue in India.In some societies, the subject of periods remains taboo and is not openly discussed. Many women cannot afford sanitary towels and have very poor hygiene habits, which can lead to discrimination and a lack of self-esteem.
The Monthly Blush is the result of a six month on-site exploration research from which the project resulted. It is a compilation of both an illustrated dissertation and a final product.
Pages from the dissertation.
Overcome the challenges of menstruation in India.
I started the project by performing pre-research and gathering cultural, biological, artistical and religious documents, books, documentaries and anything related to the topic of menstruation. Here is a sample:
Screenshot of a Kotex advertisement on youtube.com
The first pad or tampon advertising to show blood.
Always advertising, Leo Burnett, Chicago Agency, 2010.
Analysis of existing products.
The project followed up by conducting field research. The first step was to conduct interviews with women of any age and background in groups or individually. I also decided to hear what male had to say about the subject but this time, only individually.
Interviewing men.
Interviewing women.
After interviewing and analysing anonymous surveys' answers I mapped out different personas, starting with Lower Segment Women:
At the time I started research, Arunachalam Muruganantham just created a low-cost sanitary pad-making machine and started generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India. His mini-machines can manufacture sanitary pads for less than a third of the cost of commercial pads.
I decided to visit one of the mini sanitary pad factory in a village in Tamil Nadu. I recorded and documented the fabrication process:
Toutes les vidéos
The compilation of the multiple research documents I gathered led me to write and illustrate a dissertation. The full research project can be found in the following PDF:
Illustration from the dissertation.
If men could menstruate. Illustration from the dissertation.
The conclusion of my research lead me to open four axis of work which I had to present in front of an exam board before I could continue the project. Health, Pollution, Disposal, Cost, Hygiene, Pain, Taboo and myths were facets of the project I couldn't ignore.
Axe #1:
Axe #2:
Axe #3:
Axe #4:
Ideating and prototyping...
The result of the project, in partnership with the Whisper brand (Procter and Gamble) and Indian artists, aims to ensure that, by using humour and surprise, women are no longer ashamed of their periods. The product is a form of sanitary towel, which - thanks to its qualities of capillary action and absorption on certain areas of the paper that are compressed to various degrees - reveals an imprinted design after use. Each sanitary towel is sold individually in an original package, which can also then be used to wrap up the used sanitary towel.
The partnership with an international company provides access to an existing distribution network.
This project was exhibited at Hangar 32 at “Design l’Expo”, from 28th November 2014 to 25th January 2015 and at the London Design Business Center at 'New Designer', from 1st to 4th July 2015.