Winners announced in the Fountain Of Hygiene: Sanitiser Design Competition – Looking to the future of global hygiene

The category winners have today been announced in the ‘Fountain of Hygiene’, an innovative sanitiser design competition, run by Bompas & Parr and the Design Museum in support of the British Red Cross.

Creatives and makers from around the world submitted an awe-inspiring array of entries to the Fountain of Hygiene: Sanitiser Design Competition, while suggested entry donations poured in for the British Red Cross.

The project invited the creative community and those with a good idea, to design inspired interpretations on sanitiser pumps and hand washing rituals, currently being explored across the globe. 

Bompas & Parr, a globally recognised multi-sensory design company has announced the winning entires which include ‘Centrepeace’ – a stylish mobile phone steriliser that promotes reconnection at communal mealtimes, and ‘Buggy’ – an experiential app that monitors and cross references bacteria levels with user behaviour.

The brief sought to explore the aesthetic, functional, social, gestural and experiential possibilities of enhanced hygiene. And it is hoped that this will accelerate the establishment of new behavioral norms, which benefit the ongoing health of global society. Ultimately, the aim is to explore how people can safely re-enter the public realm.

The initiative aimed for creative industries to use the means at their disposal to help to reduce the physical, social and economic impact of Covid-19.

Bompas & Parr, the British Red Cross and Design Museum thanked all who contributed and participated in the project. 

The Fountain of Hygiene generated a huge number of inventive and innovative concepts that demonstrate the effectiveness of design while raising funds for an important cause. 

Each entry was evaluated using four parameters: innovation, functionality, social impact and aesthetic and the full list of category winners is as follows:

Industrial Design – Steve Jarvis ‘The Bubble Party’ – a sanitising bubble machine.

Luxury Design – Sally Reynolds ‘Step One’, – a pedal activated sanitiser dispenser unit.

Sustainable Design – Terry Hearnshaw ‘Seaweed Capsule’ – a unit dose dispensing system.

Fountain of Hygiene Judge, Food Journalist, Author and Historian, Bee Wilson, said: “I thought it was such a clever idea to reconceive hand sanitiser as something that could be shared in single-use capsule form or bought from a simple dispenser like a gumball machine. The design was stylish and I could imagine that these could really help in those situations where it feels socially awkward or embarrassing to be carrying a whole bottle of sanitiser. I loved the idea of sanitiser becoming something shareable, almost like chewing gum.”

Gesture and Ritual – Line Johnsen ‘Hygiene Friendly Visits’ – a sanitising doorbell.

Awareness and Communication – Zoe Lester, Beth Thomas, Emma Chih, Erin Giles & Kris Murphy ‘Buggy’ – a mobile user experience app

Fountain of Hygiene Judge Prof Charles Spence, Experimental Psychologist and Head of the University of Oxford’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory, said: “Built on surprising and solid science, this solution could really help address a major source of infection. The visuals were also humorous and engaging. Seems an easily scalable solution too, hence potential for widespread impact.”

Child-Directed Design – Kate Strudwick, Amos Oyedeji, Alexander Facey & Nicole Stjernswärd ‘Paint Your Hands Clean!’ – a colour changing hand sanitiser brush.

Competition judge and Global Director, Innovation at Bacardi, Deb Pellen, commented: “We know that one of the societal impacts as we emerge from the pandemic will be an acceleration of human needs and desires that were starting to scale before the pandemic hit. Consumers will therefore demand even more environmental responsibility from the products and brands they choose to engage in. This solution which combines both environmental conscience with the human need for safety through hygiene screams out to be developed.” 

Cadet Designer (Entered by adult on behalf of under 18 participant) – Bo Willis ‘Handle Sanitiser’ – tactile sanitiser dispenser systems.

Bee Wilson commented: “I found this deceptively simple idea absolutely inspired. In normal life, door handles are objects that potentially spread germs because they are touched by so many people – so I loved the idea of flipping this around and turning them into an object that can dispense hand sanitiser. This was an idea that I can see making a real social impact if it could be adopted in offices or schools.” 

Hygiene Innovation Beyond the Sanitiser – Conrad Haddaway, Twomuch Studio & Inga Ziemele ‘Centrepeace’ – a mealtime centrepiece for mobile phone sterilisation.

Judge and Managing Director of the Mayor Of London’s Promotional And Economic Development Agency, London & Partners, Jules Chappell OBE, said: “This idea captured not only the importance of regularly cleaning our phones but also, for me, one of the most positive things to have come out of the lockdown, which is meals together as a family. This has become a precious habit that I’ll try to hang onto in the weeks and months to come.” 

Artworks will continue to be displayed online in a curated digital exhibition culminating in a physical display hosted at the Design Museum once it reopens. While Christie’s will auction prototypes of the successful entries at the launch to generate further funds for the British Red Cross.

Prof Charles Spence said: “It was great to see how engaged everyone was with the Fountain of Hygiene: Sanitiser Design Competition, from seven years old, through to established designers/agencies from a number of countries. There were many innovative and beautiful solutions out there.”

Jules Chappell OBE commented: “This competition has been a ray of sunshine at a time when many of us will be feeling anxious about what the future holds. It has shown the power of creativity to help us visualise new norms and to adapt, with ideas that are ingenious, fun and thoughtful.”

Deb Pellen said: “The sheer diversity of ideas and quality of the entrants to this competition have completely blown me away.  It is amazing to think that the work that hundreds of companies including Bacardi have done to support the production of Hand Sanitiser in the immediate term could be elevated from habit to ritual by the incredible design and innovation opportunities this competition has uncovered.”

Harry Parr, Director of Bompas & Parr, added: “Developing widely adopted strategies for safely socialising is essential for the continued dynamism of the global economy. Humans are social beings and the right artefacts have a role in getting us through.”