How would you redesign a hand santiser pump?

Right from the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s scientists, doctors and governments have all agreed that proper handwashing is among the best defences against infection.

As the effects of the virus continue to force businesses to close and populations to remain indoors, experience design studio Bompas & Parr is exploring how people could “safely move back into the public realm”.

With this in mind, the London-based studio is appealing to the world’s creatives with a new design competition to reinvent the hand sanitiser pump both aesthetically and functionally.

“A phenomenal range of inventive entries”

“Artefacts that enhance hygiene have a terrifically important role in [returning to the public realm],” says co-founder of Bompas & Parr. “By encouraging the design world to focus their creative energy on hand sanitiser our hope is that there can be some remarkable innovations.”

There are no limits on what form this innovation can have, according to the brief. It says: “Participants are free to choose to design or enhance sanitiser pumps, sprays, wipes, dispense units or even gestures and rituals.”

To this, Parr adds: “We anticipate a phenomenal range of inventive entries.”

This boundless brief sits in the context of other creative initiatives that the coronavirus pandemic has inspired across the world. In France, for example, the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH announced it would be using its perfume production lines to begin manufacturing the hydroalcoholic gels used in hand sanitiser.

Meanwhile in the UK, 17-year-old William Gibson found fame across the world with his website washyourlyrics.com, which aimed to get people washing their hands for the recommended 20 seconds each time.

Working from home

The successful entries to the competition will be displayed at the Design Museum in early April, before being auctioned off by Christie’s to raise money for the British Red Cross. If in the case of a nation-wide lockdown, an online showcase is also being developed in parallel.

Parr says he hope this competition will give people the opportunity to interact with each other, especially in times of self-isolation.

“[We are encouraging] designers of all ages, even children, to participate,” he says. “With so many designers now working from home and many school closures it would be exciting to children collaborating with their parents. How would you work with your kids to imagine the sanitiser pumps, rituals and innovations of the future?”

Those wishing to get involved in the competition should submit their designs to sanitiser@bompasandparr.com by 29 March. Entrants should submit ideas via PDF, including within it detailed and overview images of their proposal, either as digital renders or hand drawn. Successful ideas will then be invited to submit a file suitable for 3D printing. More information here.