Students Design Condom Brand For Women

Does design have an effect on whether or not women buy condoms? Apparently so. A student team at the School of Visual Arts in New York created a new condom brand and design specifically aimed at women. The students were taking a course called Design for Social Value which was sponsored in part by the Center for Disease Control. They surveyed a group of women and found that many not only were embarrassed to carry prophylactics around in their cart at the grocery store, they also judged other women who did so as promiscuous. The brand is called Mine, which is a great name because it requires women to take ownership for their condom usage. A "This condom is MINE, it was made for ME, and I'M going to use it," sort of thing. Which is excellent At my job we've been getting a lot of questions about whether or not it's cool for women to bring condoms on dates in case things go down. The fact is, buying condoms isn't a gender role, and safe sex is everyone's responsibility. As someone who also hates tampon ads, half of me is insulted. I don't want it to be true that women have to have a cutesy product to have safe sex. I want everyone to feel safe and secure buying any type of condoms. But then the other half of me is like, "Holy crap, these totally match my bathroom! They're ADORABLE! Where can I get them?!" So, well-played, Mine condoms. But look, if it gets ladies out there buying condoms and having safe sex, who am I to judge? I'll just take my box of adorable condoms back to my corner and wonder when we're going to stop being so judgmental of women who are taking their health and safety into their own hands. In the meantime, Mine condoms could fill that gap. Since this was just a class project, there's no word on whether or not Mine will be produced commercially yet. But additional awesome ideas included partnering with gynecologists for testing and data, as well as selling in a package with feminine hygiene products, which would make buying condoms a normal part of the monthly routine for women. The students also considered having a delivery service, which really does kind of nullify the whole 'Let's make cute condoms so women won't be ashamed to be seen buying them,' vibe. But hey, baby steps.