2024 Galleries

The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.

Flo

Winner - Platinum

Competition: Spark:Cause
Designer: Design Team
Design Type:
Company / Organization / School: Designmatters at Art Center College of Design
Website: http://www.designmattersatartcenter.org/
Team Members: DESIGN TEAM: Mariko Higaki Iwai, Sohyun Kim, Tatijana Vasily FACULTY ADVISORS: Sherry Hoffman, Krystina Castella, Arden Stern

Flo is an affordable tool kit that supports adolescent girls living in poverty to wash, dry, and carry their reusable sanitary pads. Menstrual cycle is taking over girls’ life. Girls miss school during menstrual bleeding because they do not have access to sanitary products and are afraid of menstrual leaks. As a result, many drop out of school when they hit puberty. Disposable sanitary pads are too expensive for population living below $1.25 PPP per day, and more than 90% of girls still use rags instead of pads. Because of social norms, it is prohibited to wash used rags or reusable pads with other clothes or dry them in public eyes. As a result, they are hidden under the bed, above roof, or inside the wall crack. Rags and reusable pads are always wet and cause reproductive infections and illnesses. Flo will be sold under $3. Its main components are two bowls, basket, and string. Compared to regular hand washing method with barrel, Flo uses half the water and detergent. The spinning action will wring the fabric to minimize drying time. Using the basket, girls can dry the pads outside in the sun by using any fabric as blinder.