Inclusive design creates a more accessible deodorant

A design company has teamed with a creative agency and Unilever to develop a deodorant package aimed at people with mobility and vision impairments

Spotted: People without limited mobility or visual impairments likely don’t realise how these conditions affect every aspect of life. Adaptive design studio Sour specialises in designs that solve these sorts of social and urban problems. They have recently partnered with creative agency Wunderman Thomson to develop accessible packaging for Degree deodorant, (also marketed as also known as Sure, Shield or Rexona), produced by Unilever.

Named Degree Inclusive, the packaging was designed especially for people with upper limb motor disabilities, who may find it difficult to apply conventionally packaged deodorant. The design features an easy-grip shape and a hooked cap for one-handed use. The larger roll-on applicator can cover more surface area with each swipe, and the label includes instructions in braille.

However, perhaps the most useful feature is the grip at the bottom of the deodorant, which was designed to be easy to hold and manipulate by amputees and others with upper limb motor disabilities. To develop the deodorant, the designers worked closely with people from the disability community, tweaking the packaging in response to feedback.

“It is a mundane and almost trivial thing, deodorant, but when you can’t use it, it becomes very important,” says Bas Korsten, the global chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson. Designer Christina Mallon, who has limited arm mobility herself, pointed out that, “As a disabled person, I’ve experienced first-hand the challenges of living in a world of conventional design where most products and services are not designed with the disabled community in mind.”

There is a much greater awareness in general of inclusivity and the need for products and ideas that foster greater inclusiveness. At Springwise, we have seen this not only in design but in a number of other spaces. Recent innovations include a surfing magazine designed for women and a marketplace specifically for black-owned businesses.

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