#HTE

Industrial Design Student Work: Hélène Fontaine’s Droplet, for Easier Dispensing of Medication

While pills are all the rage in America, in Europe “children and elderly people often get medicine prescribed in the form of drops,” writes Hélène Fontaine, “because they are easier to take than pills.” Fontaine is an Industrial Design student at Germany’s Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, a/k/a Burg-Halle. (One of Germany’s largest art and design universities, Burg-Halle antedates the Bauhaus.) Her recent project, “Droplet,” addresses the difficulty of this dispensing method.

“Exact dosing of drops requires steady hands, good eyes, and much attention. Droplet offers a safe alternative to the regular bottles with a rim dropper or vertical dropper: By using a pump dispenser the medicine gets dosed precisely.

"The integrated spoon with a deep bowl collects the drops right away and the medicine can be taken without additional tools—even if you have a tremor, bad eyesight or can only use one hand.”

Droplet was awarded a 2021 Universal Design Prize.