It is possibly one of the best concepts I’ve seen so far and tackle the awareness problem visually.

The Condom 3-Pack reveals a message everytime you take out a rubber to use.

1 – Packaging Unopened

2 – Minus 1 Condom

3 – Minus 2 Condoms

4 – Minus 3 Condoms…

What makes the thing even more fascinating is that the two creators Robert Daniel Nagy and Mads Jakob Poulsen had 24 hours to come up with their results.

This is what they say about their packaging:

This is a handy package constructed so it opens from the right to the left, revealing a simple humoristic statement as each condom is taken out (and hopefully used!). The statement simply connects ‘condoms’ with ‘having sex’,and ‘no more condoms’ meaning ‘no more sex’. The message should come across in eye level with the target group without being patronising or judgemental. Sex is fun, yet serious.

To see their other condom campaign idea you may like to visit our older post about tagging people.

Storing condoms in the right place when going out is a stiff subject. After all you don’t want it to stick out of your wallet or in any other unsafe place. UK’s King Apparel suggests you to have your condom in your jeans in an inside stash pocket.

King is a streetwear label and as such they are in a great place to tackle teenage pregnancies and STD’s in the 15-18 year age range. To achieve the best results they partnered up with Want Respect? in 2007 and presented the jeans with a condom pocket I mentioned before.

Now, two years later, all of their jeans and shorts come with the pockets as a standard. What a success.

Here’s what King say about the project:

The project is a couple of years old now, but King wanted to de-stigmatise taking a condom out on a night out as it looks like the guy thinks he’s going to get lucky, when all he’s doing is being prepared – you never know… But they gave away a lanyard with a condom as well in the stores that stocked the jeans, they came attached to the jeans.

The King Apparel Jeans

Jeans Pocket

Shorts Pocket

By the way the pockets are branded with the heart shaped Want Respect? logo (as you can see in the pictures above) that has been designed by graffiti legend Mode2.

And Here’s the link to the complete lineup of products by King Apparel.

Thanks and via Robin.

We’ve covered various condom dispensers in the past like the Don’t Panic Button and the fantastic Cucoon.

Here’s another, newer creation called C-Box by Don’t Kill the Mood.

While the mentioned products all have fancy names in common, they are very different in their looks and meaning. The C-box is a discreet black or white packaging that isn’t really going to cause attention (compare with Don’t Panic Button and Cucoon).

What it does for you? It stores condoms, lucrication packets and individually wrapped wet towelette packets so you have everything conveniently set up.

This is how the condom dispenser works: remove the lid, pull back the roller, place the condoms in front, replace the lid, remove a condom and use it. Pretty simple.

And finally here are some product in use pictures:

White C-Box

C-Box in the Bathroom

Kitchen C-Box

Black and White C-Box in the Drawer

Beside Guitar

The design is simple and with no unnecessary gimmicks (or I should say no more). Additional information may be found on www.dontkillthemood.com. Happy refilling.

I think it all doesn’t take too much explaining here, it’s just beautiful to look at. His art is full of colors and ideas and you can see the rest of his work at his site thebrainbox.com.

Love and Hate – Words often associated with condoms.

Rock and Roll – Happens when the condoms fail.

I’ll share any interesting new work with you as I find it.

Robert Daniel Nagy and Mads Jakob Poulsen made In Your Pocket for a Danish design competition for young designers under 29. The goal was to create an appealing package for three condoms to be given away for free by the Danish non-profit Sex & Sundhed.

The target group were young people from 15-25 years of age. Each team participating in the competition consisted of two people, and was allowed to hand in no more than two proposals (they had to be done withing 24 hours).

Considering the short time frame I think the results are great. The concept In Your Pocket won the competition.

This is what the designers say about their creation:

IN YOUR POCKET – This features a minimal designed pocket-shaped sticker holding a condom. Isn’t it weird, that every time you go and buy condoms in the supermarket, many people have a tendency to hide the condoms under other groceries when checking out at the register? It ought to be the complete opposite! The design is simple and iconic. The message is clear: Don’t hide your condoms, show them off! The sticker can be placed on clothes, cars, bathroom walls – where ever you like! Rather than hiding the condoms in the back pocket, wear them with pride!

In Your Pocket Design

In Your Pocket Design Detail

In Your Pocket Design Detail 2

Girls Tagged

Street Lamp Tagged

Car Tagged

In the coming weeks I’ll also publish their other contest concept, which I thought was a very interesting (and call me blind but I see only one condom in this packaging, remember it was supposed to hold 3) approach to share awareness and at the same time teach the user visually.

In the meantime why don’t you check out another cool Danish creation: The Cucoon Condom Dispenser.

We have no word so far wether this is going to be available at anytime. The Cucoon is a limited edition of 15 built by Susanne Hanggaard and a friend of hers. It will be exhibited at this year’s Maison & Objet in Paris again and will be sold in 2009 by Danish Crafts.

But let’s have a closer look. This is what the designer and artist Susanne Hanggaard has to say about the Cucoon:

Who hasn’t tried being in that situation when you need a condom – fast? You have to get out of bed and remember where you last stashed the condoms, perhaps even toying with the idea of dropping the condom altogether, as there are many who also have an aversion to using them.

Cucoon is a product that brings this problem out into the open. How else do you find renewed appreciation for the condom, and how do you let your attitude towards the use of condoms be known to your surroundings? Aided by humour, Cucoon is a product that attempts to create an alternative and more appreciative attitude towards condoms.

With a Cucoon, you are prepared contraceptive-wise, when sex is on the cards. The condom has been given a central place of its own, within easy reach when foreplay leads to the next step – pleasurable and enjoyable, and yet also linked with untold consequences and risks.

The dimensions of the Cucoon are 40 cm x 18 cm x 20 cm and it is made from porcelain, mdf, nylon cord and some mechanics:

Cucoon
Simply attach it somewhere and then pull.

Cucoon Details
It’s a bit complicated, you’ll have to refill every time manually.

Cucoon at a Furniture Fair

Cucoon at a Furniture Fair with Condoms

The Cucoon Condom Dispenser was accepted into the Danish Crafts Collection 2008 and was exhibited at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York in May 2008 (ICFF), and in Paris at Maison & Objet in September 2008.

Another thought here, attaching a 4:Secs Condom makes the Cucoon the ultimate speed machine. Btw. interested manufacturers willing to develop the design into a more functional product with a refill system ,are welcome to contact the designer, as she mentioned in a mail to me.

Via Susanne Hanggaard. Images 3 and 4 by NOTCOT.

According to the NYC Department of Health , “New York City remains the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S.” The city has more AIDS cases than Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, DC combined and over 100,000 New Yorkers have contracted HIV. Many of them are unaware of it.

That’s why New York needed a new concept. One that is still unique today: New York City created their own branded condoms to give away for free to everyone in need of protection.

The visually attractive NYC Condom and the condom dispenser were created by fuseproject, an industrial design and branding firm with offices in San Francisco and New York:

The final design for the dispenser is vaguely reminiscent of the imprint a condom makes on the outer surface of a wallet. Beyond referencing its contents, its form has the equivalent impact of a fire hydrant or a mailbox – it is immediately recognizable for it’s central function, distributing condoms. It sends the message “take one.” (…)

The NYC Condom

NYC Condom Dispenser Black

NYC Condom Dispenser Silver and Black

NYC Condom Dispenser Silver and Black Front

Black Detail

Silver Detail

NYC Condom Dispenser Silver in a Pink Bar

NYC Condom Dispenser in a Pool Hall

NYC Condom Dispenser at a Minimarket

NYC Condom Dispenser in a Bar

Since the time the NYC Condom was launched, distribution figures skyrocketed: “The total distribution of condoms doubled between 2006 (18 million) and 2007 (36 million). We expected the number to decline in 2008, but thanks to the new branding – package, dispenser, cutting-edge media spots – it surged yet again. We’ve distributed more than 4 million condoms per month this year, so the 2008 total could clear 50 million“, said Geoff Cowley, Associate Commissioner of the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.

For more information about this great campaign, check the links below.

• Check the New York City Condom page
• Official Site: NYC Health
• Design: FuseProject
• Spark Award – Spark!_2008
• ID Magazine Annual Design Competition “Equipment”, 2008
• IDSA – Business Week, Silver Excellence Awards, 2008

Thanks and image credits Fuse

Alessi is an italian design company who mainly does gadgets and accessories and converts these everyday objects into little pieces of art. You’ll find everything from baskets/fruit bowls/centrepieces to kitchen boxes/biscuit boxes/containers in their portfolio.

Now you’ll also find the fancy Alessi Cohndom Box.

And no, it’s not a typo, the co(h)ndom box is designed by Susan Cohn, an influential Australian silversmith. As a designer of small objects and jewels she directly produces her products in her small laboratory in Melbourne in small series.

The steel box’s dimensions are 6.2 cm x 6.2 cm which is enough to fit in exactly one condom (more if you stack them? Update: It’s definitely meant for one condom). It might not be much but it does exactly what it should. It protects the condom from friction and heat and makes sure you are always protected in style. Prices are: 38.00 Euros/27.00 Pounds/49.50 Dollars.

Really, if you don’t want to be carrying your condoms in a cell phone, then this might just be one good way to go.

Via Alessi (store).

So in case you’re looking for a new twist on your bags, the condom totes are definitely worth another look. Safe Sax are 6 distinct products to carry everything from nail scissors to your 15″ MacBook.

Maker of the innovative bags is the Portland based company being Jeff Hockert, Adam Lake, and Chris Wilkerson. Their first goal is to take the condom from its hiding place behind the drugstore counter or otherwise out of sight, and thrust it into public view. The second one is to raise awareness and fight AIDS with donations to AIDS charities from every sale they make.

Safe Sax the Products

Little Bag Pink
Other colors include purple and yellow. The condoms are sealed in high quality colored vinyl. There are no pockets, but a colored zipper allows for complete closure. The little bag is 3 condoms across and 2 condoms down the side of the bag for a total of 6 condoms on each side of the bag.

Colors Tote (Pink, Yellow)
The color tote can be used as a laptop bag (fits 13” and 15” MacBooks), a knitting bag, or just your daily needs. Colored tote is 4 condoms across and 4 condoms down the side of the bag for a total of 16 condoms on each side of the bag.

Blank Safe Sax
The blank Safe Sax has nothing in it. Here is your chance to make your own statement. Clear vinyl bag has pockets for you to display your own items. SafeSax logo is proudly displayed in lower right corner on one side. Use your Safesax to display keepsakes, toys, coins, flowers, pictures, or whatever you can fit into the 1.5 inch pouches. 16 pouches on are situated on each side.

Big Bag
This bag is bigger as the rest (who would’ve thought). Perfect as a beach bag, travel bag, or to be the most talked about girl at the gym. Big Bag is 5 condoms across and 5 condoms down the side of the bag for a total of 25 condoms on each side of the bag.

Classic Tote
The classic tote is 4 condoms across and 4 condoms down the side of the bag for a total of 16 condoms on each side of the bag. It fits your 13” and 15” MacBooks.

Safe Sax Wallet
The Safe Sax Wallet holds cash, cards, ids and guess – condoms.

If you need some ideas what you can use the bags for, here’s what existing customers come up with: Use them as

• Knitting bags
• Beach bags
• Diaper bags
• Laptop bags
• “Toy” bags
• Daily carriers of all that is needed in your active life

Just a little guide at the end. Don’t try to remove the colored condoms (in the colored totes) they are sealed in and meant to stay there (unless you want to damage your bags). For those wishing to add their own brands or whatever (fotos, toys, buttons etc.) into their Safe Sax, there’s the Blank Sax. They come transparent and empty.

Details: Dimensions – 9″ H x 3.5″ W x 4″ L Price – $28.00

Of course you can still try the more discreet condom dispenser version below or a humorous approach too.

Details: Dimensions – 2.5″H x 2.5″W x 2.75″L Price – $38.00

Product page 1,2 [Via Uncrate]

This condomunity member character tutorial is done by 29 years old greek illustrator and 2d animator, Ilias Sounas. The article covers some of his methods of creating characters and illustrations mainly in Adobe’s Illustrator and a short interview and overview of his work.

Some URls mentioned:

• Behance.net
• Smashingmagazine.com
• Coldhardflash.com

Notes

This tutorial was largely created with Illustrator CS3 and some small bits in Photoshop CS3. Some very handy Illustrator shortcuts can be found here.

Written by Ilias Sounas

Here’s a brief tutorial about how I created the RSS icon with my funny little condomunity member character. Though the final icon is a web file like .png, .jpg or .gif, I designed the character in Adobe Illustrator in vector, as it’s far easier to draw than Photoshop.

Sketching the Character in Photoshop

As with most of my designs, I started drawing a rough pencil sketch, which I redesigned roughly in Photoshop using my beloved Wacom pen. The only thing I had to take into account here was the fact that the final icon should fit exactly into a square, because its final dimensions would be a square like 120px by 120px or 80×80 and similar.
I saved my rough as a plain jpg and then I opened it in Illustrator. In order to have it as a guide layer, I locked the layer as a template by double clicking the layer and checking the “Template” option and setting “Dim Images to: 50%”. That way, my sketch was dimmed so it was easier to draw on top layers. In addition, the template layers can’t be printed in case you send the .ai (adobe illustrator) file for printing.

Organize Layers in Illustrator

In a new layer, I added a rectangle to limit my icon to a square and then I started drawing the basic outline of my character using the Pen Tool in a new layer named “Character”. There was no need to have a fill and I just applied a thin black stroke, so the rough was still visible below. This makes tracing easier, since the fills prevents me from seeing the rough sketch at the bottom. In general, I always organize my shapes in appropriately named layers, so everything is tidy and easily accessible without wasting time.

Shapes

Some shapes were designed separately (hands & wings for example) and I did save some time by duplicating the first (right) wing, then I used the Reflection Tool to mirror it and set it as a left wing. This tool can save a lot of time as I don’t have to redraw everything in my illustrations. But don’t overuse it as everything will look as a copy/paste style and that’s very boring.

The Cloud

As for the cloud, I drew some circles (in stroke always, no fill) overlapping each other using the Circle Tool (for perfect circles just hold “Shift” while dragging). Then I selected them all and merged them down to one shape by clicking the “Add to shape area” button (the very left in the first row) in Pathfinder palette (Menu> Window> Pathfinder). After that I pressed the Expand Button at the right of Pathfinder palette to remove all the paths for once and all. The final outline shaped the cloud path.

Coloring the Character

After drawing all the basic shapes, it was time to add the first colours. I had decided to have my character in a strokeless look, so I started filling the paths with flat colours removing any stroke. In this step, picking the exact colours is not important, as I tried to get a rough idea and have some good combinations. Since I wanted to create a happy illustration, I decided to use vibrant colours. In my opinion nothing beats a smiling blue condom!
Tip: vibrant, vivid colours have usually no black at all and the saturation is high (like over 80%).

Applying Shades to Breathe Life into the Character

Flat colours didn’t do it for this character, so it was time to add shades. Using the Pen Tool once again I drew an open path with a stroke only for the shade shape over the main body taking care to exceed the body’s shape limits (otherwise it can’t be divided). With both paths selected (body and line) I used the “Divide” option from the familiar Pathfinder palette, so the body was divided into two new paths. Using the Pathfinder’s options, the final paths are always get grouped. In order to select the shade area I picked the Direct Selection Tool (the white arrow) and applied a darker colour. That way I didn’t have to break the group. Anyway, the very same shading technique was applied to the rest of the shapes too (hands, wings etc.).

Working with Masks

Masks are powerful features in Illustrator that allow to hide parts of shapes we don’t want to be visible in the illustration like the teeth in the character’s mouth. After duplicating the mouth shape and setting it as the top path in the layer’s stack order (Menu> Object> Arrange> Send to Front), I selected the copies of the “teeth” and the “mouth” and from the context menu (right click on the document) I chose “Make Clipping Mask”. This way the teeth and the tongue fit exactly into the mouth shape.

Applying the Gradient and Gloss

The condom character was almost done but I wanted a more interesting version. Gradients were applied in various parts to give more depth to the character and using the Pen Tool I designed some shapes representing glossy spots. These spots were curved shapes filled with lighter colours than the main shapes. For example, the condom’s shining spot was filled with a very light blue colour. The condom was finished and it was time to add the RSS icon logo, which I had to create from scratch.

Putting up an RSS Icon

But the Illustrator tools make this an easy task. I drew three circles aligned at the same centre with a heavy weight stroke. Using the Direct Selection Tool (the white arrow from the toolbar), I selected the bottom and left point of the first two circles and deleted them. The remaining lines shaped the basic logo (the first circle turned to a fill representing the dot).

Step 2

To finish the icon I designed a square using the Rounded Rectangle Tool and applied a subtle orange gradient. For the glossy part, I duplicated the main square (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F to paste at the same position in front), drew an overlapping circle and having selected both shapes I chose the “Intersect” option in the Pathfinder palette. The remaining shape was filled with white, its transparency was lowered to a small amount (about 45% but you can experiment with this) and its blending mode was changed to “Overlay” (using the Transparency palette). This way the icon gets a shining new look.

Finishing the Character Up

Everything’s done. I selected everything (Ctrl+A) and turned them into a group (Ctrl+G), so it’s easier to move and handle it. I created some smaller duplicates and checked their appearance via View/Pixel Preview (Ctrl+Alt+Y). This option helped me to check if the icon is clear in pixel version at smaller sizes and make any corrections for best results.

Exporting the Character

Finally the character was exported via File/Save for Web & Devices as a transparent .png at different sizes. By exporting two different versions I created an animated gif version in Photoshop, too (1. RSS icon/2. “Feed me”).

The Illustration as a Whole

Apart from the icon I used the main condom character as the focus for an expanded composition. I did a rough in Photoshop, then I started creating the background in Illustrator as I did before with the main character.

The Background

There’s no need to explain everything again since the same procedure I mentioned thoroughly before applies to most of the elements. Nevertheless, the star burst behind the character needs some special attention.

Step 1

First I created a circle and a few-pointed star (use as many points you like), which I aligned perfectly through the Align palette. Selecting both I used the “Intersect shape area” option in Pathfinder palette. In the remaining shape I selected all the inner points and from the right-click menu I chose “Average” at both Axes. This way all the points were concentrated into a single point in the centre of the star creating the burst effect.

Step 2

I applied a warm gradient to the background and used the star in “Overlay mode” (Transparency palette) to blend better with the background’s colour. Having set the main background colour, it was easier now to draw the rest of my elements and pick up strong colour combinations, so the elements could pop up from the composition.

Finishing the Illustration Up

Since the main theme is condoms I created a happy environment full of love, and added flying condoms and strange creatures in vivid colours (as most of the condom boxes have vivid colour, too). To enhance the overall message I used some simple typography to promote the Condomunity.com website.

That’s it! Hope you like it :)

About Ilias Sounas

Condomunity: How did you start illustrating?

Ilias Sounas: I used to draw mainly fantasy art in school but I never thought of being an illustrator until a few years ago, when I stopped my History & Philosophy studies to teach myself everything about digital arts from scratch. At that time I had no computer experience at all.

Glamour, fashion look is definitely my main style, though I like to experiment with different approaches. I also like animation and I’m the creator of two multi-recognized animations in Flash: ”The Circle of Life” & “Space Alone”. In general my professional field ranges from illustrations/fresh characters to animation/motion graphics along with some basic web design.

Condomunity:  3 pieces of your work you’re proud of?

High Gaze
Multi-layered composition in Photoshop using Lucia Acosta’s face (model from Spain). All elements were designed in Illustrator while the final composition took place in Photoshop. The design was used as an illustration for Extreme Brands’ bag, a fashion store in Greece.

Happy Characters
Various characters created in Illustrator (colour correction & texturing in Photoshop). This illustration was used as a cover illustration for “Grafistas+web design” greek magazine.

Night Tree
A concept illustration in Photoshop for my upcoming animation movie in dreamy style.

Condomunity:  3 of your favorite illustrators?

• Jerome Castro at hellofreaks.com
• Peter Jaworowski at hejz.com
• &Rew at andrewandavid.blogspot.com
• and many, many more…

Condomunity:  3 of your favorite illustration sites?

• Behance.net
• Smashingmagazine.com
• Coldhardflash.com

And yes it’s merely a matter of time before I release the RSS icon as a freebie on condomunity.com!