Condom device wins Most Beautiful award

Design Indaba update: a condom applicator designed to help AIDS prevention has been named the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa by Dutch designer Jurgen Bey.

Bey, who was in Cape Town to speak at the Design Indaba conference last week, selected the product from a shortlist of 15 products at the Design Indaba Expo.

The applicator, invented by Willem van Rensburg and designed by industrial designer Roelf Mulder of South Africa’s XYZ Design, allows a condom to be put on easily and rapidly.

The user holds the device with the thumb and forefinger of both hands, pulling the condom down over the penis in a single rapid movement. See video demonstrations of the product here and here.

It is hoped the design will encourage the use of condoms, thereby helping reduce the spread of AIDS.

The applicator, which was selected for the SAFE exhibition at MoMA in New York two years ago and is in the museum’s permanent collection is now being marketed and sold under the Pronto brand.

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