Drinking straw / Drinking fountain

March 2009 / D&AD / Product Design

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As part of the D&AD Student Awards 2009, the Design Council set a very open brief to encourage people to drink tap water over bottled water to reduce the quantity of plastic bottles going to landfill.

My entry was featured in the D&AD Student Annual this year: click here to visit the Annual online.

My key proposal was the installation of water fountains all around the city. The water fountains would be shaped like larger-than-life drinking straws, the tall blue profile adding to the fountains' recognisibility in crowded urban spaces.

The fountains are primarily designed to appeal to children, to encourage positive opinions of tap water at an age when strong opinions are first being formed. The water fountains are sturdily constructed from stainless steel and have various hygiene improvements over standard drinking fountains, for example, it is impossible to put your mouth right on the water nozzle.
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To promote the water fountains, an advertising campaign would run concurrently with the launch. The ads are also designed to appeal to children, highlighting fun things to do with water. The price of tap water is implied but not spelled out: bottled water is too expensive for bathing, putting on the garden and splashing about & having fun. The campaign has been deliberately left unbranded because a local water board is the only source of tap water in their area so there is no hard requirement for branding.