The most fundamental medgadget just got a makeover, with the upcoming Target pill bottle. New York Metro has the complete story of how a young graphic designer saw an opportunity:
By the time an object, or an apartment, or a company hits the half-century mark, it’s usually been through a redesign or two. Yet the standard-issue amber-cast pharmacy pill bottle has remained virtually unchanged since it was pressed into service after the second World War. (A child-safety cap was added in the seventies.) An overhaul is finally coming, courtesy of Deborah Adler, a 29-year-old graphic designer whose ClearRx prescription-packaging system debuts at Target pharmacies May 1.
Adler grew up in a family of doctors in Chappaqua, New York, but escaped medicine for an M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts. She was inspired to return, at least tangentially, after her grandmother Helen accidentally swallowed pills meant for her husband, Herman. The drugstore prescription bottle, it occurred to Adler, is not just unattractive, it’s actually dangerous. Statistics back her up: According to a recent poll conducted for Target, 60 percent of prescription-drug users have taken medication incorrectly.
For her SVA thesis project, called Safe Rx, Adler revamped the familiar canister, then approached the FDA-but one of Target’s creative directors saw her work last summer, snapped up the patent, and rolled it out in record time. It’s already approaching design-classic status: ClearRx will be included in a MoMA exhibit this October. Your medicine cabinet is next.
Adler’s simplest, smartest innovation was to put the name and dose of the medication front and center. But like other good designs, every feature of this pill container has been well thought-out. Future plans include a sliding magnification lens, and a big red X that will slowly appear as the meds expire.
The ClearRx debuts May 1 at Target.
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