Skills and Tools
Sketching -Fusion 360 – FDM Printing – Silicone Moulding- design for silicone manufacture- product life testing
In mid-2018 I was approached through a colleague about a potential project; A menstrual cup with a focus on ocean clean up, from a scuba diver who had seen the damage disposable plastics do to the oceans. I couldn’t reply to the email fast enough; a cup had been on my to do list for quite some time, having used a few and felt that there was a lot of improvement to be had.
The initial brief was for a cup, in 1,2 or 3 sizes, that had a detachable ‘ribbon’. Cups on their own aren’t a new idea, but the ribbon was; it bridged the gap between a tampon and a stand alone cup. And as it is removeable, it allows for flexibility in use.
After many 3D printed and hand cast silicone prototypes, we had the initial tooled part made up and sent it out to a group of volunteers.
From their feedback, we tweaked the design further, adding a second size in the process.
Covid wasn’t kind to this project; something that we had hoped would have been complete within 18 months ended up taking nearly 4 years, but I’m immensely proud of the work I put into this, and the positive feedback has been vindicating.
A big thank you to Yvette Shum for having the idea in the first place, and putting her trust in me to bring it to life.
Heather's Bench 
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