Ugaer (Student Project)

Designer: Param Jain
Project Type: Student Project
School: Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology
Location: Bangalore, India
Packaging Contents: Re-usable Cloth Sanitary Napkins
Packaging Materials: Paper

UGAER, meaning “new beginnings” in Mewari, is a women’s group in Udaipur, India supported by Jatan Sansthan. Ugaer creates reusable cloth sanitary napkins. These pads are made with the intention of combating the growing use of disposable products in India, and the lack of an effective waste management system that the country faces. The branding was approached through a three step process: it included designing brand strategy, brand identity and brand experiences.

The project works to increase awareness about menstruation and end the silence and taboo surrounding the matter, through seminars in colleges and in discussions with different community groups, both rural and urban. Thus the colour scheme and visuals were created to be bold, strong, iconic and not necessarily soft and feminine.

The pads are made by a women’s group in Udaipur. They aren’t produced in bulk in a manufacturing unit. Therefore the packaging had to be pretty simple, low cost, easy to manage and attractive.

What’s Unique
The pads are simply wrapped in a printed paper and the paper is held together by a sticker at the back which also provides the customer with the information about the inside contents. The wrapping paper is available in multiple sizes to allow the packaging of different quantities of pads together as per the customer’s requirement. A small wrapper can be used for just one pad, medium one to make a pack of 3 pads and a bigger paper to make a pack of 6 pads. This procedure eliminates the need of industrial packaging comprising of manufacturing of cartons, plastic coverings, seals and so on. Also it allows packaging to be handled by any of the women from the group and not requiring a set of other specific people just to manage packaging.