13.08.2023 Author: Sebastian Wachter
Medication in a design object
PILLBOX BUT BEAUTIFUL
Pharmacist Linn Born frees the pill box from its stigma
Design instead of stigma. Munich pharmacist Linn Born has invented a new pill box: designed and handcrafted, it is much more than an ordinary pill box. Over 50 per cent of Germans take at least one tablet a day – for many, this is a taboo that they prefer to hide. This is mainly because the packaging or cans immediately and visibly connote “illness”. Based on this experience, it was important to pharmacist and art curator Linn Born to “free people from the plastic box”. As a pharmacist, she knows the fears of her customers and has developed an alternative with her beautiful pill box.
Born has set herself the task of breaking a stigma through modern design, fine materials and perfect functionality.
The preconception that tablets are only taken by old or sick people is not true. In fact, according to a Forsa survey* conducted by the German Pharmacists’ Association, 53 per cent of Germans take medication. Often several times a day and for a lifetime. The pill box has become an integral part of many Germans’ lives. And yet it is a taboo. The Schoendiener pill box is a statement for a happier life – the opportunity for a completely normal approach to what is actually a completely normal thing. But one that still has negative connotations in society.
The original idea came to the founder during a consultation as a pharmacist with a rheumatism patient who was unable to open the conventional products. “I’m a pharmacist, I love art and I love design. I know the patients’ problems very well, as I worked in this field for years and was able to observe the deficits.” Today, she designs pill boxes as accessories or pill boxes for children – also in collaboration with freelance artists and creative minds – to help them deal with their illness in a more playful way.
Her customers put the pillbox in their handbag or on the table, just like their smartphone and keys. As a matter of course. “Try doing that with one of those transparent plastic boxes,” laughs Born and continues with a touch of irony: “Nobody takes pills, but everyone picks up the box and is delighted.”
The positive response is partly due to the design, which transforms a negatively associated utility item into an aesthetic object, and partly due to the ingenious magnetic mechanism, which ensures that the wooden compartments are easy to open like a self-closing kitchen drawer. The fine magnets are locked in place in such a way that the individual compartments are easy to select even with unsteady or weak fingers.
Born quickly realised that the stigma was mainly due to the hospital look and that it could be resolved through the design. “You pick up the box every day, you live with it, you hang it on the fridge – why shouldn’t it look good, feel good and maybe even be fun?” And of course, a conventional tablet tin immediately sends out the signal that the user is missing something, that they are ill. “At one point, my grandparents had this plastic thing on the table. That’s when I knew they were unwell.”
Good medication. “It improves your life. Every single day,” smiles Born. Side effects? “Daily life gets a little better every day.”
An exclusive product such as the Schoendiener pill box, on the other hand, is first and foremost seen as a design object, a beautiful accessory to look at and touch. Straightforward, unobtrusive, high-quality and timeless. Its purpose is initially secondary. The Berlin artist Felix Leon Westner has written “Lipstick” on his design. The cover becomes a projection surface. “I’m already looking forward to the next editions…”.
The next line will feature drawings by children, and another project is currently being developed with design students from Munich University. In the next stage, customised products or collaborations with companies are also planned.
For the qualified pharmacist, the designed pillbox is a matter close to her heart. It works a bit like a good medicine. “It improves your life. Every single day,” smiles Born. Side effects? “Daily life gets a little bit better every day.”
Presse-Kontakt:
Schoendiener GmbH
Nikolaistr. 4
80802 München
Linn Born
mail@schoendiener.com