2021 Winner

2021 Winners

Periods for Periods
Periods for Periods
While countries like Scotland, the UK, and New Zealand are passing bills to make period products free, North America still falls behind in creating policies to address issues around accessibility and affordability of menstrual products.

Period poverty has always been a problem in North America, and the pandemic has only made the issue worse with supply shortages raising prices, alongside mass-layoffs and financial instability driving more Americans and Canadians below the poverty line. 1 in 5 teens in the US cannot afford period products and 1 in 7 Canadian teens have missed school due to lack of access to menstrual products. Yet, only a handful of provinces and states are creating legislation to address the issue.

Despite the many groups working to help end period poverty and how commonplace periods are in our population, there has been no unifying visual symbol for this protest. Similarly, despite being part of nearly every language, the period in punctuation is often overlooked. Periods typically mark the end of a conversation instead of the start of one.

The brand wanted to show that menstrual periods are as commonplace as punctuation periods and rally support for ensuring equal access to necessary menstrual products. They wanted to use periods to start a conversation about periods.

With 61% of designers being women, there seemed to be an opportunity for them to band together and apply their unique skills to help move the cause forward in a new way.

They invited over 140 of the world’s most prolific and talented designers to create a font made entirely of 230 periods. Designers from over 17 countries created their own periods, including the likes of Design Matters podcast host Debbie Millman, Pentagram partner Giorgia Lupi and graphic designer Ellen Lupton.

Each designer developed their own period, with designs ranging from the literal to the metaphorical. The periods featured uteruses, flowers and abstract shapes. They embraced the fact that period blood is actually red, not shying away from a consistent red and pink palette.

Launched in April 2021, the period font was available on the Periods for Periods website, to download and use for free under Creative Commons for non-commercial use. On the site, they encouraged people to protest in their local areas, and they showed users how they can do this, from tweeting local officials to using the periods in communications online and in real life by sticking period stickers on government buildings. In social posts, designs and in the real-world, the periods became a visual symbol of protest, showing that local governments need to do more to fight period poverty.

Designers and members of the public across the globe used the periods in social posts. The story was picked up by design publications, including Design Week, Femme Type and Dezeen, as well as social-first publications like Positive News and women’s lifestyle publications in Europe, with a collective earned media value of almost $100K US. Between media and social chatter, the campaign got over 1.6 million impressions worldwide.

Organizations and brands that help fight period poverty, like the YWCA Metro Vancouver and menstrual product brand OrganiCup, who changed their logos in their own social channels to integrate the periods and support the cause.

Beyond the digital world, the periods began showing up around government buildings, with people punctuating signs across North America with period stickers, including outside of the Ontario Legislative Building.