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Medical Nameplates: A sweet alternative to MedicAlerts

By Allan Chochinov - December 22, 2008

in Object Culture

As part of her Masters Thesis at RISD, Emily Rothschild looked at the role of medication in our lives and in our homes today. The objects above are a redesign of the quotidian medical ID bracelet, "transforming it into something to be valued and worn with pride; jewelry which is meant to be seen rather than hidden."

The series features nameplate necklaces and cuff bracelets championing one's medicinal needs, allergies, or blood type. The objects are bold and present, and have a sly beauty to them. Adds Emily: "The placement and characteristics of this new medical jewelry transforms the standard ID bracelet from something partially revealed to something fully on display--a marker of identity and pride." There are a ton of standard bracelets currently available...all very sober and, well, medicinal. "Can this information instead be incorporated into jewelry which people want to wear?" she asks.

Current words include Epinephrine, Penicillin, Bee Sting, Nut Allergy, and Type O. (We'd custom order "Love Sick", but maybe that's not actually in the PDR. Yet.)

View more of Emily's work and the work of some of her colleagues at helloweare.com.

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thomas berg

13 years ago

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I see Zach's point and would like to take a step farther by saying that this would kill people. Anyone going into a hospital from an emergency situation would benefit greatly from a very generic looking wrist band with the statement of the condition. Awesomeness of design aside, a doctor or ems worker would pass the bracelet or necklace off as just that rather than a marker for a medical condition. Medical bracelets ought to be very bland and distinguishable, they can not be unique and they DEFINITELY can NOT be written in. If you revised this approach to instead make medical bracelets more attractive but uniformly attractive (uniformity a must) then you haven't really changed anything.
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michael

13 years ago

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i wear a medical bracelet and was unaware of its stigma. i'm not ashamed or self conscious of my bracelet, i actually like it and appreciate its existence. without it i could wind up in big trouble. the reason they exist is so that emt's or other medical workers can find important information immediately. they know where to look, and it has a standard iconic appearance to distinguish it from jewelry. this i would say is good design.

i appreciate the designer's creativity, but disagree with its resolution. seems like the project was take something not perceived as pretty and doll it up. the functional aspect of the medical bracelet has been removed and turned into a jewelry design project. try again.
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Zach

16 years ago

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I like these. It is an interesting study on how to remove a stigma from a very necessary object. However, it makes me wonder, does this conceal too much the intention of the medical ID bracelet? Would this, in an emergency situation, be overlooked by a good samaritan? Just a few thoughts, but it makes me wonder if, like car alarms, we would just begin to ignore things; in this case, assuming it was jewelry.
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