provocations
Design “provocations” are scenarios, visuals, or sketch ideas meant to stimulate discussion, invite curiosity and exploration, and lead to more questions rather than answers. Whether these provocations on the future of periods make you scratch your head, jump for joy, or even gag—that’s OK. The point is that this work moves you to wonder, “Why do I feel this way?” and question, “If not this, what should the future hold?”
leak-free, certified
Leak-free is no longer the exception—it’s the norm. “100% period-friendly” is a universal standard and formal certification for clothing manufacturing that you can expect to see clearly marked on the tags of underwear, shorts, skirts, pants, dresses, and suits across major brands and suppliers. Find your fit amongst a vast array of colors, sizes, and designs inclusive of anyone who menstruates.
INSPIRED BY THINX
diy maker-mobile
Welcome to a traveling “maker-space on wheels” where you can build your own custom period product. Middle schoolers and grownups alike, get ready for a hands-on learning experience about menstruation as you 3D-print your own menstrual cup or disc, sew your own washable pad, and even imagine new designs to submit to the annual Period Innovation Convention.
INSPIRED BY MAKERGIRL
PERIOD PODS
Rest and rejuvenate at this cozy, safe, and private space designed to fulfill your needs during menstruation—complete with free sanitary supplies, heating pads and light exercise equipment to help relieve cramps, and iron-rich snacks. Pods also include sanitary bathrooms with soap, water, and special basins and dryers specifically designed to wash and dry your reusable menstrual cups, pads, or underwear.
INSPIRED BY THE WING
PERIOD-ICA
You’re invited! Period-ica is an immersive art, photography, and film pop-up gallery that celebrates the intimacy and beauty of pleasure during periods—including masturbation and sex. Learn about the science behind hormonal level and possible libido changes during the menstrual cycle, as well as opportunities for your flow to naturally enhance your experience.
INSPIRED BY THE VAGINA MUSEUM
status: ovulating
Meet with your new project team at work to discuss your communication style, preferred collaboration tools… and if you choose, you and your coworkers’ menstrual statuses. Open conversations at work empower teams to empathize with each other’s needs while also tapping into their most productive, energized, and creative selves by adapting their workflow to align with the menstrual cycle.
inspired by the art of teamwork
BED OF ROSES
A collection of public flower gardens named after historical menstrual health innovators and activists, invite you to help fertilize the soil by sprinkling in compost-friendly pellets of your nutrient-rich period blood. In a nearby restroom, simply pour the contents of your menstrual cup into a mini pellet-making machine that waters down, sanitizes, and ultimately repurposes your period blood into a flower-friendly compound.
INSPIRED BY de lune
CHOOSE YOUR OWN PERIOD ADVENTURE
Swipe left to get your period, swipe right to skip. Your smart IUD now connects to an app that puts you in the driver’s seat of your menstrual experience. Through the app, get specific details about your cycle—including the exact heaviness level, duration, and moment when your bleeding might start, down to the second. Questions or concerns? Send a note directly to a health specialist who can help on the fly, such as by instantly remotely adjusting the hormonal dosage of your IUD.
INSPIRED BY CLUE
MENSTRUATION SIMULATION
The latest immersive virtual reality simulation invites your 2nd grade class to step inside the shoes of someone who menstruates. Through stocking up on period supplies, tracking your cycle, sanitizing menstrual cups, and telling your virtual parents that you got your first period, you’ll “learn by doing” and build empathy along the way for people who bleed. Depending on your school, you might also be assigned to spend 3 days physically wearing a pad with a small sanitary pouch that leaks red liquid, simulating a period.
INSPIRED BY TEACHAIDS
menopause mecca
Welcome to Menopause Mecca—an annual festival featuring seminars and poetry slams about this unique transition stage; specialty self-care products; and letter-writing workshops to share your wisdom with youth that are now menstruating for the first time. With the help of a personal period doula, even design your own “end of period experience” to reflect on and celebrate the final act in your menstrual health journey.
INSPIRED BY Modern elder academy
PERIOD DOULAS
Starting menopause? Taking hormones that might impact your flow? Getting your first period? For these meaningful menstrual moments and more, Period Doulas are here to help. Period Doulas are compassionate, diverse health practitioners certified in menstrual health care. Count on your Period Doula to advocate for you at doctor's appointments, at school, and in the workplace—as well as translate your needs and questions into personalized, data-driven insights.
inspired by sisterweb
ROOM FOR ALL
Forget waiting in line for the “ladies room” or looking for gendered symbols on bathroom doors. All bathrooms everywhere are now inclusive and safe for anyone to use, and universally stocked with free menstrual products, hygienic disposal bins, washing and drying devices for reusable period products, diaper-changing stations, and more. Menstrual health brands globally have replaced ‘feminine hygiene’ with ‘menstrual health,’ and ‘women and girls’ with ‘menstruators’ and ‘people who menstruate’ across their design, branding, marketing, and advertising.
Inspired by Gender Neutral App Finder
POWERED BY PERIODS
Walking through the mall on a Sunday afternoon, you spot a plaque that says “Powered by Periods.” As you get closer, you discover that the entire mall’s light and electricity is being powered by used menstrual products that have been bio-digested and regenerated into energy! All restrooms in the mall are equipped accordingly with a unique disposal system that directly feeds used tampons, pads, diapers, and postpartum wears into a community-based resource recovery system, ultimately transforming ‘waste’ into a resource.
OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE TURN AND FLOW SYSTEM
PERIOD PNGs
Conversations about periods just got faster, easier, and way more comfortable with Period PNGs. This beautiful emoji and iconography design toolkit illustrates and celebrates the full spectrum of period products and experiences—including icons for biodegradable tampons, washable pads, sustainable menstrual cups and discs, period sex, leaking, cramps, and more. Whether you’re looking for a simple way to ask a friend for a tampon, or building a mobile app with a period-focused user interface, Period PNGs can help.
INSPIRED BY THE NOUN PROJECT
ePERIODS
Welcome to a new line of smart menstrual products that translate your period into data and numbers. ePeriod cups, discs, pads, and tampons give menstruators the “quantified self” knowledge they’ve been craving around their period products—such as how full their period product is at any given moment and the recommended time to change—which helps to alleviate fears around leaking or toxic shock syndrome. ePeriod products connect via Bluetooth to a mobile app and can be configured to alert menstruators of their period status via a subtle glow or vibration of their favorite accessory. This is the next generation of remote menstrual monitoring and wearables.
INSPIRED BY EMM
PERIOD-LETICS
Training for a marathon, swim meet, or weightlifting competition? Sign up for a free diagnostic exam with a Menstrual Coach at your school or local gym to analyze your menstrual blood, interpet the nuances around how your unique body responds to each stage of the menstrual cycle, and make a personal training & nutrition plan to perform your best. No matter the shifts menstruation might bring for your body—strength-building, concentration, mood, appetite, body temperature, knee laxity, and more—your coach can provide the data and resources you need to bring your best self.
INSPIRED BY: CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUBTHANK YOU TO ROSHI ROUZBEHANI and SHONA o'BRYANT FOR THE BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS!Disclaimer: The companies we are "inspired by" are not directly affiliated with this project. All Period Futures’ content should only be used with expressed written consent from the Period Futures team. Upon receipt of this consent, attributions to Period Futures, Roshi Rouzbehani, and Shona O’Bryant are required.
DESIGN THE NEXT PROVOCATION
What do you think the next provocation on the future of periods should be? We would love to hear any thoughts or ideas you might have—or perhaps brainstorm and collaborate with you and your team to generate a new provocation to add to the list.