Renowned Japanese studio, Nendo, led by prolific designer Oki Sato, have created the minimal Ring Pillcase dispenser for Taiko Pharmaceutical. The simple design delivers an exact and careful dosage each time. Its form is like a white doughnut and has been made explicitly for Seirogan Toi-A, a plant-based, distinctively odorous gastrointestinal medicine used as a standby remedy for over one hundred years in Japan.

The structure of the former portable case was such that it dispensed medication when the user opened the cover and tilted the case, but sometimes pills would fall out uncontrollably and fall out of the user’s hand. With this in mind, Nendo considered the body of the newly designed pill case to be shaped like a doughnut that dispenses pills into the central hole—almost like a container within a container. The user first places the case upon their palm and then turns the upper component 60 degrees counter-clockwise to reveal a slot. The slot was designed to face the user so the latter might easily see pills before dispensing. Then, gently tilted toward the user, the pill case releases one to two pills onto the user’s palm, from which the medications may be taken after the case is lifted.

The result is a reassuring design wherein more than one dose does not come out, or the pills will not tumble out of the hand because of the protective barrier provided by the case itself. This is what you call an understated design that simplifies the lives of those who rely on medication.