If you’ve ever wished babies came with instruction manuals, you’ll appreciate the brilliance of The Information Blanket. Instead of prints of duckies and rainbows, these baby blankets are printed with infographic-style instructions to help parents care for their newborns. Designer Neil Powell included information that ranges from healthy body temperature and details on feeding to immunization and signs of illness.
The Information Blanket uses a one-for-one business model, meaning a blanket is donated to a newborn in Uganda for every $40 English-language blanket sold. The donated blankets are sent to Uganda via The Shanti Uganda Society.
The social entrepreneur went to Uganda — which has the highest infant mortality rate in the world — in May 2011 to donate the first 1,000 Information Blankets himself. He documented the whole experience, which gained buzz online via his website, Facebook page and Twitter.
Powell is now working on expanding the social enterprise to include information-printed diaper bags, bibs, bottles and onesies.
