“SafePub”
Project Overview
SafePub has its genesis in a fictional partnership between a major European brewing company, the city of Norwich, and a small bag company that specializes in thief and mugger deterring every day carry bags designed primarily for women. The choice of “pub” over “bar” for the setting is a deliberate one as while similar, pubs evolved from English public houses that served both food and drink and as such are more community gathering places than bars that evolved to serve alcohol. The project was further refined to be placed in a smaller urban setting as this seemed the right scale for a joint community undertaking.
play animated tour of app
The SafePub App
This is a video tour of the app. Highlights include the layered system that allows end users to tailor the app to their needs. If all that is needed is a simple directory of SafePub certified pubs or drivers the app can be used in a way familiar to all Open Table and Google Maps users. On the other hand, additional safety features are always running in the background and can be accessed at any time. These include the pinned maps that show the closest locations of pubs, drivers and local law enforcement. The app processes rideshare requests immediately and the VR enhanced view function permits an end user to confirm that the car approaching them is in fact the car they hailed. If the situation is dire, local law enforcement can be alerted from within the app and the moment that happens, the end user’s card with photo and emergency contact information is sent to the local law enforcement officer’s phone along with their location data. All drivers and law enforcement personnel pinned in the app have undergone SafePub training.
“It struck me that I wanted to see what a tool looked like that both provided women resources for safe places and streets for a night out and also promoted a network of committed allies in pub owners, staff, taxi drivers and local law enforcement.”
Process Images
This speculative project’s focus is on the risk women face at night in bars and on the streets. It takes off from an idea about what a safer community, especially at night, might look like. The led to the genesis of the SafePub community safety training model and app.
The project went through several iterations, including the fictional pairing of a brewing company with a fictional bag company.
Synthesis, Successes & Challenges
This project had several highlights.
Doing a project about a night out with friends and on the streets during a pandemic required using my imagination to enter into the setting I created. This actually ended up being beneficial. In the great pause that is living in the time of Covid-19, there is plenty of time to explore what alternative social realities might look like.
The Safe Pub project as a whole—the training program, network of pub owners, staff, taxi drivers and law enforcement personnel—may not be ultimately viable as a commercial product now. However, it has value as a discursive project. It would require a commitment to the safety of women and vulnerable minorities. However, I’d like to believe that if we draw and model what these gentler realities could look like that perhaps there is a future business partnership that would develop and implement SafePub in its entirety. In the meantime I believe the app with its core directory of safe places may be viable once the pandemic is under control and we can venture out again for a quiet drink at the local pub.