This article explores the design politics of Scotland’s baby box. Based on a similar government initiative from Finland, the baby box is essentially a large illustrated cardboard box containing around forty items for a baby and a new mother. Since 2017 every child born in Scotland has been entitled to receive a free baby box from the Scottish Government and the box allegedly uses ‘the power of design’ to give every child an equal start in life. By examining the design decisions that underpin the baby box, this article seeks to provide a more nuanced picture of the political uses of design, and to reflect on the changing role, responsibilities and meaning of government when expressed through both design policy and design artefact.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Design and Culture: The Journal of the Design Studies Forum on 20 January 2025, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2024.2441576