diverse design benefits all

by Janelle Hazeldine
We are all diverse beings. People once coined as ‘different’ or the ‘others’ are now being included in all societal realms. So it should be. The fact we have diverse qualities, whether found in personable traits or features, ensures the development and survival of a race. 

EIDD Poster Entry

When confronted with the design problem to create a poster addressing the need to Liberate Diversity by Designing for all, the solution seemed too broad to contain within one poster. I went through the traditional design processes of sidelining, discarding, revisiting, and finally resolving ideas. I decided to carry through the idea of designing at the grass roots level – the pen and paper stage. Pens and paper are designers’ tools, they allude to the act of designing. The hand also seemed more appropriate as the governing force that inflicts such constructs or rules on an impoverished society.  All of the elements within the design have been crafted in a direct, hand-drawn fashion. The scrawly style also suggests the imperfect, non-uniform aspects of humanity. The only perfection existing within the image is the grid paper, where the drawing of the designer is revealed as a generic man, often used in many pictograms as the typical ‘perfect man’. The tagline to accompany the image is “Design is not one rule. Design for all”. It plays on the idea of ruling, measuring things up, yet also the rules that exist in society in which designs are either constrained or created by. Designers are always seen to be looking outside the box, yet it seems there are still plenty of things round that  do not allow equal opportunity for all users.

Preaching about inclusivity is not new, and more and more the effects of such fantasy are becoming reality. This can be seen in modern day approaches to building homes and newly developed forms. The population is beginning to lean more toward an aging one, with the baby boomers reaching their 50s and 60s. These people begin to need better designed facilities.

 

Spacious, Modern Universal Kitchen

Returning World War II soldiers were possibly the main reason for the development of a practice called Universal Design. These war veterans often returned home maimed or disabled. “They began looking for new ways to design homes so people with disabilities could live with dignity”.

It seems appropriate that designers concentrate on factors that can create inclusive design in such a marketplace, where people live longer and more of them are living with disability.  Consumer trends often evolve to favour the spaciousness of Universal Designed homes. Many other developments prioritising the needs of the disabled have ended up as successful mainstream designs.