playing your hand at designing for all

by Sophie Smith
Design for All- creating something that is universal, something that anyone could or can appreciate and understand. 

For the EIDD competition that we entered as a design group I used a pun, playing your hand (literally) at designing for all. I used a playing card and transformed the centre of it into a design for all-related design, consisting of imagery related to designing for all; functional and user-friendly objects.

As the playing hand could have several connotations, I used type to collaborate and tie it all in to create understanding. The reason for such a plain and simple black and white colour scheme to me indicates a straight up and honest attitude and approach, which is what I was trying to convey. It should not be a complicated matter- creating design that can relate to a wide range of society is important. We no longer cater for the ‘norm’, or the old-fashioned ‘average’ user. We are a colourful and multicultural society and design must move with society.

Each and every designer has their own personal style and influences, so how do we translate these personal designs for everybody to understand? For designers working in large establishments, there are all the confinements and restrictions which is a way that we can control what is being translated … but what about designers working alone?

For an example of design that everyone can understand I’ll refer to universal road signs and symbols – designers are confined to using specific dimensions and colour schemes to translate the meaning of signs for a worldwide audience to understand. These universal road signs, whilst different from our road signs in New Zealand, follow an almost identical format.

If we are to control the way designers work, how will we allow creativity to flow? What a boring world we would live in if everything was defined and controlled.

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