Inclusive Design

Another concept that i have become fascinated with is Incusive Design. Inclusive Design has been driven by the realisation that in Europe, we are an aging population, we are culturally diverse, and some of the population has a form of disability. Much of design created, especailly graphic design tends to exclude these people. The idea of 'Universal Design' or 'Design-for-all' has been developed in the USA especially where the Viatnam war created huge numbers of disabled ex-soldiers.

It is not difficult to see that something needs to be done to allow the old, ethnic, disabled population more access to the advertising, packaging, even signage that the rest of us take for graunted. Most graphic designers (according to the design council) are male, young and white, and im sure none of them are blind.

In accourdance with this the Royal National Institute of the Blind is launching a set of guidelines specifically for the deign industry, aiming to encourage designers to produce material that is legible by people with sight problems e.g. caps type can be difficult to distinguish for people with very poor eyesight as they will normally recognise the shapes of the words.

This idea of inclusive design opens up a whole world of new and exciting prospects for design. It is a subject that i would like to work more closely with in future assignments. I am not so niave that i don't realise creating something that appeals to a traget market as well as not alienating those who have disabilities or are minorities is a near impossible feat - you cannot please everyone - but i would like to see how far this could be taken.