Design Beyond Vision - Performance/Workshop

Design by non-visual senses for everyone

We are at a time of change. The instability reveals new requirements of inclusivity in the design field and society. The responsibility to adapt to changes requires us to think out of the box and practical solutions to gain more perspectives. The awareness of increasing inclusivity and accessibility is widely accepted, discussed and labelled. Inclusive design in the design field tends to look for immediate solutions based on assumptions by the creator who did not look through the eyes of the targeted minorities. Design Beyond Vision is a design and research project that explores the non-visual approach of design and stimulates the art and design field to think out of visual dominance. Based on the method, the designers are creating accessible solutions and education programs for the people who are capable and incapable of seeing, increasing the life quality for the minority and questioning visual-dominated design practice in general.

Design Without Seeing for All

Through a developed methodology, the designers Boey Wang and Simon Dogger introduced a different value and initiate change through the sense of touch. Boey’s Haptic of Cooking and Dogger’s The Emotion-whisperer feature products that are designed for the visually impaired. As Haptics of Cooking aids in the preparation of food, and The Emotion-whisperer stimulates communication, together they raise the quality of life for blind and low-sighted people. The two works together as one can see and one couldn’t. They are developing the story and the design practice to bridge the two different ways of experiencing the world. The presentation at Klokgebauw will show the process of their research. They also translated the methodology into education programs to inspire the next generation of designers to think out of the box.