Design for Disability

The object I chose is an example of product design for a disabled audience; using 3-d printing technology, this model assists the user in interacting with keyboards touchscreen and touchscreen technology. Created by a Mutual de Seguridad (Mutual Security) a non-profit corporation in Chile, this model is designed for individuals who have lost or limited control of their hands and fingers, a stylus is secured to the hand using molded straps. The 3-d printing technology currently used in the prototype allows the material to be heated slightly and molded to the user’s hand for comfortable use.

This model satisfies the users need to easily and comfortably interact with technology, however it does not attempt to solve the problem of touchscreen technology being difficult to use for disabled audiences. Interfaces that include haptics technology or recognize the use of gestures could be a more effective solution to make challenging interfaces more accessible to individuals effected by similar disabilities. This model is an excellent use of resources, it does not need to be mass produced or use any industrial processes, it can be printed at home using common plastic materials. Because this object cannot be directly bought from a retailer, it must be 3-D printed, making it difficult to obtain. Ownership and knowledge of 3-d printing technology is not common place yet, not everyone has access to this technology and even fewer when considering disabled audiences. However, because this object has an extremely simple design it is inexpensive and easy to produce, replicate, and modify. Because of this simple construction it is fairly inexpensive to hire a company or person to produce one.

The demographic that may be excluded from this device are disabled individuals lacking any way of interacting with technology, those individuals with missing extremities are not able to use the device. Because of its simple design, the object is easy to modify and repurpose, it can be easily modified to secure to another part of the body for use. Another way of making this product more inclusive is by incorporating a similar design into prosthetic limbs to increase the accessibility with prosthetics. The integration of prosthetics limbs opens up an entire different avenue of design and reaches a much broader demographic; developing prosthetics that can interact with constantly advancing technology. The level of accessibility prosthetic limbs could provide would go beyond basic mobility and restoring function. Basically the transition into self-engineered android humans, some might say evolution of humanity while others might say the end of humanity — only time will tell.

Source: https://all3dp.com/2/3d-prints-helping-disabilities/

Designer: Gabriela Bravo https://www.thingiverse.com/gabrielab/designs

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2200674

Design for environmental and social good

Implementing sustainable practices into my personal design process is something I continue to work on and struggle with. One thing I have done to personally lower my impact is host my portfolio website through a through a service that uses various renewable energy sources to power their server farm. The same server is also used to host a multitude of websites to lower the total amount of server space and power required to run them (though for an upgraded charge your site can be hosted on a private server). Load times and site performance can be negatively impacted because of the shared server, I can see how this could be significant to a company trying to showcase their product or service but for my personal use it works perfectly. Small personal decisions seem inconsequential when compared the environmental impact of the top global corporations but they can help support the companies making responsible ecological decisions and to inspire change on a local level. Designing for social good goes hand in hand with designing for environmental good to create sustainable practices. One example of designing for social good I find inspiring is the Utretch Manifesto published in 2015; it argues that designers have gained a new role and greater responsibility in contribution to the creation of ‘the good society’. “A society that ensures that everyone has access to the goods and services needed for a decent existence.” The manifesto points out that designers are well placed for expressing this utopian concept of ‘the good society’ in an appealing way and to help translate it into practice. From this perspective the Utretch manifesto articulates ten theses, which can serve as a frame of action for a design process rooted in collaboration with society. The ten principals of the Utretch Manifesto are: engage with society, design socially, act sustainably, connect ethics and aesthetics, aim for commitment, be critical, be transparent, be supportive and modest, be persistently radical, and take responsibility together. I find that personally all of these are represented best by design socially and act sustainably. Each design contributes to the social interactions between users, analyzing and understanding these interactions and the often invisible social structures that exist around them is a crucial task of designers for the shaping and creation of the social environment. Each individual faces choices that contribute to or take away from our ability to manage our natural resources in a sustainable way; designing socially contributes to a sustainable use of available resources and strengthening of society. 

Intersection of design and politics

Design has always been utilized in politics to communicate a specific message to an audience; flags with identifying colors, shapes, and symbols are used to represent entire nations. Each nation creating a unique style of art representing their culture and history. Historical design movements are often seen as a reaction to the politics and culture at the time. Italian Futurism emerged around 1909 with the publishing of a manifesto by poet and propagandist F.T. Marinetti; Futurism served as a response to the autonomous state of art in society, the rejection of tradition, and the emphasis on innovation and technology. In “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” Marinetti declared Futurist art would act as an incendiary device, upholding  the new values of speed, destruction, and violence necessary for a new age of Italian glory. The rise of Futurism was in direction connection with the rise of fascism; in 1929 Marinetti accepted the prestigious appointment from Mussolini to the Academia d’Italia. From the start Futurist values embodied a nationalist campaign of war and destruction that found representation in Italian fascism. The movement sought to violently annihilate the past and undertake an aesthetic revolution of politics and everyday life. Futurism’s goal to create a new social order through the intersection of art and politics was destined to fail from the start; conflict between the movement and the Fascist regime stems from discrepancies between the aesthetic and political principals of the Futurist project. Specifically Futurism’s aesthetic vision of politics that came to be disappointed by the regime’s inevitable turn toward autonomy and compromise. Art historical accounts today attempt to downplay the question of political influence in favor of the role of Futurist aesthetic innovations in the legacy of modernism. It seems that most commonly that the relationship between Futurism and fascism is ignored entirely through implicit assumptions about the separation of art and politics. In a major Futurist exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961 Joshua Taylor writes that “the nature of the Futurist impulse in politics … should not influence the assessment of its achievement in art. “  Another way some forms of media attempt to downplay the political aspect of Futurism is relating it to a later, less aesthetically important phase of the movement. The intersection of design and politics can be used to create and advertise messages that inspire positive change; this power can also be used to send messages with divisive rhetoric to misinform and persuade audiences. Political influences in design can be seen throughout history and continue to play a significant role in design today.