Pretty packaging means nothing for consumers who have blindness, so how can designers create something that is functional for the estimated 285 million people worldwide who are visually impaired? Alexandra Burling developed a concept for food packaging called Color Me Blind that looks great on the shelf but is also just as easy to differentiate for blind consumers. We spoke with Alexandra to learn more about making an aesthetically appealing packaging design for the visually impaired, giving sightless people the same experience in the store, and more.
Alexandra: As always, I focus a lot of my design based on my research. If you just design something based on it “looking good,” there is nothing to fall back on. The designs on the packages are mostly based on what I learned directly through my interviews with the visually impaired. So, the designs on the packagings are created to be aesthetically pleasing, but with the sense of touch instead of sight. The designs feature dynamic patterns, information written in Braille; including ingredients, country of origin, and best-before dates. Symbols indicating the openings on the packages were made.
Alexandra: I visited the Invisible Exhibition in Stockholm, where you go through different surroundings in pitch black, with a visually impaired guide. The exhibition’s purpose is to let people experience how it’s like to be blind. I also interviewed blind people, from the Invisible Exhibition and from the Federation for the Visually Impaired in Sweden. As I answered in the previous question, the design on the packaging is based primarily on what I discovered from these interviews. Besides this, I also read a lot about the Braille alphabet and learning systems for blind people.
