Design for dignity.
Design for a dignified life
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ach person is unique. All of us have some things that we find easy while we experience other things as more difficult. Sometimes what comes easily to us falls outside the norm. We call that talent. Sometimes what we find difficult falls outside the norm. Then that could be termed a disability. The combination of our abilities in different areas creates our multifaceted personalities. If we can appreciate diversity and support all abilities, then all people will have an easier time contributing to our society.
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hat this support should look like will depend on the type of need and scope. Sometimes a hand on the shoulder will help a person remember a forgotten word while other needs may require more both in terms of aid resources and assistance.
Lena Lorentzen Professor in Design for All, Mid Sweden University
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his exhibition includes aid resources that compensate for specific needs, products that help caregivers to assist and work with people with disabilities, and products that are designed to be easy to use by everyone. All of these need to be available and further developed in a society that offers a decent life for all citizens.
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or many people with disabilities daily life can be experienced as excluding. In a sustainable society, we cannot design products, services and environments so that they exclude people and require special solutions. It is desirable that in the future we will not need as many means of assistance. If designers, manufacturers and marketers acquire more knowledge, and people with disabilities more often become involved in product development, our future society will be better for everyone.
t is not just about inclusion from an ethical and empathetic perspective. Demographic change, with an increasing proportion of older people, means that we must find solutions in which everyone can contribute according to their conditions; the alternative is to jeopardise our welfare. At the same time we are entering an era when focus on cheap mass production inherent in industrialisation needs to be replaced with sustainable products that we can connect with and that will increase our quality of life.
BabyBjörn www.babybjorn.se/en Bellman & Symfon www.bellman.com Etac www.etac.com Feal www.feal.se Index Braille www.indexbraille.com Iris Hjälpmedel www.irishjalpmedel.se Lectus Produktion www.stockholmii.se LVI Low Vision International www.lvi.se Martall www.martall.eu
Panthera www.panthera.se Prisma Teknik www.prismatibro.se Skrufs Glasbruk www.skrufsglasbruk.se Somna www.somna.eu Tetra Pak www.tetrapak.com Tobii Dynavox www.tobiidynavox.com Trelleborg www.trelleborg.com/elastomerlaminates TrustCare www.trustcare.se Twicegrip Sweden www.twicegrip.com
Project Manager: Sylvia Augustinsson, Swedish Institute Curator: Margarita Bergfeldt Matiz
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest and confidence in Sweden around the world. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through strategic communication and exchange in the fields of culture, education, science and business. SI works closely with the Swedish embassies and consulates around the world. For more information about SI and Sweden, please visit si.se and sweden.se. Photo: Emelie Asplund/imagebank.sweden.se, Claudio Bresciani. Printed in Sweden: Åtta.45, Järfälla, 2016.