Sheereen Perrin

normal different

Project Abstract

Put simply—'normal different' is a project dedicated to enhancing design inclusivity. It began as a practice-based research project asking: How can we more easily incorporate inclusive design practices in our work? Over time, it has evolved into an online platform with the main objective of assisting communication designers in creating visually appealling web and print-based assets, while prioritising accessibility throughout their design process. Contained within is a self-narrated manifesto that explores advocacy, inspiration and awareness of our world’s challenges and how we can make it better through design.

Reflection

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Fig. 1 – It’s normal to be different’ — an ethics-based exploration on inclusive design. The auto-ethnographic project endeavours to delve into the nuances of accessibility within a communication design practice. Image description: a page from the book ‘The Laws of Simplicity’ by John Maeda, with a series of black dots in the middle of the page creating the shape of a heart with notes written in pink, red and blue. Notes are a discussion outlining the details and steps for the development of a publication for said creative project.

Fig. 2 – Phase two begins the accumulation of assets for a variety of users—the development of a series of essays to highlight the auto-ethnographic elements of the project. Here, we see a portion of an essay which asserts a line of questioning. [image description: white text on a black background with a white border within it has black text].

Fig. 3 – 'normal different' design is: accessible, simple, empathic, challenging, honest, personal, long-lasting, considerate, inclusive and useful.