"DESIGNxRI works to create an opportunity-driven environment for the RI design sector to thrive."
"With the 3rd largest percentage of creative sector jobs in the country, the 3rd most industrial designers in the nation,
and home of award-winning design schools and programs - Rhode Island is Design."
Design Week 2018
September 13 - 22, 2018
Join us in this multi-day event where we spotlight
the talent, innovation, and influence of the Rhode Island design community.
Above image links to Design Week!
experience, discover, and celebrate!
Above banner links to the event on Eventbrite.
Inclusive Design Panel
Beyond Accessibility & Across Industries
Friday September 14th 2018
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Free & open to the public, but registration is required :)
Design informs our interaction with technology, the construction of cities, the aesthetics of a restaurant, the functionality of automobiles, and the processes by which businesses operate. Design permeates all industries and impacts our global ecosystem and everyday lives.
Over the years diverse approaches such as participatory, user-centered and transgenerational design have attempted to incorporate inclusive aspects to improve the lives of people, users, consumers, stakeholders etcetera.
Today practitioners of design are striving to create some of the most innovative and holistic products, experiences and spaces that elevate the standard of what inclusive design ought to be and offer to our beautifully diverse humanity and complex ecosystem.
We’ll explore the spectrum of ways in which inclusive design has shaped products, experiences and spaces of four unique industries and target elements of inclusion.
meet the panel
Brown Alumna & EveryWear Founder
krystal sarcone
Krystal Sarcone is most passionate about bringing universal design concepts to venues in which diversity and disability have been historically neglected, or overly pathologized.
As the founder of an adaptive apparel startup, that strives to improving the shopping experience for marginalized consumers, Krystal brings her design, clinical research, patient education, advocacy, and nonprofit management expertise to the table.
MPA Candidate & Media Production Specialst at the Watson Institute
alex laferriere
Alexander Laferriere's interests focus on film, policy, and accessibility as it pertains to education within deaf and sign-language communities.
Alexander has been involved in the production of various films that were completely Deaf/Sign language operated and sees the potential of such production methods for visual crafts. He earned a bachelor's degree in interactive media and game design from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
RISD Alumna & Design Researcher
jen spatz
Jen Spatz is a multidisciplinary designer focused on the role of auditory perception in future facing technologies. Through the creation of design objects, animations, and staged experiments her work encourages conversation about the universal design of digital experiences.
Jen holds a Masters of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and received her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Project LET'S Representative & Brown University Student 19'
Matt flathers
Projec LET'S is a peer-led community of support, education & advocacy for folks with lived experience of mental illness, trauma, Disability, and/or neurodivergence.
Matt is one of the student leaders and activists currently pushing to create a disability identity and cultural center on campus that would serve all members of the University community, providing access to a wide range of services and cultivating a sense of culture among students with disabilities.
Panel Talk Summaries
Panelist: Krystal Sarcone
- will be speaking on the role of universal design in the space of apparel consumerism for individuals with diverse health, function, and disability needs.
Panelist: Alex Laferriere
- will be discussing the historical references in film pertaining to the depiction of the deaf and/or sign language using characters and our subsequent understanding of this community.
Panelist: Jen Spatz
- will be speaking about her thesis work related to voice user interfaces and its user design, including verbosity and speed as well as the use of successive staccato sounds to improve navigation for visually impaired and blind community.
Panelist: Matt Flathers
- will be representing Project LET'S and discussing their advocacy work pertaining to inclusive spaces on campus for students with disability, mental illness or neurodivergence.
Sponsors
This event is being supported by:
