Shaun Sudar
April 15th, 2018
CIU111.3
In class, we talked and discussed about inclusive design in our respective industries. It took me a while to understand this topic because it seemed complicated to me, at first. But after I conducted research I understood what inclusive design is.
The example of inclusive design in film that stood out to me was a 9 and a half minute film that was made in 2012 by Megan Strickfaden, an associate professor of Design Studies and Material Culture in the Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta, and PhD student Adolfo Ruiz. The film that they made basically follows 3 legally blind people through a mall in Edmonton, an Art Gallery in Alberta and a gym in West Edmonton, all of which belong to Canada. “The film ends up illustrating more about people’s abilities and what they can see, rather than their disabilities, it is quite surprising for most audiences.” said Strickfaden (Curious Arts, 2016).
The movie, titled ‘Light in the Borderlands’, gave an insight to us regular people of what legally blind people go through on a daily basis in their lives. It also shows us this unique ‘world’ that these legally blind people are in, as if they were switching between the blind world and sighted world.
Even though a film about how legally blind people was made, it never reached the masses. ‘Light in the Borderlands’ was only shown in an event called Design Matters Film Series (Curious Arts, 2016). It wasn’t released to the public. Films like this would gain a lot of attraction in my opinion, because it adds this certain type of curiosity. I’m sure a lot of people would like to know what it would be like to be legally blind, or would like to know how these people go on with their lives with a disability that’s very serious.
Special films like these should be made more often, so it can open the eyes of people and it’s something new, not your everyday action packed, drama, romance films. It just adds a new element or even a new genre to the film industry with films like Light in the Borderlands that can be used to educate us as well.
References
Design Matters film series on inclusive design. (2016, February 25). Retrieved April 15, 2018, from http://www.curiousarts.ca/design-matters-film-series-on-inclusive-design
SAE Creative Institute. (2015, April 20). Week 8: Inclusive Design – Self-Directed Practitioners – Medium. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from https://medium.com/self-directed-practitioners/week-12-inclusive-design-9df8f239653b
Screenshots from the film Light in the Borderlands. (2016). Light in the Borderlands. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from http://www.adolforuiz.org/light-in-the-borderlands/
Shaun Sudar 
I really like the idea of this film, I think that this to an extent is inclusive design. it shows an average person who is able to see perfectly how the people that are blind are.
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I had confusion about Inclusive Designed that you removed and explained clearly with a great example which to me was Light in the Borderlands. Never heard about this movie but very motivated to watch and live what blind people go through on a daily basis everyone should experience at least once through a movie to understand different perspectives. Loved the blog!
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As someone who is reading on this topic for the first time ever, I find this post a bit confusing to read. Maybe a basic definition on what exactly inclusive design is would be helpful. It make it easier for me or anyone new to the topic to understand. The film seems quite interesting though.
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Solid Blog, interesting example with light in the borderlands, I’d heard of this film and after reading this blog I may now check it out. The only problem was there was no like standard mean of inclusive design.
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