An inclusive pedestrian navigation system has earned an Interior Design student at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) a prestigious national award.
Award-winning Deborah Abidakun
Final year student, Deborah Abidakun, has won a £1,000 prize in the national RSA Student Design Awards, sponsored by the Office for Disability.
The awards challenge emerging designers to tackle pressing social, environmental and economic issues. In response to the Inclusive Cities brief, Deborah created a user-friendly pedestrian navigation system for London, taking into account the needs of people living with disabilities.
As well as incorporating shelter from the elements and energy-saving solar panels, her design includes braille for visually impaired users, swipe-able screens for users of all heights, and 3D motion graphics for users with cognitive disabilities.
The 21-year-old said: “Winning this award has given me confidence in myself as a young designer. Being recognised by professionals from different backgrounds is a huge achievement for me.”
Deborah's inclusive pedestrian navigation design impressed the RSA judges
Deborah will receive her award on 20 June at a ceremony at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Her work has also been published in an online gallery alongside 25 other innovative ideas tackling world issues.
She said: “I hope to expand my knowledge in inclusive design, which is something that will set me apart from other designers as I grow within the design industry.”
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Deborah and two other DMU students, Jessica Puttock and Amie Vantomme, made the final five shortlisted for the awards, from a total of 68 entries.
A sensory playground inspired by Jessica's disabled cousin
Determined to support her young disabled cousin and others like him, Jessica designed an accessible children’s playground, complete with a sensory tunnel with for different zones and ramps on various levels.
Jessica said: “My playground is designed to give disabled children independence, while having big enough areas for adults to accompany them and wide enough for wheelchair users.
“I never thought I’d get shortlisted by such an esteemed company and it was really interesting to hear why they picked us.”
Amie’s idea is an ambitious re-design of the London underground system to better support people with ‘hidden’ disabilities such as anxiety, claustrophobia and dyslexia.
She said: “My design proposes ideas such as making signage bolder, using consistent iconography and introducing aroma generators to signal different areas visually impaired people.
“Even though I didn’t win, getting down to the last five and having my work recognised in this way feels great.”
Amie's ambitious London underground revamp
Brian Wealthall, Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at DMU said: “The RSA is a prestigious national, and increasingly international, student design competition. To have our three DMU students shortlisted is recognition of the innovation and creativity shown by this year’s cohort of students.
“We are extremely proud of Deborah, as winning such a distinguished award is testament to her tremendous hard work. This award puts her in esteemed company and will no doubt provide a platform for future career success.”
Posted on Monday 6 June 2016