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DESIGN WITH A DIFFERENCE
Marianne Waite
Marianne Waite (BA Digital Arts 2009) has a mission: to inspire brands to use their resources in order to improve society’s relationship with disability and difference. She is the founder of Think Designable, a collective of people from across London's creative agencies, with a shared passion to make mainstream brands more inclusive. In 2017, she was named by Forbes as one of their 30 Under 30 – Europe – Media. Marianne took time out to speak to the Alumni Office about her career and how she is challenging the perceptions around disability and consumerism. 30
How did your time at the University impact on you and your career? The University of West London focuses strongly on vocational development and encourages entrepreneurial spirit. The BA Digital Arts course was incredibly varied and it pushed me to conquer every aspect of the creative process: from concept development, to coding and programming, to life drawing and curation. It trained me to see things differently and taught me the value of determination and simply ‘giving things a go’. Had I not learned this, I don’t think I would have had
the self-belief and optimism to get Think Designable off the ground. The course also afforded me the freedom to build on and develop my individuality and personal beliefs. This meant that by the time I graduated I had such a strong sense of my own style, values and potential, not to mention a group of life-long university friends who have been there with moral support and a bottle of wine on numerous occasions!
Feature – Design with a Difference
Why did you choose a career in branding? After graduating I was applying for full-time roles whilst working part-time as a graphic designer in the University’s Alumni Office. I noticed that most creative positions required branding experience – so I thought I had better get some! I was able to take my first step after I was awarded the UWL Tina Tietjen Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement by the Faculty of the Arts (now called the London School of Film, Media and Design) at the University. I decided the best way to use it was to reinvest in an MA in Design and Branding Strategy, which I did at Brunel University. I soon realised how much power and influence brands have over our day-to-day lives and it’s exciting to be part of creative teams that are able to steer major organisations towards using this power for good. What inspired you to create Think Designable? My older sister Cara has cerebral palsy, so I’ve grown up being acutely aware of how the world around her fails to recognise her different requirements, meaning she is often excluded from society. Over the years, my family and I have adapted products to make them fit for purpose and more attractive to look at – most assistive technology looks like it belongs in an NHS showroom. So I was overjoyed to learn through my studies about the practice of inclusive design (the design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible, without the need for special adaptation or specialised design). My favourite examples of this are escalators, revolving doors and text messaging, which were designed for the few but have improved user experience for the many. I spent a few years following inclusive creative practice across the world and realised there was a gap between specialist academic exploration and mainstream product and services development. When you think about the evolution of eyewear
Photo courtesy of Hanna Agar
from stigmatised spectacles to highend eyewear, it's evident that branding has a strong role to play in how lifestyle requirements evolve. Through Think Designable I want to speed up mainstream inclusion innovation by bringing these two worlds together and providing thought leadership and inspiration. Tell us about some of Think Designable’s current projects. Our main priorities are the preparation for our next event, Designable 2018, which is being supported by The Minister for Disabilities; and our first Purple Paper – a white paper focused on amplifying the needs of disabled consumers and the power of the Purple Pound – as well as the attendance of our disability panel at the Festival of Marketing. And in October 2017 we will present the first ever Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award – which we campaigned for – at the Masters of Marketing Awards. Of your recent work, what makes you particularly proud? The number of attendees who claimed that Designable 2016 totally transformed their perception of disabled consumers. The fact that the Office for Disability Issues is partnering with us this year is a great testament to this. But I consider success to be spurring real change within the creative industry, so our recent triumph in convincing The Masters of Marketing Awards to incentivise and celebrate brands in their inclusive endeavours, through the launch of a new prize category, was a real win.
This year you were named as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe: Media. What does this recognition mean to you? To be named as an honouree was really thrilling and a bit surreal! In terms of my work, this accreditation has helped us gain traction and support from different audiences. The best thing about it was that I have access to the rest of the Global 30 under 30 network. I’ve met some jaw-droppingly impressive people and it’s been so life enhancing to discover that our future is in the hands of some incredibly empathetic and dedicated change makers. It's a shame there are not more disabled 30 Under 30 honourees, but hopefully this will change. What’s next for you and Think Designable? Beyond this year’s objective, I'd really like to work with our wider network of clients to fully understand what the blockers are for brands when it comes to engaging with disabled consumers. Once we know what it is that is stopping them from improving their brand experiences in a more equitable way, we can work towards providing them with the tools and resources they need to make necessary changes.
Learn more about the London School of Film, Media and Design at uwl.ac.uk/lsfmd 31