Eye-Opening Packaging for the Blind

Grocery shopping can be a real feast for the eyes. A rainbow of colorful boxes and wrappers feature eye-popping logos that grab your attention at every turn of the aisle. Meanwhile, some packages are transparent and avoid tricks of the eye. But what about packaging for those who lack the sense of sight? Today on the Ernest blog, we’re taking a look at one graphic designer’s bold ideas for packaging for the blind.

Alexandra Burling is the creator of “Color Me Blind,” an art project to appeal to advertising by the sense of touch. After interviewing individuals with visual impairments, it became evident to Burling that there were frustrations about trips to the grocery store.

“There is an extreme lack of information written in Braille on these kinds of packages,” explains Burling. Her research backed up these concerns, as few packages offered insights as to their contents, much less how to open them. Burling asked herself, “Is it possible to give the sightless the same experiences as people with vision?”

“Color Me Blind” transformed a small gallery room into a faux grocery store for the blind. Visitors would enter the “store” and touch packages in complete darkness, while supermarket sounds played around them.

It might seem like packaging as subtle as that in “Color Me Blind” could never stand out in the crowded grocery store shelf, but Burling’s minimalistic, informative design is already turning its fair share of heads: it has generated a lot of buzz online and has been featured at the Golden Pin Concept Design Awards. It takes a true innovator to take the conversation about packaging in a completely different direction, and Burling has opened up new discussions about where the boundaries of design lie.

We at Ernest know a thing or two about pushing the boundaries of packaging and making waves… well, slopes. Our Cardboard Chaos corrugated snowboard challenged preconceptions about what materials were snow-proof and showed that cardboard can shred along with the best of ‘em. Going against the industry standard can open up all-new possibilities to address challenges you may be facing. Contact us today to see how we can shed new light on your packaging!