See Differently shines a light on the life-hacking products used by the blind community

Life hacks seem to be everywhere these days. Having cemented their place on social media, these (often revolutionary) new ways of using objects for something other than their designed function can be fun to watch, and pretty awe-inspiring when that lightbulb moment strikes. In a new range of products, The Design Museum has teamed up with The&Partnership London and The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to rebrand a number of ingenious life-hacks that aid people with sight loss.

The range of innovative products titled See Differently shines a spotlight on how the visually impaired cleverly use everyday objects to tackle daily tasks. A simple plastic hair clip, for example, can be used as a shoe organiser, keeping them in pairs by clipping the two shoes together. It’s just one of many imaginative ways in which the blind community have redesigned the world around them.

Another product reimagines an afro comb as a very useful veggie slicer. Making life quicker, easier and altogether safer, the afro comb can be slotted into any kind of vegetable – take an onion for instance. Then the teeth of the comb can be used as a perfect guide to slice your onions in both a consistent and efficient manner. Now available from The Design Museum Shop as well as the RNIB’s UK store and website, all proceeds from the distinctively branded range will go to charity.

Launched last week, See Differently coincides with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December. It’s part of the Design Museum’s Diversity in Design panel and sees everyday people transformed into product designers with these life-changing life hacks used by the visually impaired. In a statement by the RNIB’s head of brand Martin Wingfield, Martin says on the project, “Our brand campaign has challenged misconceptions surrounding sight loss while showing that people with sight loss live perfectly normal lives. We wanted to build on our campaign by showing that sight loss doesn’t mean stopping doing the things you love.”

Through human creativity, the products demonstrate the resourcefulness of the visually impaired community and the inventive life-hacks they’ve adopted to make several activities a lot easier. In another statement, Jane Manley who regularly uses such objects, also testifies to the usefulness of these products saying: “As a blind person, I have to find clever ways to organise and manage my day to day life. Hacks like these are simple yet incredibly useful for me to maintain my independence, and what is great, is that my sighted partner finds them useful too.”