THE CHALLENGE
In our society, there is a need of humancentred, high quality hardwearing products to help integrate the visually impaired and make their daily lives more rewarding. Glassblowing is a craft technique that is becoming less attractive to young job seekers, hampering its continuity in the near future. The industry needs to produce more and more innovative products creating new market opportunities to preserve the technique and at the same time attract young people to continue the tradition.
 

THE SOLUTION
The idea behind this Project is to create a universal collection of glassware that facilitates pouring and drinking for visually impaired people. An analogical system of sounds and vibration will tell the user when the glass is full and the articles will be easy to grip firmly while drinking, making life easier. The main goal is to create a project that help blind people to be independent and more confident in their day-to-day life. The project takes a humanistic approach to the design of articles that are easy to hold and aesthetic. Glassblowers, both young and old will also have the opportunity to use their skills in new environments, motivating them to stay in the workforce longer.

THE IDEA
The idea came to my mind while drinking from a crystal glass. I thought then that even when you use a little force to lightly tap the wall, it sounds very beautiful. This first thought made me think about a project for people who cannot see the level of the drink being poured. What if a product could signal the right amount of drink in such a natural and gentle way? After the first in-depth interviews with a blind person and the elderly who had serious vision problems, I got a lot of new inspirations. Their willingness to be independent has made me think about a product that can help them in their daily lives. The idea crystallized into several concepts that were then tested. After feedback from the respondents, the idea developed to a higher level.
 

THE BIRTH OF THE PROJECT
In our society, there is a need for more human centred, higher quality hardwearing products that help integrate the visually impaired and make their daily lives more rewarding. In addition, the glassblowing industry needs to produce more and more innovative products creating new market opportunities to preserve the technique and at the same time attract young people to continue the tradition.
 

THE CREATIVE PROCESS
It all started with a thought, an idea. I like to support my design work with research, an important element of which are interviews with people. They allowed me not only to identify needs and problems, but also were extremely inspiring to design solutions. Sometimes, just as in this project, the conclusions after interviews and tests with a group of recipients make it necessary to reject certain solutions and design them from scratch. Each defect of the prototype allowed to raise the design to a higher level.
 

THE COLLABORATION
My Project Partner- Ferran Collado is a specialist in glassblowing. His experience was extremely inspiring. Each of the ideas was verified by Ferran in production, such boundaries accelerate decision-making and, in my opinion, boost creativity even more. Making prototypes in the target material allowed me to better verify the design and develop the project.
 

THE FUTURE
In the future, I would like to find good distributors (physical and digital- Concept stores, Design stores) whose offer would match the products. I would like to cooperate with architects (so that the products are in their showrooms) and with B2B clients (restaurants, hotels, cafes, other companies and institutions- for conference rooms). I would like each of these products to be available for purchase separately. I would still need to find ways to commercialize the system hidden in the stirrer. I would like it to be easier and therefore faster in production (than in prototype). It’s possible but I don’t have the budget for it yet. I would have to involve even more people in the field of microelectronics in the project.
 

THE MESSAGE
As Henry Ford used to say: “Joining forces is the beginning, staying together is progress, working together is success.”- in my opinion, the best solutions come from multidisciplinary teams. Collaboration allows you to challenge your personal assumptions and beliefs and then try to rise to a new level of thinking. It contains tolerance to the unknown, allowing for experimentation and learning from mistakes, which in turn translates into high innovation.