Simon Dogger

You were visually strong, and then suddenly you went blind... 

“Yes, in my third year, at the age of 32, I fell ill and went blind. That was 15 years ago. It’s a long story and more complex, but the bottom line is that I have an autoimmune disease that specifically targets and damages the brain. One of the consequences was that my optic nerves were pinched off. The effects cannot be reversed, but the disease itself is under control now.

That was an enormous upheaval. A huge change. I don’t want to make my story too tragic, but I spent four years rehabilitating. I was no longer able to do anything. I could no longer walk, talk, or think properly. Thankfully, that got better after a year, but then I had to learn to live again. Try reading the information on a package or website, finding your way around a building, or cooking with a blindfold on.”

After four years, when I was able to cook for myself, I thought: ‘It’s time to return.’ For me, it was very simple: I wanted to go back to design school. That was really the only thing I was thinking. Looking back, the Design Academy gave me the space to discover and develop myself again. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but the entire academy felt like a kind of playground to me.”  

What made your visual impairment a playground? 

“When I returned, I was very aware that I could only do two things well: think and talk. I could no longer do any of the other stuff. In the end, I think that this limitation of possibilities helped me tremendously. Before, I was incredibly focused on the visual aspect, like most designers. This is also what design schools focus on, and there is a lot of competition in that area. But I didn’t have to deal with any of that anymore. 

As a blind person, I now experienced everything around me using my other senses, like touch, smell, and sound. As a result, I discovered a world I didn’t know existed before. I became increasingly aware of how we connect to everything around us on a multi-sensory level. It’s a lot of fun to translate that visual aspect.”

What did you discover in that multi-sensory world?

“Since I now had to feel the world with my hands, the first thing I had to learn was to open myself up more. And as I developed my other senses, I gained more self-knowledge and learned to trust my intuition better. My ‘view’ of the world became more holistic, and I learned to ‘see’ beyond the visual, so to speak. I noticed that this made it easier for me to come up with innovative ideas, and that my concepts became stronger.

Suddenly I was much better at filtering out assumptions and noise everywhere, so things that are illogical or irrelevant. I applied that to my fellow students’ presentations, for example. I noticed that I was better able to perceive what attracted me to their designs and what pulled me into their story. I was also less opinionated. It’s not that I no longer had opinions, but they only came afterwards, from a deeper and more reasonable layer.

And I learned to give much better presentations myself. As a sighted person, I made pretty pictures, but I really hated presenting. As a blind person, I discovered that I was a capable presenter. Since I now used sound instead of pictures, I also discovered the power of my voice, and I learned all aspects of audio production to tell a story.” 

Are those glasses already available for the blind and visually impaired? 

“No, not yet. The level of the software at that time was the biggest limitation for its continued development. But I think current developments in artificial intelligence will make that a lot easier soon.  

In the meantime, I have a much better understanding of my position when scaling it up. At the time, I developed the Emotion Whisperer with a software company and other parties, such as TU Delft and University of Amsterdam. But I was still carrying most of the responsibility for the project myself. To take it further, I need to no longer do that on my own. 

I’d now like to start fresh with a major software company and a design firm, so I can better carry the follow-up through. I do want to be involved, but I want to stay focused on the concept. And, of course, my role is to connect with the target audience, as I am one of its potential users.”

Do you have examples of multi-sensory projects that you have worked on more recently? 

“Yes, I already mentioned Huis Sonneveld, which you can still tour. That project is called The multi-sensory house, because we brought the house to life through touch, smell, and sound. For example, there is a tactile model of the house, the smell of coffee meets you in the kitchen, and you can smell the scent of the bed linen, the way it used to smell. In the living room, you can hear old telephones ringing and music from the era coming out of restored radios.

I have worked on creating audio tours and audio descriptions for museums before. And I also do all kinds of things with sound to increase the impact of communication, such as voice-over narratives, podcasts, and music compositions. Using audio is an innovative way to convey information, create awareness, and have discussions. 

Another example is BMW. I helped them to improve their car design from a multi-sensory perspective. For example, I gave them advice on how the steering wheel feels, how the doors sound, and how the interior smells. Those kinds of interactions can improve people’s driving experience and create a deeper emotional connection to the car.” 

What do you believe is the power of a design if you leave out the visual aspect? 

“Firstly, I think relevance is important. What is the purpose of a design? In my own concepts, I started to focus mainly on what I want, as a blind person. The benefit of that is that it also affects other people within that target group. This means I can be societally relevant from my own desire.

This is also how I gained the insight that I can use my own vulnerability as a designer. When I openly question my challenges as a blind person and connect a design project to these challenges, I transform them. This is when they take on another dimension and become more powerful. There is poetry in that.

Elements such as playfulness, amazement, sensuality, and humour also always come into play. I stimulate other senses with my work, which allows you to amaze people and pull them into your work. I give them a different experience. People like that. It often gives them new ideas and invites them to participate in the thinking process.” 

You already mentioned that you want to put more effort into diversity in education. Does that mean scaling up your masterclasses? 

“Yes, I started developing a design education program last year in which sighted and non-sighted students can learn from each other. I think there could be a little more balance between objectivity and practice, in design education, and education in general. Thinking from behind your desk is valuable, but I believe it contributes something to add a level of embodiment.

When you need to navigate the world through touch, you are less likely to make assumptions. As a result, you incorporate different sensory impressions into your designs. Themes such as spirituality, intuition, and humanity take on a greater role. I think this kind of holistic approach is very valuable to our society. 

Last year, I conducted field research with 16 blind and visually impaired students at TU Delft. That gave me a first indication of feasibility. This year, I would love to engage with many more schools to explore what the frameworks of such a program might be, as a structural collaboration or as a minor, for example.”

Finally, what conversation would you like to engage in with schools – and perhaps everyone reading this? 

“An education for everyone. That is ultimately my vision. I hope that together we can set something in motion that also includes, for example, deaf students. I personally have a deaf cleaner. Our dynamic is not easy, and I find that very challenging. But it is also incredibly interesting. ‘How are we going to solve this together?’

A while back, I met a spastic man in a wheelchair, who had great difficulty speaking, and I asked myself the question: ‘Could he join such a design school?’ My first thought was: ‘No, absolutely not.’ I couldn’t believe I was thinking that! It’s not a bad thing. It just goes to show that everyone judges and that our assumptions are deeply rooted. The second thought I had, like the young boy I used to be, was: ‘Yes, why not?’” 

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