Vision Impaired: How the Beauty Industry Misses the Mark

With how fast paced and hectic the world has become, nowadays it’s hard to look after anybody but yourself. The state of society today shows an increasing mindset people are subconsciously practicing by looking after only themselves and forget about the wellbeing of others. We all understand as a collective that we are all individuals with the freedom to live our lives the way we desire, but with that statement comes with the facts that this can often be misconstrued in the wrong mindset. The definition of what it means to be born into society comes with including everybody as a community. In particular, when studying the psychology of consumerism, most companies tend to market towards the masses, often surveying the consumers wants and turning them into needs. However with this business plan, this can cause many overlooked matters on also marketing to marginalized groups that should have not been ignored in the first place. One popular complication most companies still face is integrating and putting more consideration into accustoming their business model for the disabled. For example, although many businesses are starting to commence braille into their packaging to cater to the blind and visually impaired to include them in their audiences, many still succeed to fail in overlooking their basic needs.

Humanrace by singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams is a new age skincare line focusing on unifying humanities health and wellbeing through their products. Their main business model is focusing on not the masses, but humanity as a whole with no labels on their audiences. When first launching the brand, many noticed the inclusivity the brand provided by adding braille to their packaging. Although this action should be expected from all skincare and cosmetic companies, their actions beyond the braille speaks louder than words. The first thing consumers can notice about the products is the bright green containers. This color is usually overlooked as a design choice to the masses, but for the visually impaired this can help them identify which products to use, as with their remaining vision they report that it is best to use bright colors to easily identify what products they are using. The industrial designs of their products is also beneficial to the blind and visually impaired. Starting off when delivering their items, they can receive them out of easy to open packaging. With the screw on lid, it makes it easier to disperse the products for use and without worrying of damages due to the addition of the plastic packaging the formulas are in. Humanrace’s design choices can also extend to their bar soaps as they can also be easily identifiable to their engraved logo. It’s very clear from the start that Pharrell Williams executed the clear message that his brand is trying to distinguish on what it means to truly care about providing to humanity unlike other businesses who pretend to do so.

When executing the proposal of including the blind and visually impaired to their business model, most skincare and cosmetic companies are seen applying braille to their packaging and additionally applying the same difficulties that group experiences when shopping for products in the first place. For instance, popular skincare brand Dr. Jart is seen in their new rebrand having added on braille to their packaging. But with this surface level solution, this can cause a spotlight on additional difficulties this decision exposes. Immediately when observing the packaging, a majority of their products are contained in glass packaging, which can become a safety hazard to the blind and visually impaired if those product were to fall and break. Additionally their disperse design shows many faults, as it is seen that their products are encapsulated with difficult to use droplet applicators. Although some products can seem to be easily used, for example spray and pump containers, Dr. Jart is seen adding on unnecessary lids that can be easily be popped off and lost instead of adding on a lock for easier use and less hassle for the audience they’re trying to include. Although many businesses often try to see the vision, they can often overlook the experience, rendering their surface level solution useless in the end.

We as a society often overlook the needs and wants of others that should be taken care of, but on the otherhand, when society pressures businesses into caring it can often create harmful misconceptions and can disperse those ideologies into other business practices as well. The action to be inclusive should come from genuine intent and understanding to listen to the basic suggestions that audience is expressing. Simply listening to what those marginalized groups desire, instead of assuming what they want, can prove extraordinary results in spreading normality among humanity and sharing that same healthy structure and mindset with other businesses. Seeing how consumerism is humanity's traditional method on spreading the culture of society, it is important on how we can express inclusivity without a hollow background to benefit the wellbeing of humankind.