THE DISABLED DESIGNER
brief:
Students must develop a business plan and pitch to present at a mid year event to gain feedback from peers and to update their ideas for the end of year exhibition event.
intro:
The design world is massively oversaturated and competitive, so how do I plan on gaining a competitive edge to ensure that my freelance career is a success?
who we are:
On a mission to change the world…
Fueled by my lived experience of disability and a strong passion for inclusion, I have spent the last six years creating aesthetic and accessible solutions for all. My career, centred around the creativity of social media management and graphic design, combined with a comprehensive understanding of accessibility, allows me to merge my skills into one unique offering: The Disabled Designer. I go above and beyond on every project, whether through sensory mapping for interactive media or actively engaging with clients' target audiences, to truly understand their needs and ensure every client falls in love with the work I do for them.
3: starting block
4: brainstorming
5: branding
creative journey
2.1 Chloe Hayden: Instagram. Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/chloeshayden/
2: creators
research
2.2 Ellie Midds WeAreUnmasked. Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/weareunmasked
2.3 Eliza Rain Disabled Eliza. Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/disabled_eliza
2.4 Becky Ellis NeuroDivers. Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/neuro_divers
2.5 Blossom Tea: Tea with HB. Instagram. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/teawithhb
introduction
references:
6.1 Mosseri, A. (2023b) Instagram Ranking Explained | Instagram Blog. About.instagram.com. Available at: https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained
6: instagram
algorithms
1: overview
6.2 Mosseri, A. (2023b) Instagram Ranking Explained | Instagram Blog. About.instagram.com. Available at: https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained
6.3 Jillian Warren (2019) This is How The Instagram Algorithm Works in 2019. Later Blog. Available at:
6.4 Mosseri, A. (2023b) Instagram Ranking Explained | Instagram Blog. About.instagram.com. Available at: https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained
7.1 How Does The LinkedIn Algorithm Work in 2023? (2023a) Buffer Resources. Available at:
7: linkedin
7.2 How Does The LinkedIn Algorithm Work in 2023? (2023a) Buffer Resources. Available at:
8.1 Disability Solutions | 2024 Disability & Diversity Calendar (n.d.) Disability Solutions. Available at:
https://www.disabilitytalent.org/disability-diversity-calendar-2024
8: days & dates
planning
8.2 Apple (2021) iCloud. Icloud.com. Available at: https://www.icloud.com/calendar
8.3 Apple (2021) iCloud. Icloud.com. Available at: https://www.icloud.com/calendar
9.1 The Disabled Designer (n.d.) Instagram. Www.instagram.com. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/the_disabled_designer_
9: introduction post
ello ello
10: overview
success?
11.1 Global Goals, and United Nations Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals. The Global Goals. Available at:
11: overview
SDG 17
11.2 Gates, J. (n.d.) Jet Gates on LinkedIn. LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jet-gates_inspireinclusion-inclusion-technology-activity-7165053212461355008-5pho?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
11: international work
offering & services:
social media management:
Thanks to my autism and dyslexia, I have a really good pattern recognition, something which I utilise in my social media roles. Over the last couple of years, I have experimented with different tools such as Meta Business Suite or Later, finding out which platform works best for both myself and my clients.
graphic design:
One of the central parts of my business is my design skills. Organisations can hire me directly to make them any of the following:
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Website builds and designs
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Digital art and illustration for promotional material
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Pitch deck designs
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Branding and custom typography
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Campaign design
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Custom animation and hand drawn illustration
This list isn’t exhaustive of all of my graphic design services, but provides a good overview of the work that I do under this branch. This is led by my strong design background of my degree as well as self taught digital art.
As a disabled person, I spend a lot of time in my bed, unable to do much, so I started teaching myself how to make websites when I was around 15. One thing led to another and I have now had a series of website design clients, which is one of my favourite types of clients as they are primarily long term projects in which no two designs are the same, making it really engaging. For examples of my graphic design projects please click here.
accessibility consultancy:
Digital accessibility
In the UK alone, there are an estimated 14.6 million disabled people (Jensen, 2024), but yet we find ourselves underrepresented in media and accessibility is almost always an afterthought.
This isn’t good enough.
Defined as “making sure {your media} can be used by as many people as possible” (GOV.UK, 2018), accessibility isn’t just a useful tool for disabled people, but it’s actually a legal requirement.
My clients will typically come to me for help with making their digital designs accessible (often ones that they have brought me on board for) as they know I have a strong understanding of the WCAG guidelines (GOV.UK, 2018) and will automatically create inclusive designs for all. Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought, but should be woven into every step of the design process, right from the initial idea.
Physical accessibility
One of my main forms of work is my physical accessibility work. I specialise in audits of current builds but can also be brought in on planning projects. Sadly a lot of organisations will expect this work for free, disregarding the amount of knowledge, work and skills I put into this. This is something that I am trying to work through currently, actually charging clients for this work. Examples of these priorities are:
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Reduced steepness of areas, grippier floors to avoid slipping, lower height counters and shelves, disabled toilets (preferably changing spaces!) and providing step free options for those with mobility aids
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Those with medical devices who may need accommodations such as plenty of surface options in places such as bathrooms to do any prep needed, sharps disposal bins and charging stations that are free for anyone needing to charge aids
target audience:
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Location: London or LA based (2 cultural hubs for media industry)
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Gender: female
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Age: middle aged 30-45 years old
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Industry: media or purpose driven e.g. charities, examples include Teens in AI or Rights on Flights
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Goals: social media management: high engagement within their community. Inclusive and accessible content using high quality graphics
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Personality: busy individuals who don’t have time to manage their social media or consider accessibility requirements. Typically high energy extroverts who thrive in stressful situations
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Weaknesses: lack of time to be able to guide every step of the way so require independent freelancers who are able to understand exactly what they are looking for with minimal effort on their behalf
bibliography:
1.1: Chloe Hayden
1.2: (un)Masked
Reference list
Control Your Instagram Feed | Instagram Blog (n.d.) About.instagram.com. Available at: https://about.instagram.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/control-your-instagram-feed.
Instagram May Change Your Feed, Personalizing It With an Algorithm (2016) The New York Times, 15 March. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/technology/instagram-feed.html.
Lang, K. (2018) How the Instagram Feed Works: Inside the Instagram
Algorithm. Buffer Library. Available at: https://buffer.com/library/instagram-feed-algorithm/.
Meta (n.d.) Control Your Instagram Feed | Instagram Blog. About.instagram.com. Available at: https://about.instagram.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/control-your-instagram-feed.
Norris, E. (2020) How To Personalize Your Instagram Algorithm To See More Content You Care About. Plann. Available at: https://www.plannthat.com/how-to-personalize-your-instagram-algorithm-to-see-more-content-you-care-about/#:~:text=Turn%20on%20post%20notifications. [Accessed 12 May 2024].
objectives:
Help create a more inclusive world for all, from physical spaces to digital promotion to social media, helping break down the barriers that are preventing marginalised audiences accessing my clients offerings.
KPI's:
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Retain all social media management clients for at least 6 months to adequately gain the results requested
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Improve my efficiency of work by 20% in 6 months which will be tracked by the amount of time per task
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Increase engagement for my social media clients by 300% in the first 3 weeks and by 700% in the first 2 months and an increase of followers by 20% in the first 6 months.
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Ensure that all digital accessibility clients websites meet the WCAG 2.2 at a minimum
research & development:
case study 1: NHS
In 2016, the NHS underwent a massive digital overhaul. The previous website covered more than 400 services that were difficult to access and navigate. So they started again, and the results speak from themselves (Audioeye, 2024):
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53% of web pages achieved AAA rating, but on the new website they hit 98%
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Daily users went from 15,000 to 26,000
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Reduced average time spent on page
case study 2: Tesco:
In 2001, Tesco worked with RNIB on their main website. Together they built an accessible alternative for screen readers and had a clearer navigation structure, clear descriptive link text, simpler language and fewer images (Initiative (WAI), 2011):
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Pre christmas orders increased to 700,000 per week (2001), compared to 28,800 in 2000
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Tesco.com sales went from £52 million in 2000 to £235 million in 2001
competition:
competitor 1: Purple Goat
“As the world's only disability-led, disability-focused marketing agency. Our mission is to authentically represent and empower the disabled community, driving innovative, inclusive marketing and advertising campaigns that resonate with diverse audiences” (Purple Goat, 2023).
Set up by my good friend Martyn Sibley in 2020, who has worked within marketing and entrepreneurship for over 15 years. Purple Goat harnesses the power of disabled creators and influencers to create the most engaging, progressive and representative campaigns. Led by Martyn's own life long lived experience of disability, they strive to ensure representation at every level. With over half of their employees having a disability, they are working hard to minimise the pay gap for disabled people and ensure that disabled individuals are paid a fair wage.
They were a massive inspiration to me to keep going with my marketing work during lockdown, and now Martyn actually comes to ME for marketing advice! They also have a massive focus on accessibility within their designs and are often sought after for accessibility consultancy.
competitor 2: Sulaiman R. Khan
There’s not many people who can outdo my wardrobe, but Sulaiman definitely can! The first time I met him was on a work trip and I was instantly in awe of how unapologetically disabled he is. At the time, I was struggling with my identity of being disabled, but watching him not only embracing it but proudly showcasing it! He is constantly sharing what he’s learning and will be the first one to admit mistakes, a quality which we could definitely all do with more of!
One thing I have also learnt from both Jessica and Sulaiman is to provide alt texts and image descriptions in the written content as well as in the hidden sections! This helps everyone to understand the full meaning behind the pictures and why they have been added, which is a wonderful touch.
competitor 3: Jessica Oddi
My fellow disabled designer! Jessica is an accessibility consultant and graphic designer who I found out about through her doing Sulaiman’s rebrand as she was the person who worked on this with him. Like myself, she has 3 main streams of services: brand identity & websites, design accessibility and digital illustration.
USP:
lived experience:
Having all of these services offered by one individual/organisation, means that employers will only have to familiarise one person with their company, rather than 3 different contractors. One example of this is one of my clients Sophie Morgan, who after working with me with her campaign Rights on Flights, she brought me onto the Making Space team as I already knew her creative vision for projects. Now 9 months later, she has hired me for her rebrand because I am able to deliver exactly what she wants, with minimal input for her. This shows the importance of offering so many services under one roof, it helps busy businesses get the results they want, with minimal stress on their behalf.
strong clientele:
diverse skill set:
SWOT:
strengths:
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Highly passionate and committed to ensuring high quality work for each of my clients, which leaves a positive long lasting impact. I take pride in everything that I work on, no matter how big or small the project is.
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Active engagement: building up a rapport with my clients, customers and stakeholders to ensure that I am meeting their needs adequately. Any areas where their needs are not met, I work to ensure that these are rectified and prioritised.
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Innovative solutions and out of the box thinking: my specialism is coming up with unique ideas and solutions that help my clients to reach their maximum potential. One example of this is my sensory mapping which shows my creative approach to accessibility.
weaknesses:
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Easily stressed with large changes due to my autism. But in recent years I have been working to embrace the changes and “go with the flow”, in my personal life which has now transferred over to my work life as well.
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Resource constraints: unfortunately one of my USP’s is also one of my biggest weaknesses- being disabled. As a chronically ill individual my capacity for work can fluctuate massively, which makes it hard to meet client deadlines so it's key to use open communication with them.
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Market perception and awareness: whilst the awareness of the importance of accessibility is increasing, it's still not fully understood by all. This can make convincing new clients difficult.
opportunities:
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AI can often be seen as a threat to creatives, but it can be one of the most powerful and helpful tools if you understand prompt engineering (Open AI, 2024). I love using it for writing image descriptions, being a sound board for new ideas and researching the topic for me. It has sped up my work flow so much and it means I can now just focus on the design side of my work, rather than all of the long research tasks.
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Rise in remote or hybrid working following the pandemic has allowed me to work effectively as I am able to meet my accessibility accommodations.
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Over 1.1 million individuals have been diagnosed with Long Covid, a chronic illness that can cause debilitating symptoms (Disability Rights UK, 2021). With this increase, the awareness of accessibility has increased, creating new job opportunities.
threats:
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Oversaturated design industry: as we all know, getting a job at the moment is nearly impossible, and the design industry is no exception to this trend. With this, the industry can become toxic very quickly which has a detrimental effect on mental health.
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Constantly changing algorithms and legislation which can be hard to keep on top of.
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Cost of living crisis means that employers are more cautious to spend precious resources on things such as accessibility or social media as it's not a priority. This paired with the financial impacts of being a freelancer in this environment, means that there's little to no job security.
resources:
IP
Getting my business name trade marked has been something on my to-do list for the longest time, but thanks to this assignment, I got the push I needed to register. I’ve officially filled out all of the registration forms for getting “The Disabled Designer” trademarked.
As you can see below, I have completed the full application and am currently waiting for it to be reviewed and approved which has an estimated lead time of 4 months. Once it gets approved, the trademark will be valid for 10 years, so a good investment.
In addition to this, I ensure that as part of all of my client contracts, I include a clause about crediting my work when using it. This can look like tagging me in an instagram post that I have worked on or a small footnote giving me credit. However, outside of this the client is free to do whatever they wish with the work.
12.1: trademark application confirmation
stakeholders:
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Clients
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Accessibility organisations
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Legislative bodies
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Disability community for accessibility testing
company structure:
The long term goal for my freelance work is to turn it into an agency, similar to Purple Goat but instead of influencer marketing its inclusive marketing. This would be made up of a team of disabled individuals, helping to break the pay and employment gap between disabled and non disabled people.
SDG 8:
“Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” (United Nations, 2023).
In October to December 2023, the employment rate for disabled people was 54.2%, compared to 82.0% for non-disabled people. This is a gap of 27.9 percentage points (Powell, 2023).
branding:
My personal branding for solely my design work is Jet Gates, which utilises my name. However, for the rest of my services my name doesn’t give an overview, so that’s where “The Disabled Designer” comes in. Following feedback, I adjusted my branding to better align with my original branding by adapting the colours and changing the sparkle emoji to one that suits my business mission more.
audience persona 1: Keely
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Demographic: white, female, CEO, age 32, based in LA
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Goals: requiring social media content and management that aligns with organisations messaging and brand identity
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Company: media talent agency that trains up underrepresented talent and connects them with industry partners
audience persona 2: Amanda
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Demographic: white, female, 38, London, Area manager
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Goals: as part of their pitches, they are wanting to develop a competitive edge of bringing accessibility issues to the forefront of their design
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Company: B2B organisation working on developing creative solutions for the engineering industry
