DBA IDC ’09 to target the couch potato

This year’s Design Business Association Inclusive Design Challenge is to encourage designers to address the immobile culture being created by armchair-bound TV viewers and desk-bound workers.

Entitled Sedentary Lives, the theme this year moves away from disability issues to a social one. DBA awards manager Natalie Maher says this is ‘to make it more inclusive, so we don’t just focus on people who are disabled per se’.

The event, which launches on 11 September, is open to all DBA members. The deadline for entries is 26 September and a shortlist of those selected will be drawn up on 29 September. The winners will be announced on 24 February 2009, following workshops and user forums.

The challenge, which has run since 2000, is a collaborative initiative between the DBA and the Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre.