Eyewear Design: The Journey to Improve Fitting for a Diverse Population

Abstract

Eyewear is a product at the intersection of medical devices and fashion accessories. It is an everyday object most people take for granted without much consideration of its functionality and symbolic meaning. Many consumers do not know that their frames are not fitting them well, leading to potential damage to their visions. According to 2020 census data, America is diversifying racially and ethnically, which requires the ergonomics of eyewear to be diverse as well. Currently, there are various terminologies of eyewear fittings on the market, including Standard Fit, Alternative Fit, Elevated Fit, Low-Bridge Fit, Asian Fit, etc. Without a standard regulation for eyewear fitting, consumers often have a hard time understanding the differences and finding a good fit for themselves. This paper introduced an Eyewear Design Studio course initiated in the Fall 2022 term at Drexel University, collaborating with an eyewear start-up firm Knows Eyewear. It explores the students’ eyewear design journey and uses case studies to discuss how they provided better-fitting eyewear designs to diverse users and equal access to better vision.

Keywords: eyewear design, product design, industrial design, ergonomics, eyewear fitting, diverse users, eyewear design studio

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002973