[accessibleimage] Brun-Sanglard designer

Toronto Star, Canada
Thursday, July 27, 2006

Other senses help blind designer

By TANYA WORKMAN

BEST IN SHOW: Designing Blind, Sunday, Aug. 6, 5 p.m., A&E

At first sight, the newest entry from the network that gave us Dog the Bounty Hunter, Rollergirls and Growing Up Gotti appears to hinge on another gimmick. A decorating show starring a blind designer. Who thought that one up? 

But then we meet Eric Brun-Sanglard, a.k.a. Eric B., a former creative director 
for an advertising company who lost his vision in 1995.

Brun-Sanglard, who sounds a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger and is almost always 
wearing his trademark sunglasses, embarked on a career in interior design after 
he began to live in his own home as a blind man and saw the need to change his 
surroundings.

He utilizes talking measuring tapes, raised Braille-like blueprints and colour-detection devices to help him envision a space based on the things we often forget about when decorating our homes - the senses that have nothing to do with what we can see.

"I need things to be described to me, I feel my way around and basically create a blueprint of what needs to be done," he says in the promo reel for the series, which included clips from several episodes. 

"But where it's different in my approach, is that I try to get in touch with how 
people really want to feel in their space and through using my senses, I achieve that 
goal."

One way to do that - which works well for TV - is to bring out the blindfolds. His clients must wear them as they choose furniture, carpets and even paint colour. A new sofa may look good to viewers, but if it doesn't feel right, it won't be part of the makeover.

Co-host Alexandra Hedison injects humour into the series and has the job of informing the participants on Designing Blind that Eric cannot see. Often, as is the case with a couple expecting their first child in less than a month, that announcement is met with stunned silence. But then Brun-Sanglard starts exploring their space, using the echo of his feet on the floor as a judge of ceiling height, proving he can "see" more than they think he can. And the participants aren't without their own issues, which appears to be why they were selected to work with Brun-Sanglard. 

Why did the parents-to-be wait so long to get the baby's room ready, 
Brun-Sanglard asks. It turns out they didn't want to jinx this pregnancy as 
they'd had one previous miscarriage and lost another baby shortly before birth.

Other episodes feature a son who runs the candy shop handed down to him by his father, whose approval he seeks, and a couple who live together but haven't committed to the relationship. 


http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153820829585&call_pageid=970599119419



Other related posts: