Penguin x Monotype
Within the New Blood Awards, Monotype and Penguin have come together to propose a world where type and emotion work hand in hand. Text has become a necessary aid within society, particularly within newspapers and captions. However, Monotype and Penguin present the idea that text should always capture emotion (and playfulness where appropriate), no matter where the text itself is being placed. Focussing on specific communities, this brief examines the ways they ‘communicate, exist and resist’. Creating an inclusive type-led idea that explores the nature of reading, I aim to reinvent the ways people read in the modern age, focusing on the blind community. This idea is not intended to offend or simplify the complexities of the blind community, but merely an exploration into the world they experience, using typography to do so.
While braille books have been curated to allow visually impaired individuals to experience the world of literature, immersive experiences for the blind community have not been created, on a multisensory level. It is important to note the products and services that already exist; audiobooks are a major part of the literature world, used by both seeing and blind individuals. Audiobooks are a great way to quickly and efficiently absorb the text, but it’s a one dimensional platform. How can we marry together the visual stimuli and the audio components of a narrative? Efforts have been made to create multidimensional children’s books for the blind, incorporating braille and texture. Putting blind individuals at the centre of the idea, this project aims to create a unique way of reading for those who cannot do so in the traditional sense, through the lens of an immersive, multisensory experience. Focussing on the classic, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the experience will aim to solve the problem facing blind individuals; how can we fully understand a novel?
The animated video showcases the whole novel in small, key segments. Ensuring the video adheres to the design guidelines for the visually impaired, Neuee Haas Unica is used, along with vibrant, high contrasting colour palettes. Maintaining slow movements within the text, it was important to create a video that can be absorbed fully and effectively, especially when designing for the visually impaired. The white on black colour contrast allows for more visibility of the text and shapes, as commented upon within the guidelines.
To learn more about this project, please visit the design document file, created to showcase the behind the scenes of this large scale project
