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ELIA HYBRID
TYPEFACE
During the first year of study for my Masters Degree, I decided to pursue typography with particular emphasis placed on packaging design.
After dissecting the various elements of pharmaceutical packaging I tasked myself with involving touch type as a main design component. Wanting to challenge the ideology around designing with the inclusion of Braille, I looked for opportunities to combine both visual and tactile type in a more harmonious nature, so they serve both sighted and non sighted audience members.
Through Market research, arranging meetings and attending social get togethers with Henshaw's, I came upon an innovative touch type that was newly designed in order to minimise the time spent on learning new language after sight loss. ELIA was created at the beginning of the millennium but quickly gathering momentum in the US as an easy alternative to Braille.
The aesthetic and feel varied greatly between Braille and the new tactile touch type ELIA so I decided to take an opportunity to combine the two, leaving visible design as a final consideration.
My final weeks of this project resulted in creating tactile tiles using corel draw and laser cutting that offered Braille and an ELIA alternative at the same time on reverse sides.
I pressed the tile on cotton based Fabriano to emboss ELIA and deboss Braille and took an opportunity to faintly, visually add the letter that I had pressed.
The visible letter was screen printed using a mixing agent without the addition of colour. The substance made the letter visible when tilted under direct light enticing physical touch and making the tactile element easier to detect.
(2021, Manchester Metropolitan University)
Images displaying experimentation with braille and type within public spaces.
Braille is featured in 3D encouraging engagement with the public. Visuals are displayed flat, purposefully making it more difficult to decipher in comparison to the braille counterpart.
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