In support of Universal Design, the study of visual impairment lead my research to CNIB, the Canadian Institute for the Blind. An adaptation to Eric Carle’s famous children’s storybook, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, was considered and used as a promotional piece for CNIB’s campaign for children’s blindness.
The book is developed with rounded corners and thick pages—small enough for a child to play alone and big enough for the adult to hold and read. The story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is also adapted with a non-traditional twist to children’s books—very pale in color and a each page with full die cut circles filled with textures and tactile elements to keep the child intrigued. The number of die cut circles increased by page, in subtly teaching the child how to count in numbers as well. The book’s functionality simply presents its information to the child, clear and direct: Braille to read and the corresponding texture to the text within the die cut circle. As well, the book is developed with a dual purpose—to be aesthetically pleasing for the sighted, but also to educate the child through Braille itself.
In turn, the creation of this hybrid book not only relied on external resources other than graphic design. It also shed new light on what it meant to be a multi-disciplinary designer. A number of issues were considered – the legibility of English combined with Braille, readability of the book if the child read it alone and the overall look in which would let a designer appreciate and store as a keepsake.
