Devanagari braille is a typeface constructed as a combination of Devanagari and braille script. This combination makes the font not only visual but also tactile. This is a display typeface designed specifically for print, which can be implemented in public spaces, print media etc.. All the characters of the font follow the similar braille grid structure and spacing. The individual characters as desired turn out to be clean, geometrical, slightly compressed, while ensuring legibility.
Word formation with Devanagari Braille
Type Specimen Booklet | Link to the type specimen booklet
Module: Visual Design
Duration:8 weeks
This is an academic project created to understand the basics of visual problem solving through a typeface design. This started with looking for different fonts and inspiration, in terms of different visual impact on us. This got me wondering, what happens if visual impact is not possible at all? That is true for the case of visually impaired people, who read using braille script. This creates a sensory impact through touch rather than visual impact. What if we create a typeface that creates an impact on both the senses? Is that practically possible? If the embossing of the braille script is altered using different materials can it create different impacts as in case of visual typeface?
With these questions in my mind, I started working on this project with Stakeholders & Territory Mapping, leading to the initial research on the following subjects:
-to understand the construction of typefaces,
-Braille and it's implementation
-Understanding the challenges faced by users
Following the research, I started the ideation and exploration for the font style and structure of grids to accommodate both braille and Devanagari scripts. Each braille cell has 6 dots. I initially selected some of the forms from Devanagari font explorations and tried placing the braille grid on the top in proportion. But this couldn't be implemented because this format wasn't applicable all the characters, while the overall legibility was also being compromised.
In order to come up with a solution to this, I started placing letters on the braille grid first and then worked on the visual font style.
Different concepts & exploration of the typeface with embossing
After the finalization of a concept, I started working on the digitization of the font along with spacing of different characters. Within this project, I have designed all 47 glyphs for the font using Adobe Illustrator.
Digitization of the font & Spacing Strings
