CROCHET TACTILE GRAPHICS

CROCHET TACTILE GRAPHICS

Can tactile design be used to create resources for visually impaired people to teach themselves how to crochet?

“CROCHET BECAME [MY] REFUGE, A WAY TO CONNECT WITH THE WORLD AROUND [ME] WHEN IT SEEMED SO FAR OUT OF REACH.”

— Kay Foster, a visually impaired woman said this about crochet

With this project, I wanted to create instructions for a visually impaired or blind person to use to learn how to crochet by using carefully designed tactile graphics and braille.

Autonomy and the ability to create both allow blind people to feel more connected to the world around them, which sometimes can feel distant. Hobbies and skills such as these can allow people to quell anxieties and make them feel more resilient. That is why it is important to garner more access to them. Currently, it is nigh impossible for someone who is blind to learn how to crochet, unless they have someone else in their life that can teach them hands on. I sought to try to close the gap somewhat so that blind people could potentially teach themselves this skill and offer inspiration for others to explore using tactile graphics in this way.

Co-Designers

  • kai yat-li

  • ellashae maddox

HOW CAN WE COMMUNICATE MOTION THROUGH TOUCH ONLY?

Tactile Design is an ever-growing field of research that seeks to understand and expand upon ways in which information can be communicated to people simply through the form of touch. This project is unique in the way that specific motion, such as the movements of a crochet hook and the yarn, is hard to convey in the 2d space. Many things have the potential to be lost in translation, and it is too easy to make graphics that are almost impossible to decipher tactilely.

On top of that, this project seeks to equip low sighted people with extra resources that allow them to pursue a new hobby/leisure activity. This is something that is not often made into tactile graphics, as they tend to be more catered towards developing textbooks, charts, and school materials. It is a big part of the growing push to give blind people more accessibility in all facets of life.

I spent a lot of time iterating on the different methods that could be used to create tactiles. The three main methods I used were called embossing, swell form, and thermaforming.

An embosser when used creates small perforations in a piece of paper which creates the texture that is used to communicate the tactile drawing.

Swell paper is a special form of paper wherein the black ink used on it buffs up and creates a raised form on the paper when heated.

Thermaforming is a process by which you place certain things under a piece of plastic, and it uses heat and suction to replicate the shape of the object one puts on it.

CO-DESIGN

Every single iteration of the graphics was felt by and evaluated by blind co-designers who helped work on the project. They offered their perspectives on what does or does not work. I found that on many occasions the graphics that I thought would work the most well ended up not being great. Their critiques and suggestions informed much of the design of the tactiles.