Germany 1901
Deciphering a Braille Map
Client: Self-authored
Collaborators: Perkins School of the Blind, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the National Braille Press
Status: Completed
Year: 2018
Tags: Media
Deciphering a Braille Map
Client: Self-authored
Collaborators: Perkins School of the Blind, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the National Braille Press
Status: Completed
Year: 2018
Tags: Media
The design process usually cycles through search, research, archive, system, network, and narrative. This project specifically highlighted the searching and researching phases of this process. After uncovering an unknown Braille map from the special collections section of the Providence Public Library we set out to decipher this unknown object.
This part of the process, unexpectedly, created a narrative of its own. Working with the Perkins School of the Blind, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the National Braille Press we successfully translated the map. After much deliberation we found out that the map was set in American Modified Braille, a rare version of Braille from pre-1912.
Our collaborative journey to translate a language of the past paralleled the circuitous origins of American Modified Braille, the language used to re–interpret this map. In response we produced a two–sided 10 plate puzzle that displays the original map and its origins on one side and the English translation and research process on the other.
This part of the process, unexpectedly, created a narrative of its own. Working with the Perkins School of the Blind, the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the National Braille Press we successfully translated the map. After much deliberation we found out that the map was set in American Modified Braille, a rare version of Braille from pre-1912.
Our collaborative journey to translate a language of the past paralleled the circuitous origins of American Modified Braille, the language used to re–interpret this map. In response we produced a two–sided 10 plate puzzle that displays the original map and its origins on one side and the English translation and research process on the other.
