There are many myths attached to blindness and partial-sightedness, the most common being that all visually impaired people are completely blind. The fact is only 4 per cent of visually impaired people see nothing at all.
But a new yearbook, targeted at fully sighted as well as blind and partially sighted people, aims to dispel these common myths, educating sighted people to the difficulties faced by the blind, and raising money for the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the process. The Robert Horne Yearbook uses design, paper and print to meet the needs of the visually impaired, while for the sighted, heat and light-responsive images and text disappear, suggesting the process of losing your sight. There is also imagery of the changing seasons as seen at Earthworks in St Albans, a training garden for people of all abilities.
Clare Lundy, senior designer at design consultancy Navy Blue, says the inspiration for the imagery came from a story about a blind gardener who knew how his garden looked thanks to his sensory perception. ‘A garden is also a good representation of sight in terms of colours, form and textures,’ she adds.
For the purposes of communicating to blind and partially sighted readers, photographs are vibrantly coloured, Braille text is raised and textured and the pages are wider, to aid navigation through the text. The RNIB was consulted on print guidelines, and techniques such as die-cuts and printing with stiffened ink were used to help make the information more accessible.
In addition, the book uses a number of printing techniques to bring the designs to life, including the use of Novaspace inks, which enable the vibrancy and detail of the photographs to be revealed. The use of soft masks, metallic inks and special varnishes complement the photographs.
The book contains 23 leaves, both sides of which are used. One side is functional, showing a monthly calendar, as well as Robert Horne’s paper information and text correcting myths about impaired vision. On the other are photographs of plants and flowers taken by freelance photographer Christine Donnier-Valentin.
The yearbook is produced annually as a marketing tool for the Robert Horne Group and is distributed to those on the company’s database. This year the book will also be sold through selected retail outlets, with all profits going to the RNIB.
Client: Robert Horne Group
Design: Navy Blue
Designers – Clare Lundy, senior designer; Geoff Nicol, creative director
- Industries in this article
- Brands in this article
