"Love is blind": A young couple shooting for the stars
Skúli B. Geirdal and Karlotta Halldórsdóttir are behind the design studio R57.
The Icelandic design studio R57 has published the wall poster “Love is Blind” in five colours to support the Icelandic Association of the Visually Impaired . The project is meant to increase awareness of the situation of visually impaired people in our society and was published on the World Sight Day which was on the 13 th of October this year.
“This is a bit of a fun game to play on your senses because at first sight we cannot read the words on the poster except by using braille. It is not often that people who have good eyesight encounter the problem of not being able to read what is in front of them. The posters are a reminder that not all people have the privilege of good eyesight,” says Skúli B. Geirdal who designed the poster, but he studied graphic design at the Akureyri School of Visual Arts.
Geirdal was fascinated by the simplicity and the beauty of braille.
“R57 started as a cute little idea in our kitchen in Rauðalækur 57 to start a design studio which puts emphasis on design that makes our world better,” says Karlotta Halldórsdóttir, economist and the other half of the design team of R57.
“We are always talking about all kinds of ideas for new products and novelties for the home and finally took the plunge and started the company. We have big ideas about more colours, different words or sentences, other variations and new product lines. More will see the light of day in the coming months. It can sometimes be a bit difficult to have big ideas and a small budget, but it is still important to allow yourself to dream and set lofty goals,” Karlotta says.
Stylish design product with a message
Braille can be found in many places in our surroundings, like in elevators, on various signs and on drug packaging. A letter in the braille alphabet needs to fit under the tip of your finger and therefore braille is rarely very conspicuous.
On the posters is the sentence: Love is Blind.
“Most of us have seen braille once in a while without really paying much attention to it. We want to elevate the braille alphabet and make it more visible in our work. Braille clearly has a place in Icelandic design because it is a part of our environment and just as important as any other alphabet in writing the Icelandic language. Even though it is designed to be read with your fingers, it is graphically speaking very beautiful and makes for a stylish design product with a message and helps a good cause,” says Skúli.
Braille just as important as other alphabets
The braille alphabet is a known and acknowledged alphabet all over the world and it was legalized in Iceland as a fully valid alphabet in 2011. The alphabet is based on six dots in two vertical lines which can form 63 different signs.
“I was fascinated by the simplicity in the alphabet and the beauty of being able to read Icelandic with other senses than your eyes. Braille is just as important to the visually impaired as the written alphabet is to the seeing when it comes to getting an education, being able to read, for hobbies and computer use,” says Skúli.
Karlotta Halldórsdóttir, the founder of R57 and Elfa Svanhildur Hermannsdóttir, director of the service- and knowledge center for he visually impaired. Skúli B. Geirdal, founder of R57 and Sigþór U. Hallfreðsson, chairman of the Association of the Visually Impaired.
