Ella Jones
Ella Jones
Typography
Typography
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
Jan-Apr 2026
Jan-Apr 2026
CLIENT
CLIENT
Internship client
Internship client
CONTEXT
This client is in the education sector, their mission is to teach kids in a way that is catered towards their needs and learning style. The audience is young kids learning English or French as a second language, the primary goal being to teach them to draw letters. The client wanted two typefaces: one cursive and the other block/ standard, all with the purpose of being accessible for people with visual impairments and dyslexia.
This client is in the education sector, their mission is to teach kids in a way that is catered towards their needs and learning style. The audience is young kids learning English or French as a second language, the primary goal being to teach them to draw letters. The client wanted two typefaces: one cursive and the other block/ standard, all with the purpose of being accessible for people with visual impairments and dyslexia.
PROBLEM
PROBLEM
There are countless fonts with varying levels of accessibility. The range is from typefaces offered in bold, to fonts designed solely for people with dyslexia. In this case, accessibility is only attained when people choose to include everyone. The challenge is not only to create a writing system that combines both English and French styles of cursive, make a simple system to teach children how to write, but also to take into account visual impairments and dyslexia.
There are countless fonts with varying levels of accessibility. The range is from typefaces offered in bold, to fonts designed solely for people with dyslexia. In this case, accessibility is only attained when people choose to include everyone. The challenge is not only to create a writing system that combines both English and French styles of cursive, make a simple system to teach children how to write, but also to take into account visual impairments and dyslexia.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
The cursive typeface is a simplified version, partially inspired by the German cursive system (blending French and English styles of writing catering to Quebec students). This typeface has a cohesive curly style that is more simple for children to draw and allows for the base structure of alike letters to be similar, shortening the learning process.
Since block letters generally have less clear indicators of where to start writing the letter, each letter has a curve at the beginning to indicate to the student where they should place their pencil in order to properly begin writing.
The students who struggle with dyslexia have a hard time distinguishing between mirror letters (like "b" and "d"). Therefore, by adding weight to the straight part of the "b" and the round part of the "d", it allows for distinction without misalignment or changing the baseline shape of the letters which is especially important when considering visual impairment as well as overall facility in reading text with this typeface. Additionally, as the indicators for writing are understated, the typeface can be applied for everyday use.
The cursive typeface is a simplified version, partially inspired by the German cursive system (blending French and English styles of writing catering to Quebec students). This typeface has a cohesive curly style that is more simple for children to draw and allows for the base structure of alike letters to be similar, shortening the learning process.
Since block letters generally have less clear indicators of where to start writing the letter, each letter has a curve at the beginning to indicate to the student where they should place their pencil in order to properly begin writing.
The students who struggle with dyslexia have a hard time distinguishing between mirror letters (like "b" and "d"). Therefore, by adding weight to the straight part of the "b" and the round part of the "d", it allows for distinction without misalignment or changing the baseline shape of the letters which is especially important when considering visual impairment as well as overall facility in reading text with this typeface. Additionally, as the indicators for writing are understated, the typeface can be applied for everyday use.
NEXT STEPS
NEXT STEPS
Moving forward, I would encourage a larger focus group to prove its effectiveness for people with dyslexia and visual impairments and allow room for further adjustments if necessary.
Moving forward, I would encourage a larger focus group to prove its effectiveness for people with dyslexia and visual impairments and allow room for further adjustments if necessary.
