The project was a design initiative that was undertaken at the Poona School and Home for Blind Girls in India.

The aim of the project was to address the problem of accessibility and navigation within the school in an effort to make the immediate environment more conducive for those that the institution was primarily built to serve — the visually impaired girls (students and residents) of the Poona School and Home for Blind Girls, Pune, India. The project was a collaborative effort where, as a designer, I partnered closely with the community at the school. The uniqueness of this approach lay in bringing together teachers, art and music instructors, the visually impaired students and a highly supportive administration to become a part of this collaboration that culminated in a way-finding system that worked at many levels; primarily for the visually impaired but also for those that engaged with the school; the sighted teachers, staff, administration and the visitors. This collaboration and community involvement created a sense of ownership, pride and shared joy of creation.

Through my initial research and engagement, this design challenge allowed me go deeper into the organization, in exploring and analyzing ways of shaping the environment that could assist, enable and facilitate its primary residents. The deepest challenge came from working with limited fiscal resources and understanding ways of delivering solutions that were not only innovative but also indigenous and sustainable, and those that would work function within the constraints of the environment they were created for. Using indigenous materials, techniques and local manufacturing methods, a way-finding system was created that would help students navigate their surrounding and find their way around the institution with greater ease, agility, and confidence.

Once installed, the highly tactile (for the blind) and brightly colored (for the partially impaired) way-finding system created an empowered, enabled and accessible environment that was kinder and more conducive for the residents of this institution.

The aim of the project was to address the problem of accessibility and navigation within the school in an effort to make the immediate environment more conducive for those that the institution was primarily built to serve — the visually impaired girls (students and residents) of the blind school in India.

INITIAL RESEARCH & PROBLEM FRAMING
Through my initial research and engagement, this design challenge allowed me go deeper into the organization, in exploring and analyzing ways of shaping the environment that could assist, enable, and facilitate its primary residents. The deepest challenge came from working with limited fiscal resources and understanding ways of delivering solutions that were not only innovative but also indigenous and sustainable, and those that would work function within the constraints of the environment they were created for. Using indigenous materials, techniques and local manufacturing methods, a way-finding system was created that would help students navigate their surrounding and find their way around the institution with greater ease, agility, and confidence.

Once installed, the highly tactile (for the blind) and brightly colored (for the partially impaired) way-finding system created an empowered, enabled, and accessible environment that was kinder and more conducive for the residents of this institution.

PROCESS: COLLABORATION, CO-CREATION & PARTICIPATION
The project was a collaborative effort where, as a designer, I partnered closely with the community at the school. The uniqueness of this approach lay in bringing together teachers, art and music instructors, the visually impaired students, and a highly supportive administration, as co-creators and collaborators to become a part of this project that culminated in a way-finding system that worked at many levels; primarily for the visually impaired but also for those that engaged with the school; the sighted teachers, staff, administration and the visitors. This collaboration and community involvement created a sense of ownership, pride, and shared joy of creation.

A series of workshops with the students allowed us to adopt motifs from their work that became an integral part of the signage. The system that eventually evolved had a motif for each of their rooms. The students followed us at every step and saw their designs transform into three-dimensional plates. The art teachers at the school helped create the tiles that formed the base of the signage system.

FABRICATION & INDEGENIZATION:As part of the design process, I explored materials that would be used for this project. Unlike conventional signage that assists audiences visually, this was a system that needed to withstand the test of constant touch and handling by the students. Care had to be taken to choose materials that would then have heavier material qualities. It was extremely important that the solution that was provided used techniques, fabrication methods, manufacturing, and materials that could be found locally and that could withstand the test of constant handling and extension after I had left.

Locally manufactured beads in different shapes, sizes, and colors were used to create the bright patterns. Beads that were chosen came in different shapes, thus textures created by these beads became very varied. These beads were affixed to the tile using permanent adhesives that would be withstand the constant touching and the added stresses to the installed signage. Locally manufactured tile was used for the top of the sign. Metallic laser cut signs came to complement the tile on top.

INSTALLATION
Once the signs were fabricated, it was time to install. Once again, a local carpenter was hired to hang the signs. Distances were carefully considered. The height for the signs was established using the shortest student as a reference. The idea was to make sure that unlike the earlier signs that were too high, these signs were hung at a height that made them accessible to all. One of the challenges that came up was the fact that the walls in India were all made of cement. Drilling holes and hanging the signage system created cracks. The worker that was eventually hired made sure that the drilling and installation did not leave the wall with marks around the signs and did not affect the hung pieces that were around the signage.

The final solution developed used tiles with relief patterns created with glass beads combined with laser cut metal signs on the bottom. The tile on the top had the motif for the class that helped identify the room by the motif. A large number was added in relief next to the motif, working as the second layer of reading by the visually impaired. Brightly colored beads in various shapes, sizes and texture were used to create the patterns and this number in relief. On the bottom was the metal sign with text in both Hindi and English also in relief. The design solution and signage emerged from the idea of serving the visually impaired, the partially impaired as well as the sighted–three constituents that comprised the users of this signage around the school. The solution provided created various points of entry and recognition of the sign. The motif, the large number in relief and the roman letters in Hindi and English all served to reinforce the same information to different audiences within the same format. The biggest discovery and surprise I encountered came when I was about to add braille to the bottom of the signs, the students stopped and resisted the idea strongly and when questioned, they told me that the use of braille made them feel less than the others. They felt that the roman letters in relief below the tiles were equally recognizable and did not want the braille to be added to the signs. The installed signs were highly tactile (for the blind) and the brightly colored (for the partially impaired). And the way-finding system created an empowered, enabled, and accessible environment. It was kinder, gentler, and more conducive for the visually impaired students and residents of this institution.

After the installation, during the evaluation phase of the project, I would often find students lingering outside their classroom for long periods of time running their fingers over the relief patterns and numbers, gliding their fingers over the gentle bumps of the glass beads as if each touch was a little discovery unto its own!