Creative Practice swap; accessibility

Swapping practice with Clay Phillipson Brown

A task was set in which we are to swap our creative practice with one of our peers. We are to adopt their practice so that we can try something new and potentially apply it to our practice.


Learning about Clays practice

Clay is a digital illustrator and comic artist who specialises in accessibility awareness.
Their presentation about their creative practice:





For the swap I will make an accessible guide on how to bind a book, while they will bind one of their comics into a book using bookbinding techniques.

Researching accessibility in design

Accessibility within design can be defined as the quality of being perceived, understood, navigated, and interacted with by all.
I did some research taking notes from the GOV website, writen by Karwai Pun:
Write in plain English
  • Use simple sentences
  • Use simple colours and not bright
  • Consider colour combinations
  • Use a linear, logical, consistent layout
  • Align text to the left
  • Break up content with sub-headings and images
  • Provide audio or video alternativesDon't use complicated words or figures of speech
  • Don't make users read long blocks of content
  • Don't only use image, use a combination of colour, shapes and text
  • Don't force users to remember things from previous pages - give reminders and prompts
  • Don't make physical elements complicated - consider motor skills
  • Avoid underlining words, using italics or writing in capitals

Clays guide on accessibile design

Clay also sent me a presentation they did that lays out guidelines on how to write and design accessible comics. It covers accessibility for dyslexia, ADHD, autism and colourblind people, involving considerations of colour and text.





Clay says that when designing, you should always ask yourself, 'who can't access this?'

Designing an accessible guide on how to bind a book

As Clay is a digital illustrator, I chose this as my method of creating the design. I have used instructions that have been given to me during a Bookbinding workshop I attended. I decided that I may as well make the instructions into a book using the same instructions, so that I can title it 'how to make this book', therefore allowing the user of the manual to easily see what the end result should look like and gain better understanding.

I used Adobe Illustrator to design each page. As I don't have a specific digital illustration style, I focused on the design being functional and using colours appropriately, following Clays guide. I chose to make it for someone who struggles with monochromatism using the shades suggested in Clays guide.

Cover:


Inners:









Layout for print

I laid out the design so that it could be printed easily double sided. There is a separate sheet for the cover as that is to be stuck onto the cover.



The printed and bound outcome

I printed the inners and cover, then bound the book in the same way as instructed in the contents.



 Clay's bookbinding

I was overjoyed to see the outcome of Clay's attempt at my practice. They bound buttons and paper to make these concertina notebooks, which turned out great.


Feedback from the group crit

  • Peers said that the illustrations are very clear and successful in communicating the instructions. 
  • A teacher within the class has said that it would be very useful for her students and would like to use it in lessons.
  • We discussed that I should make them available for the public for people to use.
  • Clay said that it is very well done and they liked the book is an example of what the reader would be making.
  • They suggested to make them into kits with needle and thread included.
  • They also liked the idea of doing a version of the zine for all of the vision impairments. They suggested to use different colour thread for each one; colour coding them to the impairment.

Reflection

  • This was very useful for me to research accessibility and see how my practice sits within different groups of people.
  • It was a good reminder for me that I find digital design less fulfilling in my satisfaction of process and outcome, however I can do it successfully.
  • The task has lead me to new opportunities that I am very keen for.