Here are the photos of the final product… packaging, spinner, instructions booklet etc. The spinner was printed and mounted on black board, the box was built in black board and then covered with the large print of the packaging, each page of the instructions booklet was printed on black vinyl to achieve some texture…
The front of the box reads ” Explore with your fingertips, learn with your heart and play with your soul!”. The back of the box reads “TOUCH is a fun educational tool designed for children with poor vision. With 21 colourful, tactile panels, TOUCH encourages children to explore various textures with their fingertips, share with their peers, and engage in learning activities while they also have fun!. TOCUH also includes a spinner and a mat to play a tactile version of the old twister game!”.
Since TOUCH should encourage children to explore, understand various tactile concepts, and play either the old twister game or whatever they come up with, I wrote the instructions booklet in a very poetic and short way that is easy to understand. On each page you find a short sentence written in braille and in the regular alphabet. The booklet includes 3 sections that read:
SECTION 1
“Explore with your hands, and feet; with your heart and soul”
SECTION 2
“Understand soft and hard, rough or smooth, curvy and bumpy, dry or cool”
SECTION 3
“PLay, laugh, trust and share. Spin the spinner, and do as it says. Right hand to circle, or left foot to square”.
My friends daughters tested TOUCH today. It was so wonderful to see them playing and touching, and jumping and laughing with it!!! All the adults around played with it too, and I just felt so happy to see everyone interacting with it.
Here are some of the photos….
Hi! Here are some of the pages from the book I’m making now. This little book explains the idea behind and TOUCH serves as a journal of this journey…
These photos are a little old… I took the a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post them. Here you can see small prototypes of the packaging, a rough prototype of the instructions booklets and some of the tactile panels.
I am so sorry I have not posted anything, but the past few weeks have not been easy. You know… one of those times when you feel the sky is falling on your head….
Anyway… the panels are almost done. I only have 3 more to make… it has been difficult. I don’t know how to sew, and my grandmother is helping me… but she’s been having a lot of trouble too. Some of the materials are too thick, and the sewing machine just doesn’t take them… all the needles break!! So we have decided to do it by hand… and it takes forever…. our fingertips hurt a lot.
I have not done a lot of 2D work this week, but I do have a logo for TOUCH…
The logo is supposed to be a “blend” of both worlds… the word TOUCH is written in regukar alphabet and in Braille. So you see the letter “T” followed by the letter “T” in Braille. The logo reads TOUCH for sighted and visually impaired folks.
Here is a revised version of the in-class presentation I had yesterday. Please click on the link below!
The boxes for the tool will have 4 divisions inside…. each one to fit the panels for each shape. On the front of the box, the word TOUCH is written in braille several times to create a pattern and to establish a connection with visually impaired folks….
Mi perspective is a little off…. sorry… I am not really good at making 3D thing look real in a digital form… I hope you get the idea… DO YOU? DO YOU? PLEASE SAY YES!!!!
These are just a few pages from the instructions booklet or “How to” guide that comes inside the box. Since Touch is game that can be used in different ways, the manual will be divided in different sections. The pink section talks about exploration… users should explore the different textures by walking on the mat or by hanging the mat on a wall and exploring every panel. Exploration is an essential part of this activity!!
The green section focuses on understanding. This game is about tactile exploration, but I also want the user to understand the meaning of rough, soft, hard, smooth, stretchy, bumpy, curvy, spiky, etc. Young children (with or without a disability) need to learn this concepts and be able to relate them to other textures in their daily environment.
The blue section of the manual is dedicated to PLAY. Here the user finds the instructions on how to play “twister” with the tactile mat.
The instructions booklet will not have long paragraphs. It will explain things with a few words and sentences. Since users can use this activity in any way they like, I don’t want to have a detailed guide that limits their possibilities.
