For people with dyslexia, relating their struggle with reading to the general population can be a seemingly impossible and frustrating task. Graphic designer (and dyslexic) Sam Barclay, though, hopes to finally bridge the gap between those with reading difficulties and those without using his new book — a visual experience of what dyslexia actually entails.
Currently a Kickstarter, the project has already almost doubled its initial funding goal of about $US24,000, and there are still 19 days left to go. Barclay believes that those suffering from dyslexia or any other number of reading difficulties are “capable of thinking in ways that others aren’t,” yet because they interact with the world differently than most, they’re often misunderstood or even marginalised.
And while there’s been a considerable effort to find ways of easing the reading process for sufferers, little has been done to convey the actual experience to the public. Barclay’s I wonder what it’s like to be dyslexic visualises a variety of typographic theories to plainly — and quite beautifully — portray the experience of reading with dyslexia. Large, simple type is juxtaposed next to short, information rich paragraphs that expound on what it is you’re seeing and give voice to the sort of confusion many feel on a daily basis.
The project itself will finish its funding period on Nov 28, and anyone hoping to get a greater insight into one peculiarity of the human condition can preorder a copy over at the Kickstarter page. [Kickstarter]