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Receiving a greeting card in the mail can certainly brighten up one's day but the same cannot be said for people who are blind. Instead of personally reading cards sent to them, they have to rely on others to help them with it.
MAB public relations assistant Siti Huraizah Ruslan and administrative assistant Nurun Jamiah Hasan with two of the cards designed for the Dot2Dot: Love Beyond Sight project during the launch recently. (Photo credit: thestar)
They will also have to depend on the person to describe the colours and design of the card.
Hoping to change this, Tang's Art collaborated with Social Collaboration Studio (So+Co) and the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) to create greeting cards incorporating Braille.
"We know that the experience of enjoying a card privately is a luxury not shared by our blind community.
"The feeling of receiving a card should be universal, regardless of physical disability, which was when we put on our thinking caps and began our work," said Tang's Art brand director Leong Ching Shyang, who believes the Braille greeting cards were the first in the country.
Leong said his team worked closely with So+Co and came up with designs for the cards to cater to both sighted and blind people.
Each design, he explained, had a theme and a key message with a specific interaction to further illustrate the message.
The reader could feel the design of the card just by touching on the dots and they will be able to visualize the design in their mind.
"We really enjoyed our time working on this project, and we got to connect with some incredible people who do not see blindness as an obstacle but merely a different way of looking at the world," said Leong at the launch of Dot2Dot: Love Beyond Sight.
He said through Dot2Dot, the team created 16 colorful greeting cards to suit various occasions and would be available next month.
MAB president Datuk Abdullah Malim Baginda felt the idea of Braille greeting cards was a creative one indeed and would definitely be able to bridge the gap between people who are blind and the rest of the community.
"People who are blind or low vision will no longer need to ask someone else to read to them messages in greeting cards sent to them," he said.
The cards are priced at RM5.90 each and 5% from the sale of the cards will be channeled to MAB to fund future projects to enrich the life of people who are blind.
At the launch, guests had a first- hand view of the cards.
Each card comes with a guide to aid the sender in how to write their name in Braille.
They were also treated to a short performance by MAB deputy executive director Godfrey Ooi and massage instructor Albert Kong who performed two songs.