Features

Quilling Card’s new braille range delivers greetings to a new, underserved audience.

Greeting cards can be enjoyed by most, but there are some populations with limitations that prevent this. Quilling Card co-founder Huong Wolf realized this while on one of her frequent trips to the company’s Fair Trade factory in Vietnam.

“We currently employ over a dozen deaf artisans, who inspired her vision of using this tactile art form to create braille, forming a special connection from the hand to the heart,” described Sara Schofield, senior designer. “Using the sense of touch to engage with every quilled design creates a special shared experience between the deaf artisans who use their skilled hands to craft each card, and the blind recipients who will have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of quilling beneath their fingertips.”

But developing this “sweet 16” collection of cards wasn’t easy. In all, two years were dedicated to considerable research, extensive testing and a lot of meticulous design work, including collaboration with the renowned Perkins School of the Blind. I interviewed Schofield to learn more about how this innovative range came to life.

ST: What special needs do the blind have when it comes to stationery — and how does this range answer them?

SS: Other braille greeting cards often have printed imagery with some braille lettering, or use braille dots to create an outline of an image. Of these offerings, the designs are limited and not overly exciting to experience by touch.

Because quilling is a tactile art form, it provides a new experience for the blind where they not only read a braille message but can experience an image to accompany it and do not have to sacrifice one or the other. One member of Perkins shared with us how she had received the same birthday card every year, and how she was so looking forward to having a wider selection on the market.

ST: How did the collaboration with the Perkins School of the Blind work?

SS: This was an invaluable experience. Staff from the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library were able to provide honest, first hand criticism through each stage of samples while we worked towards perfecting this artistic interpretation of braille.

ST: What types of insights did they share about the requirements of braille cards?

SS: We learned so much about the braille reading and writing system — a lot of little details that are essential for a successful execution of quilled braille and accompanying designs. For example, of the two different types of braille, grade 1 (uncontracted) was determined to be best for this application. We were provided with insight to the standardization of braille and the precisely arranged cells, which are used to represent each letter in the alphabet, and how we could scale these dimensions to accommodate coiled paper effectively. This helped us better understand the critical details for someone that is experiencing the cards through touch.

ST: What kind of tweaks occurred during testing?

SS: We tested many samples that all had slightly different size and spacing configurations in order to determine which was the most effective for our artistic interpretation of braille. We also considered incorporating pictures along with the braille. After sharing some cards from our existing line during one of our Perkins meetings, (we realized) a pictorial element had to be included as we saw how much the artwork and designs were enjoyed.

The quilled art, which was added to the braille, also needed to be perfected to be sure the images could be interpreted by touch. One memorable addition was the antenna of the butterfly. The quilled cards in our line often combine printed background artwork with quilling. A sighted person who is able to see both the printed details and the quilling would not think twice about the antenna of a butterfly, but a detail like that makes all the difference when relying solely on touch.

ST: Any other obstacles as the line was developed?

SS: There were many as the collection came to fruition. The most difficult was being able to accurately portray a standardized writing that is typically done with a machine to a handcrafted interpretation. The process of printing a template, then having a quiller roll a tight coil with the correct paper length and width and perfectly placing it into the template took a lot of trial and error.

ST: How do you recommend this range be merchandised and promoted?

SS: We have a 16-pocket display, which perfectly holds the entire Braille Collection complete with a header sharing the details of the collection. The story is really important; the inspirational narrative stays with people.

We’re working on a video to tell the story of the Braille Collection, including testimonials, interviews and footage of the cards being made. Utilizing QR code technology, it will be viewable to anyone by scanning the code with their smartphone on the back of the card.

In the meantime, the Braille Collection still has our general quilling video linked to the QR code like the rest of the line, which gives context to the quilling process. The video is a valuable tool in promoting the collection on social media, and for retailers to share with customers.

ST: What kind of response has the collection received so far?

SS: We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response. Our marketing efforts have received attention from organizations across the blind community as well as from numerous publications and media outlets. We’re now listed as a resource with organizations such as World Services for the Blind, World Blind Union, and American Council of the Blind. There have been several articles published in local news outlets, including the MetroWest Daily News, where Quilling Card was featured as one of their recent cover stories. It has been so wonderful being able to bring more awareness to the braille reading and writing system while also sharing the ancient art of quilling with an even larger audience.

ST: What are retailers who are successful with the range doing that others may not be doing?

SS: It’s difficult to assess this early, however we anticipate that retailers who take the time to share the story of the notion of connecting the hand to the heart will have the most success.

ST: Is there anything else you’d like to share with Stationery Trends readers?

SS: The current market for braille greeting cards lacks diversity and we hope to provide an exciting new way for the blind to celebrate occasions and special moments, while also experiencing this ancient art form. Quilling is truly an art for all the senses. The Braille Collection offers a unique capability in that every design is as beautiful to experience by sight as it is by touch, making the cards an ideal gift for anyone!