Ann Bessemans is<\/b>\u00a0a graphic designer and typographer.<\/b> For her doctorate, she developed the Matilda font, adapted to the needs of visually-impaired children. Matilda is a font which helps visually-impaired children who are just starting to read.<\/b><\/p>\n
Whereas most modern serif fonts have dashes at regular intervals from each other, it’s easier for visually-impaired children to learn to read if the rhythm of the letters is disrupted. Ann Bessemans draws on pre-modern fonts, and bases her theory on scientific research. The font will be completed soon, since there are already two publishers who have expressed an interest in publishing.<\/p>\n
Visual impairment<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cVisual impairment is a special problem. When someone becomes visually impaired due to old age, they already know how to read. So letter designs for that target group focus mainly on comfort of reading. A child that is born with a visual impairment, who still has to learn how to read, has completely different needs. I developed Matilda during, and after, scientific and subjective legibility research. Obviously, Matilda is not the ultimate solution for the reading problem, but it offers help, as do glasses, a magnifying glass or better lighting.”<\/p>\n
Science<\/b><\/p>\n
“I describe myself as a designing researcher, in the sense that I combine the artistic reflective with the scientific analytical. I try to let myself be inspired by the science, and get inspiration for my designs from that. There aren’t many of us yet. I see it as a development which will make the design world a little bigger. I hope that in the future, more people will work like this, not as a kind of competition but rather as a sounding board.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ann Bessemans is\u00a0a graphic designer and typographer. For her doctorate, she developed the Matilda font, adapted to the needs of visually-impaired children. Matilda is a font which helps visually-impaired children who are just starting to read. Whereas most modern serif fonts have dashes at regular intervals from each other, it’s easier for visually-impaired children to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-en"],"yoast_head":"\n