“look with your hands” is a series of envelops developped for the yokohama rendez-vous project.
yokohama rendez-vous project started 2009 as an experimental approach to monozukuri, bridging artists and designers with businesses and social welfare facilities.
for the “look with your hands” envelope series so+ba has been working with “wakuwaku work” a social facility for blind people in yokohama.
the asahi newspaper publishes a weekly newspaper for the blind, all printed in braille. we have been up-cycling the old newspaper into new products.
envelopes made of one sheet of braille news-paper and 2 color print. blind people from “waku-waku work” wrote a sentence to express their feelings. the sentences express their feelings in a poetic way. this sentences, mixed with quotes from helene keller (1880-1968) a blind deaf american activist. the typography on the envelopes is designed in the same poetic stile as the texts, using the color black and sky-blue.
working together with the waku-waku-work members made us see the world in a different way.

手に愛を求めて
A hand in search of love

君の手が触れた時、私の世界が広がる
Your hands, when touched, open up my world

親愛なる君へ
Dear to you

向日葵のようにわくわくと生きる
Exciting to live like a sunflower

手のひらで世界を見つめて
Looking at the world in the palm

我が道は盲ろうの道なり
Our way, it leads the blind and deaf

君の手が僕の手の平に溢れる愛を
I love that which overflows in the palm of your hand

君の手が触れる時微笑みに変わる
Changes being touched by your smile

手に愛を求めて
Hand in search of love

青空に向かって歩こう
Walk toward the blue sky

いつも笑顔で
Always smiling

盲ろう者が共に楽しく
Both fun and deaf/blind

仲間と歩む
Walking with friends

好きなイメージを考えながら作品を作る
Thinking of making a film-like image

みんな一緒に生きている
People living together

見えないが全身で感じて
The whole body feels invisible

目と目が見つめて
Staring eye-to-eye