Blind artist, Clarke Reynolds, has created a new children’s book which brings together braille and pop art. Reynold’s book ‘Mr Dot and His Magical White Cane’, as the name suggests, features a blind character but that is not the way this book is working to normalise blindness.
Once opened, the book mirrors each page of the story; on one side the story is suitable for sighted readers with written text and illustrations while the opposite page is duplicated in braille; a feature that is not the standard for braille books. The author and artist explained that his aim “making braille universal” and in doing so, he wanted to normalise blindness.
The book is written by Clarke Reynolds with Kevin Bampton, and illustrated by Roma Blay.
Blay explained: “We worked tirelessly together to bring his ‘Mr Dot’ character to life through dozens of illustrations, and took a step further to ensure the book worked harmoniously with both Latin and braille alphabets. It remained tactile yet enjoyable for sighted readers.”
Clarke began to gradually lose his sight at the age of six due to a diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa, and he has been using braille as an artform for almost seven years. During this time, he created the persona Mr Dot, who he uses to teach children about braille when he goes into schools.
“Just like a typographer uses a letter, Mr Dot uses a dot,” he explained. “For me the dot has more power, it becomes a vessel to host the English language.”
“When I learnt braille, my brain just clicked in, like it was meant to be.
“Taking an image and simplifying it down to its basic bones. Basically, I’m a pixelated artist, just that I don’t use all the pixels, I take them away.”
“People used to ask how I see and I used to say ‘It’s like looking through a thousand dots’.”
Since creating the Mr Dot character, Clarke Reynolds has travelled around the UK teaching more than 20,000 children about the use of braille, which is what inspired his new children’s book.
“I’m all about making braille universal. If I wanted a braille book, it would come in volumes because of how braille is done – they are thick books inside these sort of filofaxes and considered specialised in bookshops.
“I wanted it to look like a normal book. It’s about treating it as a normal publication.”
Mr Dot and His Magical White Cane is already available on loan from Portsmouth libraries, Reynolds’ home city after a book launch held there. The book will be available to buy soon, with every book contributing to Fight For Sight; a cause close to Clarke’s heart.
