Maps are an instrumental form that have aided in navigating around our world. In the beginning, many of the first known maps created were based on calculations and one’s own experience. However, the people who lived along the Marshall Islands utilised a different method of navigation.

 

The Marshallese were known to be very good navigators and voyagers of the seas. The atolls were a low-lying topography and as a result, were difficult to see from afar. The Marshallese therefore relied on their ability to feel and observe to navigate through the ocean, and they created stick charts to show these different swell patterns and wave forms.

 

Our sense of touch and intuition can aid in our understanding of our surroundings and by feeling we can interpret. The Marshallese were known to train by simulation and would wear a blindfold in a canoe whilst their teacher towed them around a shallow area of water. The aim appeared to require that a student be able to navigate blind to gain a full understanding of the navigation technique.

 

People who are visually impaired are able to understand their surroundings through their senses. Typography is an element that is seen, there are some typefaces that have been developed for the visually impaired such as Braille. The question is how would it feel? The solution is to create a narrative that will show the mapping of a journey through a combination of sight and feel in the form of typography, similar to how the Marshallese used their sense of feeling to create their stick charts. As designers, we use anchor points as means of constructing, manipulating and forming typefaces digitally.

 

The target market of this deliverable is aimed at people who want to be informed or learn more about the Marshall Islands mapping system. The product will be sold in bookstores as it is an informative puzzle. The methods involved in creating this deliverable encourage users to understand the process of how visually impaired people read and emphasises the importance of the role of the designer as well as the process of creating typography. Ultimately, the user is taken on a journey and is informed about the Marshall Islands technique of navigation, being able to feel in order to interpret.

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The outcome of this is executed as an informative puzzle. The user is presented with a piece of perspex (chart), which has a number displayed on it in the corner and is comprised of multiple small, raised circles. The user is blindfolded and is directed to feel the raised bumps with one hand and then use the other hand to draw the path that they feel with a marker on the chart. Ultimately, they create a journey of their movement on a map. Once the user has finished drawing their journey, they are required to select the card (Wave Road Island card) that matches the number on the chart. The card has the name of one of the Marshall Islands or atolls and when the card is placed underneath the chart all the bumps will match the anchor points of the letters.

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In creating this puzzle, the user has made a journey through feeling. The cards have information on the back of them about the islands and the meaning of the atoll’s name. In the end, once all the charts have been drawn, which will have all the Ralik chain of islet names, the user stacks them together in a clear box and is able to make a 3D map of all their journeys combined.

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