Nonsense Mistakes of Dyslexia

Abstract

This practice-led design research project uses typography and nonsense literature to reveal a subjective dyslexic condition. The project contributes to the understanding of and provides insights into the dyslexic experience of word comprehension and typographic dysfluency. The dyslexic experience is communicated through two central approaches. Firstly, the designed artefact Nonsense Mistakes uses the concept of nonsense literature as a communication strategy in a play with language and meaning. Through the exploration of typographical layouts and Risograph printing, nonsense literature becomes a tool that is employed to simulate and decode the difficulty of word-reading, recognition and comprehension, placing the reader and the audience within the dyslexic experience. Secondly, the researcher explores personal experience by connecting herself to past encounters within the education system, looking back to primary and high schooling, and translating these into encounters and an experimental dialogue between typography, publication format, iterative drawing, material thinking and prototyping.