Tangerine’s twist on the 36 Days of Type

Written by Joseph VanDenBerg-Owens, Junior Motion Designer 

One of the studio team goals for 2023 was to work on more projects outside of client work, allowing us to flex our design strengths and be more experimental with our craft. Without experimenting and trying something new, how else are we supposed to push our work to new levels and be pioneers in this industry? To quote William Blake,

“the true method of knowledge is experiment”

You might be thinking, what is the 36 Days of Type challenge? In short, it’s a graphic design exercise for studios and individuals to create their own unique typeface and post them daily, showcasing the alphabet and numbers 0 to 9. It’s often done as an individual challenge, but teams can work together and create a variety of unique designs, too. 

SO HOW DOES TANGERINE PUT ITS OWN TWIST ON THE CHALLENGE? 

Simple; we push the boundaries. As the name suggests, we are supposed to be designing 36 days of a typeface, but we are designing 36 days of a type, instead. A category or community of people with a common characteristic. In this case sign language, more specifically British Sign Language (BSL). Our goal was to translate BSL fingerspelling into a series of decorative visuals that not only looked interesting but hopefully spreads awareness around BSL and sign language as a whole.  

WHY HAS SIGNING AND DEAF AWARENESS BECAME MORE POPULAR IN RECENT YEARS? 

You might have noticed deaf awareness has become more mainstream, with more productions and industries highlighting the deaf community and use of sign language, ranging from children’s TV shows to social media influencers on TikTok. 

Remember when Rihanna performed at the Super Bowl? She wasn’t the only star that night; 20-year-old American Sign Language interpreter, Justina Miles, blew up the internet, too. (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11744889/Rihannas-sign-language-interpreter-goes-viral-incredible-performance.html)  

Not because she was the first interpreter the Super Bowl ever had - there have been dozens every year and not just for the Super Bowl but for every major event. Justina highlighted how amazing and mesmerising ASL and signing as a whole can be. 

How do you visualise music? You dance to it, and you bring that party energy to the deaf (and non-deaf) viewers watching the show.  

REPRESENTATION ON THE BIG SCREEN 

Now let's switch our focus to the big screen. Personally I’m a big fan of films and TV shows, it’s my favourite form of storytelling where you get to explore unique worlds and, more importantly, unique characters. Starting with Marvel, the cinematic universe they have created is massive so it’s not surprising they have a good representation of the deaf community.  

When the film Eternals came out it got good reviews, however one actor that fans could not stop raving about was deaf-born Lauren Ridloff and her character ‘Makkari’. Eternals wasn’t the first deaf superhero character she played, but due to the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this was more in the public eye.  

Being deaf wasn’t a disability, and actually the character of Makkari in the comics wasn’t deaf until Lauren played the character, it just worked. Narrative wise it would make sense, running the speed of sound you probably would damage your eardrum. Subsequently her character and the team communicated via sign language to each other, they didn’t make it a big deal as it’s a natural part of life.  

To top it off when filming, the crew had problems about Lauren’s sounds cues for scenes, because she can’t hear them. This is where Angelina Jolie was thinking about inclusivity. Instead of using a sound cue, Angelina suggested a lighting cue - a little red pointer dot to prompt Lauren and her performances. Such a simple thing but it made such a massive difference. And when the filmed aired, screenings were shown with ASL interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing which is just amazing.  

SIGN LANGUAGE AS A STORYTELLING TOOL

Another two recent films have used sign language as a storytelling tool. A significant amount of Avatar 2 The Way of Water takes place in the sea. The characters of the world called the Navi communicate while submerged, and much like how they have their own Navi language, CJ Jones, who worked on the film, created the Navi sign language, which is mesmerising when you watch the film. 

Another film series that uses sign language as a storytelling tool is the Quiet Place franchise. This extensively uses ASL, as the family live in a world where they are hunted by predators who rely on sound to navigate. In these films, the Abbott family already used ASL daily as their daughter Regan (played by Millicent Simmonds) was born deaf - her deafness and the use of ASL are key story plot points in the franchise. By relying on signing and minimal dialogue, suspense and tension is delivered through the characters acting and emotion, especially on their faces. 

So, I come back to my question, why has signing and deaf awareness become more popular? Well, it hasn’t become more popular, it has always been there in films, social media, and life in general. It is only now becoming more accessible to people because of these channels and slowly becoming more accessible in all industries. You might have even spotted it in children’s tv shows or even Apple Fitness when they end their workout sessions. 

SO WHY IS TANGERINE THINKING ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY?

In fact, this isn’t new for Tangerine. A lot of the work we create has accessibility in mind, making sure not to limit the audience who see the work we create. But we want to be at the forefront in our industry, including creating unique pieces of work such as our film for Specsavers and the England Women’s Deaf Futsal Team (https://fb.watch/jGxtKvtQXh/). 

Most projects don’t have the budget to have BSL interpreters, or it’s not feasible, but we are hoping this project will spark the right conversations. As an industry we are making steps in the right direction for accessibility, but it isn’t truly accessible if it isn’t inclusive.  

“We shouldn’t design for disability; we should design for inclusivity.” 

All of the 36 Days of BSL Type will be posted on our Instagram page so head over there to see the work we are creating and updating daily.