The challenge

Mind the Gap is a Bradford-based theatre group dedicated to raising the profile of learning disabled actors and artists. Browsing on Google images, Artistic Director, Joyce Nga Yu Lee was astonished to find that she couldn’t find a single image of a learning disabled parent, and the stories she could find focused only on the children. It seemed the struggles of the parents were being overlooked. Many faced prejudice, misunderstanding and all too often, the threat of having their children taken away from them. It was time their often heart-breaking, stories were heard.

Our approach

The idea of designing and producing a limited-edition book was proposed. As regular collaborators with Mind the Gap for around 7 years, we were eager to take up the challenge. In line with the charity’s mission, it was vital that the book could be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible. It was written with this in mind, and we ensured the book was designed to a high standard of accessibility, too. Accessibility is a hot topic right now, but through our work with Mind the Gap and others in the charity, education and public sectors, we’ve always treated it as a high priority. We carefully considered typeface, line length, layout, margin width, paper stock and contrast to create a book that is highly accessible but without compromising on beautiful layout and finish.