You Are Beautiful Braille Stickers/Photo courtesy You Are Beautiful
Positivity has always been at the axis of You Are Beautiful—from stickers, to apparel, to public art—and now they have expanded that message beyond the sighted world by creating their first-ever Braille stickers to help us identify with one another, bring the community together and ensure everyone is seen and heard.
You Are Beautiful Stickers/Photo: Courtesy You Are Beautiful
“Every single person deserves to be treated with kindness and compassion, and be reminded of their value and worth. At the heart of the You Are Beautiful project is to constantly be innovating to find ways to interject positivity into daily life for everyone,” founder Matthew Hoffman says, stressing the importance of designing for inclusivity for the blind or visually impaired. The widely shared sticker now incorporates braille and tactile elements (they are embossed and printed with the You Are Beautiful message using UEB Grade 1 Braille Symbols) and was brought to life in collaboration with House Of Light, an organization that improves lives globally, of those who are blind or visually impaired, by bringing the sighted world to them through education, inclusion and innovation.
You Are Beautiful Braille Stickers/Photo: Courtesy You Are Beautiful
People navigating disability often feel excluded or even ignored. Built on the premise of equitable treatment—that everyone is important and deserves to feel loved, supported and acknowledged—the You Are Beautiful Braille stickers were designed to change that. “Braille stickers can play a major role in promoting inclusivity and creating a more accessible environment for people with visual impairments. They can help foster a sense of community and belonging,” says House of Light founder Sierra Dockery. “Incorporating Braille labels into public spaces, businesses and products, sends a message that people with visual impairments are valued and included in the community.”
You Are Beautiful Stickers/Photo: Courtesy You Are Beautiful
“The thing that excites me the most is that we believe the message is for everyone, and this gets us closer to the goal of anyone and everyone being able to have this positive message come into their lives. It was so exciting to give Sierra the first batch of stickers to share with her kids and get feedback on all the overjoyed reactions,” says Hoffman. “Everything we do is a group effort, with many different voices and backgrounds coming together for a common purpose. It’s an honor to be a part of this ever evolving conversation.”
You Are Beautiful Braille Stickers/Photo: Courtesy You Are Beautiful
On a mission to provide kindness, compassion, and community at a time when it’s needed most, You Are Beautiful has created an experience that transcends boundaries. Dockery wholeheartedly agrees: “Despite the fact that individuals with disabilities might not typically be able to see, like their peers, they need to know that they are beautiful. It’s such a wonderful message and opens the door for people with other disabilities to be included as well.”
Greek-born Vasia Rigou is a journalist, editor and multimedia content producer largely on the subjects of visual art, culture, architecture and design. She currently serves as an Editor at Newcity, Chicago’s leading culture publication, as Writer and Copy Editor at the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) HQ, and regularly contributes to international architecture and design magazines OnOffice and ICON. She has experience creating content for brands and building conference speeches and influential TEDx talks. Simply put: she’s fascinated by finding out the great stories behind the people, places and objects that surround us, and by sharing those stories with the world. When she’s not writing about art or looking at art—wine in hand—she makes lists for pretty much everything, drinks immense amounts of coffee and takes cross-country road trips every chance she gets.
