Dyslexia Scotland Kicks Off Its Own Dyslexia-Friendly Challenge with a Bespoke Variable Font

To wrap up Dyslexia Awareness Month, Dyslexia Scotland launches a beautiful dyslexia-friendly typeface created by renowned designer Daniel Brokstad.

‘There’s Nothing Comic About Dyslexia’ is a campaign that gives Comic Sans a platform to speak up on the relentless criticism it faces from the design industry. Despite being quite the helpful tool for people with Dyslexia, designers everywhere continue to cringe hard at the sight of it. 

Quite frankly, a resolve to this 20-year-long quarrel is just as unrealistic as thinking that designers would now have an epiphany regarding Comic Sans’ value and suddenly fall in love with it. So, instead, the campaign embraces that rivalry by giving Comic Sans the power to call for change that is long overdue with one ballsy, but simple request: create typefaces that can beautifully bridge the gap between design and dyslexia. 

But Dyslexia Scotland isn't just pointing out the problem without offering one beautiful solution of their own. This led to a partnership with renowned type designer Daniel Brokstad, whose patience towards the comical font’s defiant challenge was admirable. His eye for beautiful design and vision for an inconstant dyslexia-friendly typeface raised the bar of possibilities when it comes to design inclusivity.

Daniel’s new typeface, called ‘Inconstant Regular’, proves his creative genius in designing a font that is highly variable and that can be adjusted to individual dyslexia needs. After all, people with dyslexia make up 10% of the world’s population. That is 780 million brilliant minds around the world, with highly variable needs themselves.

The new typeface is available for download, free of charge, on the campaign website as well as its own dedicated download page hosted by WeTransfer.

Finally, it was equally important to help educate future talents on the need for inclusive design and the responsibility they eventually carry to do so. A vision that is shared by Miami Ad School Europe, and that was put into effect by introducing a new ‘Inclusive Design’ class. All so future designers can start off their careers with a mindset that ultimately makes information and knowledge accessible to everyone alike.

“There is no such thing as one font fits all when it comes to dyslexia, which is why we were thrilled with Daniel’s vision during the creation of ‘Inconstant Regular’," said Gabriel Mattar, chief creative officer, Innocean Europe. "He created a font that is beautiful while also reflecting how variable everyone’s experience truly is and that allows for everyone to adjust it based on their own individual needs. If you think about it, it doesn’t get much more dyslexia-friendly than that.” 

Katie Carmichael, lead for creative and digital, Dyslexia Scotland, said: "It was really important for us to not just talk the talk but also show that we are willing to put in the same effort as we expect from designers. Daniel was the perfect partner in this process as our visions aligned from the start, and we truly feel like his typeface creation shows the design industry that dyslexia-friendly fonts can be highly creative, functional, and beautiful – all at once.”

Daniel Brokstad, designer and creative direction, Brokstad Studio, said: “When Innocean Berlin and Dyslexia Scotland approached me, I was intrigued by the concept of creating a dyslexia-friendly font that’s also visually appealing. My design process was inspired by many of the quirky characteristics of Comic Sans, but I wanted to create a Sans Serif typeface that looks tightened up while also having variable accessibility features built in. When designing for Dyslexia you have to look at things from a different perspective and take into account a lot of variables you might not otherwise think of. My hope is that people will actually put the font to good use, either designers by using it in their work - or people with dyslexia for their own personal use. At the end, if my typeface can help make even just a few people reach their full potential, then I consider it time very well spent on my part.