Crystal D’s marketing communications manager vividly remembers watching her grandmother read.
“Her delicate hands — which had prepared thousands of meals for her large farming family — also served as her eyes when her fingers carefully scanned Braille text,” Natalie said. “My grandma didn’t let the vision impairment she experienced later in life stop her from learning and connecting with the world.”
Years later, Natalie’s mom learned Braille, too, because she wanted to communicate with a student at the school where she worked.
Crystal D knows how meaningful human connection is, and we work every day to celebrate people. So when a customer asked if Crystal D could create a custom crystal award with a special imprint for a recipient with vision impairment, the Memory Makers at Crystal D got to work.
“In this case, we knew we could do something special that would be both inclusive and beautiful — not to mention incredibly meaningful,” said Travis Brynness, Crystal D virtual production artist.
Side view of an award showing raised Braille dots imprinted on crystal.
“Our design team got to work researching Braille and understanding how the system worked. We wanted to make sure we understood things like the standards and spacing for the dots, to ensure that the award was perfectly legible.”
Travis said the company’s Illumachrome™ imprint was the ideal solution for incorporating Braille on crystal. With this process, the dots are applied to the front surface of the award, making it perfect for reading, while allowing other imprints to be included, if desired, either within the crystal (such as for 3D subsurface images) or on the back side (like deep etch).
Crystal D can incorporate Braille into virtually any design with a flat front surface. The key is to avoid having any deep etch design or text on the front, so the texture doesn’t compete with the Braille characters.
And, while imprinting Braille is an immediate benefit to vision-impaired recipients, using Braille also serves as a powerful design enhancement when recognizing individuals who support inclusion efforts and organizations.
Three examples of how Braille can be used as an award imprint.
Standard production time for an award with Braille is 6 to 8 days after art approval. Crystal D can assist with product selection, customization ideas, questions and quotes. Contact us at (800) 544-1131 or email sales@crystal-d.com.
Odessa — Production
Natalie — Marketing
Adam — Subsurface
