Spread The Sign by Kurppa Hosk

European Sign Language Centre (ESC) is a non-profit organization promoting access to and use of sign language. One way they are doing this is by documenting all the different sign languages in the world and making them accessible through a digital service, called spreadthesign.com. Essentially, a global online dictionary for the hearing impaired. Kurppa Hosk supported the initiative by creating a distinctive visual identity for Spread The Sign, including a specially designed typography with icons for every letter in the sign-language alphabet. The number of hearing-impaired people in the world is estimated at 70 million. However, there is no universal sign language – people from different parts of the world cannot automatically understand each other. In all, there are hundreds of different sign languages. To facilitate communication between these communities – and between the hearing impaired and their close ones – European Sign Language Centre (ESC) is now documenting all the different sign languages in an online database called spreadthesign.com. So far, ESC has documented 200,000+ words in 25 countries. Kurppa Hosk was asked to create a brand platform and a visual identity for the Spread The Sign initiative. The brand platform that Kurppa Hosk defined, offered a clear direction for Spread The Sign. The over-all mission was defined as to give everyone the right to a language. Selected core values were humanistic, action-oriented, and innovative – which also became important key-words for the design.