Ishaara
‘ISHAARA’ in hindi translates to ‘showing a sign’ which is a perfect name for this restaurant that employs serving staff who are speech and hearing impaired. I was commissioned by Ishaara to create 34 illustrations for all the serving staff’s unique hand gesture that would be printed on the back of their restaurant’s uniform t-shirts. I was also asked to create several hand sign illustrations for their menu card design. I had to keep in mind that the illustrations had to be simple and legible from the farthest point of the restaurant. I created consistent silhouette for the male and female illustration and this helped me bring more emphasis to the unique hand gestures that acted as their calling signs. The menu card design followed more of a game design strategy as the restaurant wanted to increase engagement between the staff and the customer. The hierarchy of communication here was crucial as it would help the customer use sign language. This gave me an opportunity to not only explore anatomy of the hand but also develop a strategic system for brief communication between the customers and the hearing impaired serving staff. Each section and dish on the menu are marked out with a hand sign illustration. Working with the serving staff, picking up hints of sign language and incorporating their feedback was crucial to me as well as the restaurant owners.
