1 Did you know espoir products have Braille?

Did you know that espoir products feature Braille? First introduced on two shades of espoir’s “Couture Lip Tint Shine 'Spring, For all' Collection” launched in April 2022, Braille has since been applied to all tints released by espoir and has continued for over three years now. What began with tints has now expanded to include face makeup products, such as espoir’s cushion foundations and liquid foundations, as well as eyebrow pencils. Today, I’d like to share how espoir BM came to create Braille products for visually impaired individuals.

2 Can you distinguish between concealer and tint?

Someone suddenly asks, pointing to a vanity table or makeup pouch, “Can you distinguish between concealer and tint without visual information?” The development of Braille tints began with this question. While searching for product reviews as usual, I came across a video through the YouTube algorithm. It was a review of an espoir tint by a visually impaired YouTuber. Watching the video, I was surprised by two things. First, I had never deeply considered the apparent fact that visually impaired people are also customers of makeup products. Second, that particular visually impaired customer had mistakenly applied concealer to their lips, thinking it was a lip product. It was a moment when I confronted a customer inconvenience I hadn’t previously considered. From that moment, a new concern began: “How can we create makeup for everyone?”

3 Various Braille in everyday life

Braille is already being utilized in many aspects of our daily lives. Most notably, the financial sector applies tactile markings to easily distinguish between credit cards and debit cards. Pharmaceuticals also feature Braille labeling, enabling visually impaired individuals to identify the names and purposes of medications. Even elevator buttons we use every day have Braille.

However, many products and spaces still lack Braille application, causing visually impaired individuals to experience inconvenience in their daily lives. Makeup products, in particular, were one area with almost no Braille labeling. While considering ‘beauty for everyone,’ I began to wonder if I could apply Braille to the products I was developing.

4 Beginning the Development of Braille Products

That’s how I came to think about applying Braille to the tint products I was managing at the time. However, once I tried to implement Braille, I realized there were many factors to consider:

Applying Braille wasn’t simply an ‘additional feature,’ but a complex undertaking that required consideration of the product’s function, design, and production process.

5 Finding the Right Sticker Material for Braille

The most practical challenge was that we couldn’t create separate molds for each product. Harmony with existing product design was also an important consideration. Eventually, I came up with the idea of attaching transparent stickers with embossed Braille to the side of the container. After sharing this idea with the product designer, we began an extensive search for suitable sticker material. We had two requirements for the Braille sticker material:

The problem was that even specialized label companies had no experience producing ‘Braille labels.’ Ultimately, the designer and I tested various material samples, checking the protrusion of the Braille and repeatedly testing adhesion. Through this process, we were finally able to select a sticker material that effectively implemented Braille and considered usability. We also consulted with the product manufacturer to ensure there would be no issues during production and to confirm whether attaching the stickers would be feasible.

6 What Information to Include

After resolving the practical issues in the production of Braille tints, two challenges remained:

Examining the bottom label of a tint reveals dense information in small print, including shade numbers, color codes, and product names. However, given the small surface area of lip product containers and packaging, it was impossible to include all information while maintaining readability. Consequently, we decided to include ‘color family’ information on the Braille label of the product container. This was to allow intuitive identification of which tint is ‘Light Pink’ or which is ‘Mute Coral’ among the many products in a makeup pouch. Additionally, we included product category information, such as ‘tint’ in Braille, on the product packaging. To verify the final Braille information, we requested product testing from actual visually impaired individuals after trial production. After confirming the protrusion level of the Braille and the readability of the information, we incorporated their feedback to finally complete the Braille products.

7 Including Our Sincerity

The most essential consideration when launching the Braille products was not to promote Braille as a marketing point. We didn’t want Braille to be seen merely as a means to showcase the brand’s ‘good intentions.’ We did, however, provide concise information on the product detail page explaining that the sticker contains Braille and is made from a material that leaves no residue and is easy to remove.

8 Reaction and Expansion of Braille Tints

The response to the launched Braille tints exceeded our expectations. Positive reactions continued across X (formerly Twitter) and various online communities, with comments like “This is the first time I’ve seen Braille applied to makeup products.” Thanks to this interest, Braille tints were highlighted as a notable example in the beauty industry and featured as such in various media.

The success of Braille tints also brought positive changes within espoir. We began to consider ways to apply Braille not only to lip tints but also to various categories of products to be released in the future.

In addition, following the launch of Braille products, we conducted additional meetings with visually impaired individuals. We held several events inviting visually impaired customers to the ‘1:1 Personal Consulting’ program, a signature service of the Yeonnam Store.