A Font of Grace

Sarah behind the wheel of a boat

Sarah Grace is the publisher of Still Emily, and has been working on a new font. I had a chat with her to find out more….

Hi Sarah! Thank you for talking to me. Let’s dive straight in:

What is your favourite colour?

Blue for sure.

Favourite chocolate?

Booja - salted caramel - dairy free (unfortunately).

Favourite place?

On a boat in the sunshine - most recently in Croatia.

Tell me three things about yourself?

I love animals, especially hedgehogs; I help rehabilitate them, and love to see them back in the wild happily living their lives.

I am dyslexic, which I now see as a strength and, having been offered to be prayed for in hope of healing, I was not so keen to give it up.

I am now a Nanny to my gorgeous grand-daughter, and we have another little surprise on the way. I wasn’t sure I was ready to be a grandparent (surely I am not old or

mature enough I thought). However I realised I don’t have to be, I can be a kid again, having fun in the moment is just the best with my oh so funny, pretty and clever Lili.

Tell me in three words or fewer what it is like to have dyslexia?

It’s a blend of brilliance, frustration and yet knowing means clarity. I hope that makes sense.

How old were you when you found out you are dyslexic?

In my 40’s.

How did that affect you?

It all started to make sense to be honest with you, Emily.

That light bulb moment of “Oh that’s why I have struggled”.

I could see how compensating had suddenly stopped working and now I got to see what was really going on.

As I was training as a psychotherapist, I developed another level of understanding myself. I immediately grabbed hold of it without fear, seeing it as a blessing.

Knowledge of what’s happening beneath the surface can be scary, yet if we look and embrace it, we gain strength and insight. It’s been so empowering for me.

Hence writing my books and counselling.

How does dyslexia affect your daily life now?

I still have to double check my work, my written communication and organisation. The creativity, empathy and wanting to resolve problems side of it, I do

like to embrace. It is a mixed bag, literally daily, however I feel laughing at myself helps a lot!

What is the biggest challenge, for you, in living with dyslexia?

Self-doubt is hard to shift. When I can do something one day but not the next, like spelling or directions. It can feel undermining, so I have to take a moment if things

go wrong and not always assume it’s me. That does become a default with dyslexia, that we made a mistake, but it’s not always the case. This is especially the case

with being diagnosed later in life.

What helps you in the tough times?

My faith, a more positive self-talk, laughter, and finding a way through something. Resolving an issue is a default as I have had to work around so much to do both my

roles in life. Us dyslexics do make good problem solvers!

You have your own publishing imprint, and have written books yourself. How does having dyslexia help and/or challenge you in these vocations?

I would say it has been my biggest push to do these things, especially work on the font and, my biggest challenge to do them also. Dyslexia doesn’t mean we don’t like reading or words, it just makes it harder. And as a problem solver, I wanted to find a way of making reading easier. The Grace font has been a huge blessing to me; I am way more actuate and faster at working since I have it on my computer. It just works!

What gave you the idea to develop a font specifically to help people with dyslexia?

Being dyslexic I seem to have answered this in the other question ;)

Yes, fair point!

How did you develop the font? What was the process?

In my book ‘Journey with Grace’ I tell the story of how I met Klaus, the typographer, in Nashville, USA ,and asked for my own dyslexia typeface. We worked on this for 6

years, until now. We kept tweaking it on my response to the latest version of it, Klaus’s team would make changes and we finally arrived with the font which he

named after me. What a privilege! I had no idea it would also lead to being used in a children’s bible and 2 adult bibles.

Cambridge University heard about it and have been on our journey for a year now. It’s been great working with them to understand more around visual stress.

I have written about the font in my children’s book called ‘Bella finds Grace’ to introduce dyslexia and the grace font.

I really hope it leads into more understanding and enjoyment for children to read.

What a journey it has been!

Sarah working on the manuscript of Bella finds Grace

Can you explain to me what it is about Grace font that makes it more readable for people with dyslexia?

The font has been tweaked over six years; in a nutshell this has given it a unique look, which is attractive to the eye. It is subtly heavier on the base, and the careful spacing of letters and words, and shape of the letters, gives distinction between similar letters which can otherwise often be confusing. It is all so subtle. It wouldn’t be noticed initially, however, in a block of text our brain sees it differently, helping with visual stress. We are more likely to start reading it, and reading is easier and more pleasurable.

Is Grace font readily available? Could I use it in my documents? (I tried to use it now for you, but can’t)

Through my website Sarah Grace Publishing | dyslexia-friendly books

The hope is to make it readily available soon!

What is your prayer for the font?

That it becomes everyone’s go to, making reading easier for everyone. It’s not just for those who know they have dyslexia and visual stress.

Is there a Bible verse that particularly helps you in your life?

Jeremiah 29.11: ‘For the plans I have for you are to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.’

Amen to that!

Thank you for talking to me, Sarah. Congratulations on Grace Font. I pray it is a big help to lots of people. Thank you for making Still Emily available in it, too.

I have a copy of Still Emily in Grace font to give away. Well, I don’t yet, but I will as soon as it is available.

If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning, simply subscribe to my newsletter: Get in Touch — Emily Owen