These designs are part of a sequence made by Kate Rolfe to illustrate a self-initiated project entitled Navigating Dyslexia. Based on Rolfe’s personal experience, Navigating Dyslexia combines letterpress and cyanotype to communicate the nuanced experience of a person with dyslexia. The artist first sketched a real child reading (E.985-2003 – E.986-2003, and E.994-2023 – E.995-2023) before developing her story character (E.987-2003 and E.996-2023). In her preliminary sketches Rolfe used a combination of drawn media in ink combined with stamps she made herself (E.988-2023 – E.993-2023). She used cyanotype as a painted process and experimented with reproducing the letterforms, trailing stitching, stamping or collaging (E.977-2023 – E.984-2023) as well as playing with her different illustrative concepts which revolved around navigating difficult terrain. Characters form into towering mountains, rough seas, scary monsters, impenetrable forests or tumble from books to create the sense of overwhelming anxiety. For her final artwork (E.973-2023 – E.976-2023), Rolfe settled for a simple two colour, contrasting the blue girl with red letterforms for a bold and striking effect.
Rolfe made these images as part of her MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art in 2021. Besides winning the Student Illustrator prize in the 2022 V&A Illustration Awards, Rolfe also won at the 2022 World Illustration Awards for the same project.