WHAT IT IS
Fingeralphabet.org is a private project aiming to provide free illustrations for sign language alphabets to be used by anyone.
THE PURPOSE
The sole purpose of this site is to provide FREE sign language alphabets – from as many countries as possible, as correctly as possible, for as many people as possible.
These images currently come in 300dpi and are licensed under a Creative Commons 2.0 License.
Future images will come as vectorgraphics to be scaled as needed.
THE BEGINNINGS
It was one postcard design that actually initiated the fingeralphabet project. The idea of having a website for free downloads, evolved from the cheerful reception the postcard got from colleagues, family, friends and those who got to see it in advance.
The postcard’s first appearance was at the Frankfurter Buchmesse (bookfair) in october 2006, where it was distributed for free.
THE FUTURE
After analyzing the feedback from the first version of this website (which was in English), I decided I had to make things much more complex for me if I wanted to have it easy for others. So to do this project right and to really reach as many people as possible, a number of things had to change:
- every country needs to be addressed by itself
- every country needs to be addressed in its own language
- people need examples of what can be done with the material to get inspired
- not 20 different sizes and data, but 1 size for all: eps or pdf to be scaled as needed
- additional signs (e.g. numbers)
- additional types of drawing (e.g. suitable for icons)
So not only the website will be optimized, I also will be providing more illustrations. AND I will be providing them as vector-illustrations (eps), so size will not be a problem anymore: you can just scale the illustration to any size you need.
Besides the “fancy” hands from the current alphabets, there will be at least one more simpler version and I will add numbers, following some requests I have gotten.
My dream is to fill up this information hole once and for all and to provide as much as is needed for education and communication for everybody worldwide who needs it for non commercial purpose. The only restriction being that you need to go online to get it.
There will even be a possibility to aquire the rights for commercial purposes – the money will help to finance the site from year to year, which due to the size it will have will cause considerable costs.
THE NEEDS
The new parameters increase the size and complexity of the website (the maintenance!) and the content to a point beyond of what I can afford to pay for privatly. Especially due to the fact that I want to make this page available throughout the future. Adding to that I will now need assistance from translators which was not necessary as long as the website was held solely in English.
The only way I see to cope with this is to find sponsors for each country. Yes, we are living in economically turbulent times, but I do not need much for each country, it is just when you sum it up that it becomes quite a figure.
Every sponsor will have his logo prominently shown on the pages he has sponsored. See the red fields above? The right one is for the sponsor and only for her/him.
Even without marketing this little German sign language alphabet has already found his way around up to the German Government, not to say to inumerous schools and institutions. I am really convinced that I have to find a way to finish this for the whole world. I really want to do this but I can only (gladly) provide the illustrations. I will need some help for having it put together so it can be of maximum help.
Apart from that …
… if you have anything to comment concerning the sign language alphabets or further reference material, please do not hesitate to contact me! I will try to read and answer all the messages I get, even though it might take a while here and there.
Most of the material you see around in the internet is not for free reproduction and quite a lot of it is relatively near to impossible to decipher. I am therefore always looking for further ressources and reference materials. If you happen to have or know of additional material I could rely upon, I would be glad if you could pass me the information along via eMail.
Thank you very much for your time and attention,
Lassal
