Ball and Minalba Brasil are winners of Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design Awards in the Latin America category for their braille cans. 

The collaboration between beverage company Minalba Brasil and Ball saw the launch of the first ever embossed can lid on the Brazillian market. 

The innovation allows visually impaired people to identify the cans quickly and easily. The cans are currently available in two options – agua and agua gas. 

On Instagram, Ball shared more insight into the design process and the challenges faced. “We teamed up with Minalba Brasil to help remedy a prevalent yet complex issue in the visually impaired community: reading can labels.

“Together, we created an aluminium can with a braille-embossed lid that helps individuals with visual impairments know what they’re grabbing from the cooler.

“As the first in the Brazilian market, our braille-embossed lid offers two options: water (agua) and sparkling water (agua gas). This was a difficult undertaking, as can lids are circular, which can prove confusing for languages like braille, which are read left to right.

“Being precise with the size of dots and distance between dots was crucial to relaying the correct message for readers. We worked with the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, an expert organisation in Brazil, to ensure that our braille-embossed lid follows the standards for braille in terms of legibility.

We believe this innovation can help improve the drinking experience for visually impaired individuals and spur more progress in can design.”

The Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards celebrate groundbreaking design across various industries, highlighting products, services, and ideas that are reshaping the world through creativity and innovation. 

These awards honour exceptional work in categories like graphic design, architecture, user experience, and social impact. The winning projects demonstrate excellence in aesthetics, functionality, originality, and potential for social impact, reflecting the evolving landscape of design and its role in addressing contemporary challenges.