A Garden for All Type Design

In my teaching practice, I usually look for opportunities that engage students with the industry. I shall perhaps refer to the beginnings. TYPOGRAPHY III is an academic course whose syllabus demands the design of type design prototypes. In this context, I created an assignment called TYPOlogy (Type design), which has manifested in different editions since its inception in 2017. For example, in 2017, students based their creations in architectural forms, in an iteration titled ARCHI-TYPE-ISM. In 2018, students collaborated with Prototypo, a user-friendly, parameter-based font generator, and its creators, where students crafted original typefaces under the feedback and co-supervision of this innovative French studio. In 2020, Almenara Press, based in the Netherlands, selected the typeface Hakkanese (2020) by Lau Li Xuan. This typeface aimed to visualize the Chinese Hakka oral language through drop caps. Hakkanese was selected from a wide range of proposals submitted by my typography students for inclusion in a book published by Almenara Press. In 2022–2023, 'A Garden for All' continued this industry-oriented symbiosis whose outcome was the publishing of the produced typographical works emulating a real design commissioned scenario. A group of students from Typography III course were invited to collaborate with Epigram Books, one of Singapore’s leading publishers, under my creative direction. The students I led from the School of Art, Design and Media, NTU, Singapore, conducted field research in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and designed original Drop Caps for the book 'A Garden for All'. I would also like to express my gratitude to the EPIGRAM BOOKS team, especially Nikki Rosales, Head of Design, and Annisa Lintang Suminar, book designer, for their professionalism and enthusiasm in facilitating such a wonderful collaboration between ADM students and Epigram Books!

I view the design of drop caps as the “perfect excuse” to analyse glyph design throughout design (typefaces) history. It offers an excellent opportunity to engage and motivate students in creating type designs that revive, or rather, revitalise the tradition of drop caps. To summarise your inquiry about how this industry-oriented approach enhances students’ understanding of typography design: drop caps provide insight into the history of hand-drawn lettering and the tradition of illuminated initials in manuscripts. Through this, students learn that designing typefaces is rooted in the study of inherited design traditions. Additionally, they also consider the specific context of creation—in this case, the flora and fauna of the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the collaborative effort with Epigram Books. Ultimately, students understand that design is critically and conceptually grounded in ideas that encompass all these processes to produce outcomes that are both timely and significant.

The challenges we faced were primarily logistical and related to time management. We had only half a semester to deliver the outcomes of this project, and the group was at full capacity. To address the limited time, I offered extra individual consultation hours to support the students’ success. Each project ideation and work-in-progress was unique and presented different questions, which made it challenging to manage numerous fruitful ideas simultaneously. However, this is ultimately a positive challenge to have!