Voice Print መጽሓፍ by Isabelle Tan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 ናይ ሓጺን ሽልማት A' Design Award in ንድፊ ሕትመትን ዝተሓትመ ሚዲያን Competition Category.

ሓጺንሕትመት· 2026

Voice Print መጽሓፍ

by Isabelle Tan

Client: Isabelle Tan

ናይ ሓጺን ሽልማት A' Design Award Winner in ሕትመት Category

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Colors

The Design

About Voice Print መጽሓፍ

ቮይስ ፕሪንት (Voice Print) ብዛዕባ ናይ ዘረባ ምቁራጻት፡ ማለት ሰባት ክዛረቡ ከለዉ ዝፍጠሩ ምቁራጻትን ዘይስሩዕነታትን ዝገልጽ መጽሓፍ እዩ። እዚ መጽሓፍ ስሉስነት (fluency) ኣብ ክልተ ኩነታት ጥራይ ዝኽፈል ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ሓደ ስፐክትረም ከም ዝርከብ ንምርኣይ፡ ንዘረባ ኣብ ግዜ ዝስእሉ ናይ ፊደላት ስኮራትን ስእላዊ ቅርጽታትን ይጥቀም። እቶም ስኮራት ኣብ ጽሩይ ብርሃን ዘሕልፍ ወረቐት፡ ብሓያል ናይ ምስግጋር ራእይ ተሓቲሞም ኣለዉ። ኣብ ጸሊም መደብ ብጻዕዳ ፊደላት ዝተጻሕፉ ጽሑፋት፡ ኣብ ዘንጸባርቕን ዘይሓልፍ ብርሃን ዘለዎን ወረቐት ተሓቲሞም፡ ኣውራ ትሕዝቶ ይህቡን ንኣንባቢ ይመርሑን። እቲ መጽሓፍ 9 ብ 12 ኢንች ዝዓቐኑ ኮይኑ፡ ምስ ናይ ሙዚቃ ወረቐት ማዕረ ዓቐን ኣለዎ።

The Recognition

About the ናይ ሓጺን ሽልማት A' Design Award

Voice Print መጽሓፍ ናይ ሓጺን ሽልማት A' Design Award ዝዓወተ እዩ፣ ካብ ጽቡቕ ዝተዳለዉ ፍጥረታት ዝጽበዩ ሞያውን ኢንዱስትሪኣውን ጠለባት ንዝመላኡ ጽቡቓት ዲዛይናት ዝወሃብ ክቡር ኣፍልጦ። ዘዓወቱ ሓጺን ዓቢ ክእለት፣ ልዑል ፍሉይነት፣ ክኢላዊ ርድኢትን ፈጠራዊ ዓቕምን ፈጣርዮም የርእዩ። Voice Print መጽሓፍ ብብዙሕ ዝተመነየ፣ ዝደነቐን ዝፈተዎን፣ ተግባራውን ሓድሽን ፍጥረት ክኾን ይጽበ። እዚ ዝዓወተ ዲዛይን ናይ ሓጺን ሽልማት A' Design Award ንዝበለጹ ልምድታት ኢንዱስትሪ የጣምር፣ ምስ ፍልጠትን ተውህቦን ዝተኣሳሰሩ ብቑዓት ቴክኒካውያን ባህርያት ድማ ኣለዎ። Voice Print መጽሓፍ ብጥንቃቐኡ ይኽበር፣ ንዓለም ዝሓሸ ቦታ ክትኸውን ዝሕግዙ ምምሕያሻት መዓርግ ህይወት ንምቕራብ ድማ ዝተዳለወ እዩ።

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Voice Print is a book about disfluencies and the way we speak. It attempts to show the hidden complexities of fluent speech through typographic scores, showing that fluency exists on a spectrum rather than a simple binary. Alongside the scores are essays that provide context and guide the reader through the book. These essay spreads are white on black, and printed on glossy, opaque paper stock. It's design is intentionally rigid and mechanical, but still mimicking the fluidity of the scores.
Dimensions & Packaging: Width 228.6mm x Depth 304.8mm x Height 15mm
Tags: typography, book design, experimental typography, graphic notation, editorial design
Production Technology: The book is 9x12 inches, same size as sheet music. Scores are printed on translucent paper with significant show-through, representing the fluidity of human speech. Essays are white on black and printed on glossy, opaque paper, to contrast the scores.
Design Challenge: The hardest part was translating something as fluid and emotional as speech into a strict visual system. Finding the right balance between structure and freedom required constant testing. Socially, it confronted cultural biases surrounding stuttering; technically, it involved designing a typographic method capable of capturing temporal and tonal variations. This process expanded the role of design as a tool for empathy and linguistic awareness.
Research: This design research explores speech fluency through visual notation. The goal was to reveal the structure behind imperfect speech. Using recorded interviews, speech was transcribed into typographic scores that map sound over time. Participants included people with varying speech patterns. The results show visual and rhythmic similarities between stuttering and melisma, reframing disfluency as expression, not error, impacting how we perceive voice and identity.
Inspiration: What is fluency? Is it the lack of stutters? Does it signify perfection? How do we show the hidden complexity behind fluent speech? When we mention fluency, thoughts of speaking smoothly often come to mind. Disfluencies have been viewed as undesirable due to cultural perceptions. What if our pauses and irregular flow of speech arent seen as undesirable?
Project Duration: This project started in January 2023 NYC, and completed in July 2025 NYC.
Operation Flow: Voice Print turns speech into visual scores. Each page transcribes how we talk, pauses, hesitations, and rhythm, into patterns on a grid, inspired by the musical score. By following a few design rules, speech becomes something you can see. It helps us recognize that stuttering and melismatic singing share structure, showing that our disfluencies are not flaws but part of how we express ourselves.
Team Members: Isabelle Tan