Voice Print 书籍 by Isabelle Tan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award 铁奖 in 印刷与出版媒体设计 Competition Category.

铁印刷· 2026

Voice Print 书籍

by Isabelle Tan

Client: Isabelle Tan

A' Design Award 铁奖 Winner in 印刷 Category

5,387

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #178230

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Voice Print 书籍

《Voice Print》是一本探讨言语不流畅现象的书籍,聚焦人们说话时出现的中断与不规则之处。本书运用排版乐谱——即随时间推移映射语音的视觉图形——来揭示流畅性是一个连续的光谱,而非简单的二元划分。这些"乐谱"印刷在半透明纸张上,呈现出强烈的透印效果。文章部分采用黑底白字,印于光面不透明纸张上,为读者提供背景信息并加以引导。全书尺寸为9 x 12英寸,与乐谱纸张的规格相同。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铁奖

Voice Print 书籍是 A' Design Award 铁奖得主，这是授予满足人们对设计精良的创作所期待的专业与工业要求的优良设计的声望认可。铁奖得主展现出其创作者的高超技艺、高度专业化、专家级的理解力和创造能力。预计Voice Print 书籍将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的创作，既实用又创新。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铁奖的设计整合了行业最佳实践，并拥有与专业知识和才华相结合的称职技术特性。Voice Print 书籍因其严谨而受到尊重，旨在提供有助于让世界变得更美好的生活品质改善。

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