Press Release
Voice Print Book by Isabelle Tan Is Granted the A' Design Award in Print and Published Media Design
Isabelle Tan acknowledged for print and published media design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 24, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Voice Print Book by Isabelle Tan has been granted the A' Design Award in the Print and Published Media Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the A' Design Award Means
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
About Voice Print Book
Voice Print is a book about speech disfluencies, the interruptions and irregularities that occur when people speak. The book uses typographic scores, visual patterns that map speech over time, to show that fluency exists on a spectrum rather than as a simple division into two states. The scores are printed on translucent paper with strong show-through. Essays set in white on black, on glossy and opaque paper, give context and guide the reader. The book measures 9 by 12 inches, the same size as sheet music.
About Isabelle Tan
Isabelle Tan is a Singaporean graphic designer, born in Malaysia and raised in Thailand, currently based in New York. She works as a Junior Designer at 2x4, where she has contributed to projects for clients including Chanel and Miu Miu. Her practice spans branding, typography, and editorial design, with previous experience at Dion Lee, Wkshps, Synoptic Office, and Abrams Books. Tan's work centers on typography as a tool for recontextualizing overlooked visual vernacular, finding intention and coherence in aesthetics that fall outside conventional design standards. Her book design for Voice Print received a GDUSA award.
Award Record
This recognition makes Isabelle Tan a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Print and Published Media Design Award
The A' Print Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good printed and published media by leading designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to print designers, published media designers, graphic designers and typography experts from all countries. Entries typically include brochures, posters, magazines, catalogs, flyers and business cards. Awarded print designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/print
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/178230
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/178230
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!178230
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/375875
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Voice Print Book
- Function
- Book
- Category
- Print and Published Media Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Entertainment
- Colors
- Lavender, Dark Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Silver and Light Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Isabelle Tan
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #178230
Design Details
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- Realization and 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.
- Operation and Interaction
- 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.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project started in January 2023 NYC, and completed in July 2025 NYC.
- Specifications
- Width 228.6mm x Depth 304.8mm x Height 15mm
- Keywords
- typography, book design, experimental typography, graphic notation, editorial design
