Interview about A Garden for All Type Design, winner of the A' Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design Award 2024
This project is an educational project. It was an assignment on Typography Design given to tertiary education students from the School of Art, Design and Media, NTU, Singapore. The assignment was for each student to design Drop Caps as a font family. The outcome was multiple font families created by students and inspired on the flora, fauna, and unique features of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. From this, the best Drop Caps were printed in the book A Garden For All, published by the editorial Epigram Books in Singapore.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsIn 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!
Bringing students together with top-tier industries can be challenging, especially when students have had minimum exposure to professional environments. However, the multi-stakeholder approach proved effective. This method required numerous additional meetings to refine communication and ensure that everyone was aligned. The most valuable aspect of this collaboration is the feedback component. Students benefit from learning through diverse perspectives and professional backgrounds, enhancing their overall experience.
Field research was essential for the development of the project. Students acted as detectives, exploring various elements for inspiration at the Singapore Botanic Garden. In addition to the obvious natural forms, some participants found ideas in the Botanic Gardens’ features, such as sculptures, lampposts, fences marking paths, and the sounds created by birds and the overall soundscape. They even drew inspiration from the feeling of "horror vacui" that natural spaces evoke. This last idea, for example, motivated the selected project by Zhao Shiyuhan. She innovatively used negative space to design the drop caps. Shiyuhan created a sense of blank pause amidst the exuberant and wild growth of nature. It was a challenge to continue this creative path, I however, always encouraged students to critically analyse their options and refine the most innovative ideas, such as this one.
Thank you for your comments on this project! I appreciate your recognition of how it uniquely preserves cultural heritage through typography. This project is already part of the Singapore's archival system. I mean, the book 'A Garden for All' has been preserved in the main libraries since its publication, ensuring it remains available for future research and reference to the Botanic Gardens. This represents a modest contribution to the ongoing conversation about how to creatively enhance Singaporean cultural heritage from an academic perspective.
The publication of student works will always be their first! This collaboration with Epigram will make them proud, and they will undoubtedly include their published drop caps in their portfolios. As a result, this experience will strengthen their confidence and sense of agency in the professional paths they are currently pursuing.
I am very grateful for your kind words. This award is significant in helping me share a teaching methodology that could inspire other professors in higher education. Additionally, the A’Design Award published a press release about the award, which can be found here: A Garden for All by Danne Ojeda Wins Silver in A’Design Awards (https://www.einpresswire.com/article/741515819/a-garden-for-all-by-danne-ojeda-wins-silver-in-a-education-awards). This press release was distributed through major newswires and search engines worldwide, engaging journalists and generating wide media exposure that attracted over 150 million unique visitors. It even reached out to NTU in the news. I would like to express my gratitude for the visibility this award brings—not only to my teaching and research methods, but more importantly, to the students involved: Lim Pei Xi, Thou Jia Wen, Yew Lik Zhun, Zhao Shiyuhan, Hur So Hyun, and Nathaniel Joshua Dass, as well as to NTU as a hub of academic excellence.
The experience was intense and productive. It taught me that communication among all stakeholders is essential from the beginning. I wish I had more time for the project, especially since many students were highly interested in developing original type prototypes, each with their unique approaches to work development. Initially, the colleagues at Epigram Books planned to select a single design for all the drop caps. However, due to the number of impressive drop caps developed, they decided to combine different drop caps from various students. This was an excellent approach and a pleasant surprise, allowing more than one student to benefit from the collaboration with Epigram Books and have their typefaces published.
It is difficult to evaluate any long-term repercussions and contributions in the present via this relatively small and modest project. I am glad students have had a positive experience and have learned a great deal of skills in the university while preparing for their professional life. Thanks for your time once again, in crafting this interview and in giving me the opportunity to reflect on this incredible journey that was ‘A Graden for All’.
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