The Book of Formosa Font

TitleThe Book of Formosa Font
Year2022
Category
EditorialBookTypographyType Design
Tag
BotanicalTaiwan

Title

The Book of Formosa Font

Inspired by Taiwan's diverse climate and terrain, this project transforms the idea of 'Formosa' into a typographic expression. By integrating Latin letterforms with native flora, we reinterpret the island's rich biodiversity through design.

A cream-colored booklet for the Formosa Font project displayed flat and upright against a black background, featuring a delicate botanical line illustration at the top and bilingual typography pairing elegant serif Latin lettering with Chinese characters for the title "FORMOSA FONT 原生植物歐文字體設計."

Botanical Typeface Series

(01)

A cream-white booklet cover set against a dark background, featuring an ornate gold botanical line illustration above the bilingual title "Formosa Font / 福爾摩沙 FONT" and the subtitle "8 Typefaces / 原生植物歐文字體設計," rendered in elegant gold serif and sans-serif lettering.

Cover Design

(02)

The back cover of a slim white booklet photographed against a dark background, featuring the gold-foil "FORMOSA" logotype flanked by ornate flourishes, with bilingual body text in Latin and Chinese describing Taiwan's endemic plant life and the typeface's design concept.

Back Cover Design

(03)

Taiwan was once known as “Ilha Formosa,” meaning “beautiful island” in Portuguese.

Portuguese sailors, 16th century

An open specimen book displays the full glyph set of an ornate calligraphic typeface, with uppercase and lowercase letterforms arranged in rows across cream-white pages against a dark background. The elegant script characters feature elaborate swashes and fine hairline strokes, shown at multiple weights and sizes in a clean typographic layout.An open book photographed at a shallow depth of field, showing white pages printed with elegant cursive script typography in black ink, including the word "Lycopodium" prominently on the right page. The soft-focus composition emphasizes the graceful letterforms of the Formosa Font against crisp white paper.A soft-cover book photographed at an angle against a dark background, showing the spine and front cover with "FORMOSA FONT" in serif lettering alongside Chinese characters, printed on cream-white paper with elegant black typography.An open book spread displaying the Formosa Font title page with ornate calligraphic lettering and decorative flourishes on the left, alongside a right page listing Latin and Chinese names of Taiwan's native plant species used as typographic inspiration.An open spread of The Book of Formosa Font showing elegantly typeset specimen pages with ornate serif and calligraphic typefaces, floral ornaments, and structured font information layouts printed in black on cream paper against a dark background.
The spine of the Formosa Font book stands upright against a dark background, showing the title "FORMOSA FONT" in Latin letters at the top and vertical Chinese text below. The minimal white cover contrasts sharply with the black backdrop, highlighting the clean typographic layout.

Spine

(04)

A printed booklet titled "Formosa Font — 8 Typefaces" lies at an angle on a dark surface, its cream-white cover featuring elegant serif Latin lettering alongside vertical Chinese text, with a delicate botanical line illustration in the upper right corner.

Foil Stamping

(05)

An open book spread with cream-colored pages, featuring the ornate "FORMOSA" logotype surrounded by decorative calligraphic flourishes printed in dark brown ink. Body text in an elegant serif typeface reads about the design combining Latin typefaces with Taiwan's native plant life.

Gold Foil Detail

(06)

A close-up photograph of a thick white-paged book opened to reveal its cover, displaying an elegant serif typeface with a stylized "A" and the word "FONT" in refined letterforms. The shallow depth of field and dark background emphasize the crisp, high-contrast black typography against the bright white paper.

Interior

(07)

A close-up of an open book spreads across a dark surface, its white pages bearing the text "FORMOSA FONT" in delicate serif type alongside flowing, ink-drawn calligraphic flourishes that resemble spiraling botanical forms. The soft-focus photography and dramatic low-key lighting emphasize the refined, hand-crafted quality of the printed design.

Paper Texture

(08)

Formosa Fonts

Formosa Font is a botanical typeface collection inspired by Taiwan's diverse plant life.

While the complete series includes eight typefaces, this presentation highlights four selected works developed as my primary contributions. The remaining typefaces were created in collaboration with another designer.

A cream-colored booklet for Formosa Font displayed front and back against a dark background, featuring elegant gold foil typography that blends Latin letterforms with Chinese characters and a delicate botanical line illustration on the cover.

Font Name

Lycoris

!!
""
##
$$
%%
&&
''
((
))
**
++
,,
--
..
//
00
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
::
;;
<<
==
>>
??
@@
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL
MM
NN
OO
PP
QQ
RR
SS
TT
UU
VV
WW
XX
YY
ZZ
[[
\\
]]
^^
__
``
aa
bb
cc
dd
ee
ff
gg
hh
ii
jj
kk
ll
mm
nn
oo
pp
qq
rr
ss
tt
uu
vv
ww
xx
yy
zz
{{
||
}}
~~

Font Name

Lilium

!!
""
##
$$
%%
&&
''
((
))
**
++
,,
--
..
//
00
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
::
;;
<<
==
>>
??
@@
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL
MM
NN
OO
PP
QQ
RR
SS
TT
UU
VV
WW
XX
YY
ZZ
[[
\\
]]
^^
__
``
aa
bb
cc
dd
ee
ff
gg
hh
ii
jj
kk
ll
mm
nn
oo
pp
qq
rr
ss
tt
uu
vv
ww
xx
yy
zz
{{
||
}}
~~

Font Name

Melastoma

!!
""
##
$$
%%
&&
''
((
))
**
++
,,
--
..
//
00
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
::
;;
<<
==
>>
??
@@
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL
MM
NN
OO
PP
QQ
RR
SS
TT
UU
VV
WW
XX
YY
ZZ
[[
\\
]]
^^
__
``
aa
bb
cc
dd
ee
ff
gg
hh
ii
jj
kk
ll
mm
nn
oo
pp
qq
rr
ss
tt
uu
vv
ww
xx
yy
zz
{{
||
}}
~~

Font Name

Lycopodium

!!
""
##
$$
%%
&&
''
((
))
**
++
,,
--
..
//
00
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
::
;;
<<
==
>>
??
@@
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL
MM
NN
OO
PP
QQ
RR
SS
TT
UU
VV
WW
XX
YY
ZZ
[[
\\
]]
^^
__
``
aa
bb
cc
dd
ee
ff
gg
hh
ii
jj
kk
ll
mm
nn
oo
pp
qq
rr
ss
tt
uu
vv
ww
xx
yy
zz
{{
||
}}
~~

Discover More

Foucault — A Study in Knowledge & Order
(003)Foucault — A Study in Knowledge & Order
Patterned Glass — Notebook & Box Design
(002)Patterned Glass — Notebook & Box Design
PROJECTS