Promoting Peranakan Heritage Motifs through Typography

Typography is a visual language that appears in various forms, such as printed media, packaging, and digital screens. Typography designs vary in texture, x-height, posture, weight, width, colour etc depending on the intended tone of voice. This study focuses on the Peranakan heritage motifs in Melaka, exploring their potential use in branding the heritage through typography. Visual assessments of available items—such as packaging design and other promotion items —along with a search for typefaces on websites, reveal that the use of Peranakan motifs in typography is still quite limited. We argue that incorporating Peranakan identity into typography can enhance its aesthetic appeal, making it suitable for branding or other decorative design purposes. To reflect this identity in typography, the students are tasked in creating a custom typeface inspired by Peranakan heritage. The 5 keys of principle of designs (balance, harmony, contrast, rhythm and emphasis) has been used to analysing several Peranakan heritage items from Melaka, such as woodcarvings, tiles, clothing, beading and paintings. The selected motifs from these items are then extracted for application in typography. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the branding of Peranakan heritage, offering new opportunities for promoting the culture through typography.