Print Design | Art Direction
Emily Carr University
Luck For 99 Cents
Luck For 99 Cents
Luck For 99 Cents
Year
Scope
Industry
Year
Scope
Industry
2025
Print Design | Art Direction
Cultural
2025
Cultural
Luck for 99 Cents is a 40-page, double-sided accordion booklet that investigates diasporic spaces through typography observed in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Richmond, and Coquitlam. It is structured as a flyer-like publication. The project draws from an archive of over 750 photographs documenting signage, packaging, storefronts, and advertisements found in everyday environments. It's a project designed to draw your attention to the typography that surrounds you, while highlighting the Chinese-Canadian experience. English and Chinese characters are laid out together to create a bold and colourful experience.
INSIGHT
Luck for 99 Cents is a 40-page, double-sided accordion booklet that investigates diasporic spaces through typography observed in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Richmond, and Coquitlam. It is structured as a flyer-like publication. The project draws from an archive of over 750 photographs documenting signage, packaging, storefronts, and advertisements found in everyday environments. It's a project designed to draw your attention to the typography that surrounds you, while highlighting the Chinese-Canadian experience. English and Chinese characters are laid out together to create a bold and colourful experience.
STORIES WORTH TELLING
Luck for 99 Cents is a 40-page, double-sided accordion booklet that investigates diasporic spaces through typography observed in Vancouver’s Chinatown, Richmond, and Coquitlam. It is structured as a flyer-like publication. The project draws from an archive of over 750 photographs documenting signage, packaging, storefronts, and advertisements found in everyday environments. It's a project designed to draw your attention to the typography that surrounds you, while highlighting the Chinese-Canadian experience. English and Chinese characters are laid out together to create a bold and colourful experience.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
This project is rooted in my experience as a Chinese-Canadian who grew up without fluency in Mandarin or Cantonese. I wanted to tackle the idea of "bad design," which I usually associated with Chinese grocery store flyers and loud in-your-face graphics. What I soon found out was that these designs were much more intentional than I thought. Many of the environments I visited, particularly small, family-owned businesses, use design that might be labelled as “outdated,” “busy,” or “incorrect” within design standards. However, these approaches have a nostalgic charm and sense of urgency. Having hand-made signs, written letterforms, and poor translations were found in almost every instance, making the typography highly functional and perceived as trustworthy. Luck for 99 Cents challenges “bad design” by evaluating typography within its cultural context, rather than dominant design standards or aesthetics.
This project is rooted in my experience as a Chinese-Canadian who grew up without fluency in Mandarin or Cantonese. I wanted to tackle the idea of "bad design," which I usually associated with Chinese grocery store flyers and loud in-your-face graphics. What I soon found out was that these designs were much more intentional than I thought. Many of the environments I visited, particularly small, family-owned businesses, use design that might be labelled as “outdated,” “busy,” or “incorrect” within design standards. However, these approaches have a nostalgic charm and sense of urgency. Having hand-made signs, written letterforms, and poor translations were found in almost every instance, making the typography highly functional and perceived as trustworthy. Luck for 99 Cents challenges “bad design” by evaluating typography within its cultural context, rather than dominant design standards or aesthetics.
STORIES WORTH TELLING
This project is rooted in my experience as a Chinese-Canadian who grew up without fluency in Mandarin or Cantonese. I wanted to tackle the idea of "bad design," which I usually associated with Chinese grocery store flyers and loud in-your-face graphics. What I soon found out was that these designs were much more intentional than I thought. Many of the environments I visited, particularly small, family-owned businesses, use design that might be labelled as “outdated,” “busy,” or “incorrect” within design standards. However, these approaches have a nostalgic charm and sense of urgency. Having hand-made signs, written letterforms, and poor translations were found in almost every instance, making the typography highly functional and perceived as trustworthy. Luck for 99 Cents challenges “bad design” by evaluating typography within its cultural context, rather than dominant design standards or aesthetics.
EXECUTION
STORIES WORTH TELLING
Photography was taken in Coquitlam, Richmond, and Vancouver to capture pockets of Chinese-Canadian communities. More than 750 photographs were taken throughout the project to capture the wide range of written and commercial typography used. Luck for 99 Cents operates as a booklet and typographic archive, translating field research into a visual system. It highlights how everyday design can reveal complex relationships between culture, language, and identity. By centring typography, the project challenges dominant definitions of “good” design, documents a cultural context, and reflects on the experience of diasporic identity. Ultimately, the work suggests that typography is not just a tool for communication but a carrier of memory and culture.
Photography was taken in Coquitlam, Richmond, and Vancouver to capture pockets of Chinese-Canadian communities. More than 750 photographs were taken throughout the project to capture the wide range of written and commercial typography used. Luck for 99 Cents operates as a booklet and typographic archive, translating field research into a visual system. It highlights how everyday design can reveal complex relationships between culture, language, and identity. By centring typography, the project challenges dominant definitions of “good” design, documents a cultural context, and reflects on the experience of diasporic identity. Ultimately, the work suggests that typography is not just a tool for communication but a carrier of memory and culture.
Photography was taken in Coquitlam, Richmond, and Vancouver to capture pockets of Chinese-Canadian communities. More than 750 photographs were taken throughout the project to capture the wide range of written and commercial typography used. Luck for 99 Cents operates as a booklet and typographic archive, translating field research into a visual system. It highlights how everyday design can reveal complex relationships between culture, language, and identity. By centring typography, the project challenges dominant definitions of “good” design, documents a cultural context, and reflects on the experience of diasporic identity. Ultimately, the work suggests that typography is not just a tool for communication but a carrier of memory and culture.
