Inspired by Alice in Wonderland by English author Lewis Carroll, Phan Hien Linh, a Graphic Design student at the School of Engineering & Technology (SET) of Duy Tan University (DTU), completely redrew the beloved characters of the story by dressing them in traditional H’Mong attire from Vietnam.
Hien Linh’s unique and creative project earned her the Digital Prospect award at the Graduation Project Exhibition held on August 16, 2025.
The exhibition was part of the national science conference “Unlimited Creativity: Art, Technology, and Innovation”, organized by Thai Nguyen University of Information & Communication Technology and the Club of Applied Fine Arts Training Institutions (under the Association of Vietnam Universities and Colleges).
DTU student Hien Linh won the Digital Prospect award
A total of 141 abstracts were submitted, out of which 95 full papers were selected for the proceedings. Numerous researchers, lecturers, artists, and students attended, gave presentations, had discussions, and gave their in-depth opinions across several subsessions:
? interior & exterior design,
? architecture,
? sculpture,
? graphic design,
? information technology (IT) & artificial intelligence (AI),
? fashion,
? traditional fine arts,
? basic fine arts.
The highlight of the conference was the Graduation Project Exhibition, showcasing over 40 impressive posters and 29 videos. The exhibition space was filled with the creativity, innovation, and technological capability of the young in the digital era.
Six outstanding projects by DTU students majoring in:
? Fashion Design,
? Graphic Design,
? Digital Art Design, and
? Interior Design
were all exhibited. Of note was Hien Linh’s project, “Illustrating Alice in Wonderland Inspired by H’Mong Dress”, supervised by MA Nguyen Thi Suong, Vice Head of Fashion Design at the DTU School of Engineering & Technology (SET). The project truly convinced the jury and was awarded the Digital Prospect award.
“Illustrating Alice in Wonderland Inspired by H’Mong Dress” by DTU student Hien Linh won the Digital Prospect award
Driven by her love for ethnic culture and her fascination with Alice in Wonderland, Hien Linh plunged herself into research to create a truly original artwork that bridges two seemingly unrelated worlds into a unified, artistic whole. Alice and her companions are dressed in silver jewelry and brocade headscarves and bags. These were all inspired by traditional H’Mong textile patterns and decorative techniques, particularly wax-resist and indigo dyeing. The project aimed to go beyond expressing Hien Linh’s personal illustration style; it also sought to preserve and spread Vietnamese cultural identity to international audiences through vividly illustrated stories. Through her work, Hien Linh hopes to inspire fellow art lovers to continue incorporating ethnic cultural elements into their arts projects, thereby helping to sustain and celebrate traditional Vietnamese values.
MA Le Phuong Hieu (sixth from right), acting Vice Dean of the Faculty of Applied Fine Arts,
represented DTU at the conference
“To realize this project, I applied knowledge from several specialized subjects, especially Book Design and Comic Design,” Hien Linh explains. “These courses helped me develop storytelling, character design, page layout, and composition. The highlight of my project was using various wax crayon brushes to create a unique texture for each page. Combined with a bright color palette and a cute chibi style, every page is lively and cozy, adapted to the children’s audience I aimed to reach. I used the Procreate software throughout, from sketching to final rendering. This iPad drawing tool, which I’ve used since 2019, has allowed me to express my creativity across almost all of my coursework projects.”
From the early brainstorming and rough sketches to when the final pages started taking shape, Hien Linh received dedicated mentorship from the lecturers at the Faculty of Applied Fine Arts. “I’m especially grateful to MA Nguyen Thi Suong, my supervisor who supported me throughout the more than two months that I worked on the project,” Hien Linh explains. “Thanks to her suggestions and guidance, I successfully integrated ethnic elements into my work, giving the project its distinctiveness and meaning. My four years at university have given me all I needed, with the wholehearted guidance of my lecturers at the DTU Faculty of Applied Fine Arts. They also introduced me to the Digital Prospect award, which is incredibly meaningful and gives me confidence to continue developing and seize new opportunities in the future.”
The jury presented awards to the following outstanding works:
? Heritage Impression award to Vu Quang Huy, Thai Nguyen University of Information & Communication Technology,
? Digital Prospect award to Phan Hien Linh, DTU,
? Digital Creativity award to Nguyen Minh Duc, Hanoi Architectural University,
? Media Impression with Digital Art award to Dang Bao Tram, University of Art & Design,
? Digital Visual Impression award to Nguyen Thuy Trang, Vietnam Women’s Academy,
? Digital Cultural Impression award to Nguyen Thanh Lam, Thai Nguyen University of Information & Communication Technology,
? Jury’s Choice award to Nguyen Huu Hieu, CMC University.
(Media Center)