Title: Vulnerable Type
Outline:
Exploring ways in which digital type can be degraded, manipulated and altered beyond its published form.
Media:
A series of interactive prototypes created using the programming language, Processing.
Form:
Amongst the extensive tests and trials, four main concepts emerged each with a series of working prototypes.
The two most extensive examples involve the active type scenario, establishing a font that refuses to remain constant.
The first example, which can be found here, actively involves the user by allowing them to input a message into the application. The user can define the appearance of each letter before submitting the word with a simple press of a button. Once the word is submitted, it is duplicated before animating through a series of alternative versions. So despite the user trying to control and dictate the letterforms structure, the text is still able to rebel and mutate into new shapes and sizes.
The second example, which can be found here, allows the user to create their very own alphabet. Each base letter can be defined and re-shaped to the users preference. The idea behind this was to create a platform to provide endless versions of a single typeface. Each letter would start the same before being mutated at the hands of those interacting with it.
What it achieves:
For me this project enables people consider type beyond its basic written format. The realisation that a letterform can be significantly altered by a touch of a button or a mouse movement communicates just how fragile type can be.
The world of digital type is subdued somewhat by the protection it gives its fonts. Unlike with analogue methods of creating type, time has no impact on its appearance. Scripts remain immaculate regardless of the number of times they’ve been used. The idea of vulnerable type looks to change that by creating scenarios where type reacts in real time to its surrounding environment.
