The core part of my project will focus on the creation of a set of typographically informed shapes that users can use to combine into different letterforms. In addition to this I will experiment with different ways of presenting these components to users via various tools. My hope with these tools is to lower the barrier for entry. Often printing blocks for letterpress are antique and the presses expensive, leading to them being kept behind locked doors at institutions. Some new lettering apps and tools (like the apple pencil) are available for the ipad, though again this creates a large cost related barrier for the novice.
It is my hope that users will be able to make use of the Odd Foundry site to quickly manipulate and create their own letterforms out of the series of shapes I have created. To do this I will make use of my knowledge of p5.js and combine it with my current letterform designs to create a prototype interface that I can then add more forms to later in the project.
I will also continue to explore how I can create physical tools and alongside the programming of the digital elements I will experiment with 3D printing blocks as possibly exploring the use of stencils and stamps.
p5.js
P5.js can use many different types of media. In my own experiments when learning the code I used it to manipulate sound files, gifs and vectors. Much of my work on the original Odd Foundry site made use of an interface I’d designed that allowed you to move around simple shapes (squares and circles) and alter their size and shape.
For the Letterformer I needed to be able to manipulate complex shapes created in other programs. My forms currently have been designed in Illustrator, a vector program that allows me to export the shapes in various vector formats. A search of the p5.js documentation indicates that it is possible to load an image into the canvas (p5js 2021), while a conversation on the Processing forum indicates that it is possible to make use of SVG as well as jpgs and pngs (juju11 et al. Nov 18). Although an SVG would be beneficial due to it not loosing quality at different sizes, from my experiments a png also works well and it has the benefit of being a file format I will be using to display the forms on the page anyway.
There are a few ways that I can implement the use of these forms on the letterformer:
- As a series of static forms that can be rotated on an axis and moved around the page via the use of sliders
- As a series of stamps that can be placed with the cursor and used to build up the letterform multiple times.
- A combination of both where the series of stamps can be placed on the canvas and their size/orientation is manipulated via a set of sliders.
- Using p5 to randomly generate letterforms out of a set of components.
https://editor.p5js.org/markmadethis/sketches/8KJMiV1mD
https://editor.p5js.org/markmadethis/sketches/WUe3T0bAL
Different versions of the Tools
Through my explorations it seems that rather than making one definitive version of the digital tool I can create a series that encourage users to experience the shapes in various different ways. Both of these tools make use of Drukery’s idea that by providing a user with restrictions in the way that they interact with an exercise. She believes, as do I, that “the limiting is important so that students have a very clear playground set up and it helps them to focus.” (2012). These tools also introduce the idea of perception of forms and an exploration of the Laws relating to Gestalt as stated by Martin, Buskist and Carlson in their book Psychology . Primarily the Laws of Figure Ground, Proximity, Simplicity and Similarity. The also make use of some of the concepts outlined in Kolbs Learning Cycle.
Digital Tool – Randomiser
When the page loads it presents a selection of separate pre-formed components arranged in a random configuration. It can be saved as a jpeg or a “generate again” button can be pressed to present another random letterform.
This tool will help with creative block and allow users to perceive possible new outcomes for letterforms that they may not conceive. The outcomes will be presented as black forms on a coloured background, this will encourage the viewer to perceive the disparate shapes as singular forms separate from the background(Law of Figure Ground). By clustering them together, encapsulated by this coloured background, the eye should look for similarities in the forms (Similarity). By placing multiple versions of these random forms next to each other the brain is encouraged to perceive in an abstract way that the forms as letters in a word (Proximity).
Digital Tool – Explorer
A drawing tool with all the different components available as stamps/brushes, it is about conscious, exploratory creation. Like a typographical doodle. The resulting form can be saved as a jpeg.
This tool aims to allow the user to explorer the components in the same way as they would experience the shapes as stamps. This tool explores some of the concepts outlined by Kolb in their Learning Cycle and is an example of a user engaging in the Active Experimentation and Abstract Conceptualisation part of the cycle. This tool encourages experimentation and reflection, the marks the user makes are permanent and cannot be erased so before acting they must consider where they will make their marks (Kolb 2021).
Physical Tool – Blocks
As with the Explorer, these blocks provide the learner with a set of restrictions with which they are encouraged to experiment and reflect on their results. The restrictions are evident in the materials of the blocks – they are solid blocks that cannot be warped in any way and they will be based on a set of related measurements and divisions to allow them to be combined in different ways.
Physical Tool – Stencil
The stencil provides a low cost option for a novice wanting to experiment with the forms.
References
- TUFTE, E., 2012. Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See [viewed May 10, 2021]. Available from: https://vimeo.com/45232468
- MARTIN, G.N., W. BUSKIST and N.R. CARLSON, 2013. Psychology. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson
- KOLB, D. and KOLB, A., 2021. Experience Based Learning Systems [viewed Apr 19, 2021].