In my latest series, I delve into the world of modern experimental calligraphy, viewing it through the lens of Romanian folklore and ancient motives. I worked on creating the relation between the fluid, dynamic nature of contemporary letterforms with the ornamental elements that are characteristic of Romanian artistic craft.

S!MMB!LD™ presents “Frozen Letters & Numbers”. More fitting than ever, as our poles are melting. In 2021 Sascha Simm aka S!MMB!LD created this project for the 7th edition of 36DaysOfType. He froze letters&numbers out of water. Every 10 sec., a photo of the melting process was taken under constant conditions. About 100 photos were used to create a time-lapse for each letter/number. The process was more important than the result: beginning&end, cold&warm, creation&destruction, analog & digital.

Humy was created from branches of one cherry tree and further advanced in processing. To achieve a paradoxical natural-unnatural look, Humy grows in fractals as you type. How else should a font grow?

The author saw a water stain on the asphalt, breathed in the petrichor, and drew a couple of letters in a similar shape.

Experimental typography poster for audiovisual event.

“Salam,” the Arabic word for peace, is depicted through Arabic typography using dots and lines. This design approach contrasts the simplicity of the elements with the profound concept of harmony. Dots and lines, basic yet powerful, transform into a symbol of hope and resilience. This visual metaphor emphasizes that true peace emerges not from the absence of struggle but from the ability to transcend and reshape the barriers that divide us.

Anatide is inspired by the morphology of ducks. The alternation of narrow and wide parts, the inclined axis of the standing body and the recurrent inversion in their positions have been translated through the inclined axis and inverted contrast in the design. The glyphs have a high x-height, shortened ascenders and descenders, and sharp terminals. Another subtle reference is found in the detail of the attachment to the vertical stems in the lowercase letters n, b, d, p and q, resembling a tail.

The author hates prepress. There are always problems: he sends files in the wrong format, uses the wrong color mode, or forgets to convert fonts to outlines. Missing fonts are one of his least favorite mistakes.

Warp is a result of experiments in a node-based animation software Cavalry. It is an organized chaos created with no purpose – just for the sake of rhythm and pattern exploration.

55555 is not a typeface but a structuring machine!

this open modular system uses the unicode classification order to reinvent the possibilities of a common font file to be the most powerful controlling tool for all visual applications.

based on a simple 5×5 grid, providing more than 400 glyphs for latin and cyrillic script + numerous graphical elements, wildly combinable in an almost infinite manner.

“Salam,” the Arabic word for peace, is depicted through Arabic typography using dots and lines. This design approach contrasts the simplicity of the elements with the profound concept of harmony. Dots and lines, basic yet powerful, transform into a symbol of hope and resilience. This visual metaphor emphasizes that true peace emerges not from the absence of struggle but from the ability to transcend and reshape the barriers that divide us.

Villette is a custom font/toolkit designed to be the writing system for the visual re-release of a 1970s Italian cult novel of youth protest. Villette is an organic and dirty variable font, somewhere between Trixie and Olivetti fonts, characterized by being controlled by an artificial intelligence algorithm, which ties the level of crudeness of the text to the thickness of the font, effectively creating a visual and live meta-text and developing another way to read the novel.

Font inspired by the I-shaped concrete paving block commonly referred to as the “Bauma block” in Poland. This block is often associated with the country’s economic transformation in the 1990s and has developed a reputation for being in poor taste. Behaton embraces these connotations while also reimagining the block’s design as a highly legible and functional display font. It consists of uppercase and lowercase letters of the Latin alphabet, Polish diacritical marks, numbers, and symbols.

In this Arabic typography design, the quote “Rumi said, ‘Love is not written on paper, Love is inscribed in the heart'” is rendered through white paper folds and cuts in origami and kirigami. The sharp-edged, monochromatic letters highlight the fragility of physical mediums against the timeless nature of love inscribed in the heart, emphasizing the purity and lasting impact of Rumi’s message.

The author hates prepress. There are always problems: he sends files in the wrong format, uses the wrong color mode, or forgets to convert fonts to outlines. Missing fonts are one of his least favorite mistakes.

Concept poster for theatrical play Così fan tutte. Playing on fun typography and classical black and white colours.

Analfabet is a computer generated typeface that explores ways of working with automation in type design and how that affects the labour that goes into a design process. To make it, a program was coded where the designer sets a grid and primary elements, based on which a set of possible letterforms is generated. From these, a selection was made for the typeface.
The range of possible combinations together with an explanation of the typographic system is presented in a 160-page type specimen.

In this experimental design, typography visually represents the initial letterforms of the words “roots” and “bread in arabic.” The letter for “roots” is designed with branching, organic shapes to symbolize growth and stability, while the letter for “bread” features rounded, textured elements that evoke warmth and nourishment. This approach enhances the understanding of each word by reflecting its meaning through its visual characteristics.

The author hates prepress. There are always problems: he sends files in the wrong format, uses the wrong color mode, or forgets to convert fonts to outlines. Missing fonts are one of his least favorite mistakes.

“Salam,” the Arabic word for peace, depicted through barbed wire typography, powerfully contrasts the harshness of conflict with the longing for harmony. The barbed wire, often a symbol of division and pain, transforms into an emblem of hope and resilience. This visual metaphor emphasizes that true peace emerges not from the absence of struggle but from the ability to transcend and reshape the barriers that divide us.
 

This animation is the mosaic of FiftyFifty’s first edition, themed “Positive Synonyms.” In our challenging times, qualities like humanity, love, care, understanding, and tolerance are not just desirable but essential. Words hold immense power.
Students from all over the world and with diverse backgrounds have created uplifting, reflective lettering designs. At FiftyFifty, we combined their work into a multi-language mosaic animation of positivity, inspiring individuals to work towards a better w

Inverted Structure examines the fine Lin between chaos and order, abstract forms and concrete meaning behind a letter, art and design, contrast.

This is an excerpt from it’s specimen, offering a brief glimpse into the Systemtype project “Limitations + Variations = Program.” This experimental endeavor aims to design a typeface system based on various axes, such as grids, modules, their variations, and the elemental construction of letters. The grid-based typeface system generates a multitude of variable fonts by varying limited modules and letter concepts. Hamburg, 2024.

Animation work for Nechto Records releases delivers powerful, emotional, and groovy visualizations across various electronic music genres, from hard groove techno to ambient and IDM. The audioreactive visuals are crafted using algorithmic instruments in Touchdesigner and Cavalry, creating a dynamic interplay between sound and visuals. This innovative approach captures the essence of the music, providing an immersive experience that enhances the emotional impact of each track.