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1,2,3,4 Variable Time testing: playing around with letter-by-letter animation delays and motion blurs
how can we show motion and/or variability not just through video but also in static typography, potentially in print?
typeface: Version 2 by Céline Hurka
The main feature of Variable Time, a timeline editor, is designed to facilitate playful exploration of variable typography in motion and transitional states.
This feature stems from a central question of our research:
What new layers of meaning can emerge when a time-based aspect is introduced into written communication?
Motion blur + symmetry in Variable Time tool
Experimenting with motion blur in Variable Time tool
Liquid 3-axes variable title for Variable Time
Some experiments made in Variable Time inspired by risoprinting
In different methods of experimental printing, particularly in riso, a lot depends on the accidental misplacement. Overprinted layers can create new color palettes and shapes, and lack of precision leads to new aesthetic or even new layers of meaning. In variable typography, the interpolation between extreme font shapes can be controlled to a bigger or lesser extent and it can even be tied to various inputs through coding. Can we take the methods used in printing and apply it to digital variable typography? Can this be useful beyond interesting aesthetic?
A family of generated variable font creatures
By breaking out of traditional ways of working with fonts and motion we are exploring the variability of typographic voice.
variable fonts can be used beyond verbal language, for example one could use them as constructor modules
Can variable fonts facilitate new types of non-verbal communication? Perhaps they could function as something between an infographic chart and music notation?
Variable font rendering tests
Behind the scenes of Variable Time and other upcoming projects, we extensively research various technical aspects of variable font formats. An especially relevant one is performance: at the moment, most commonly used way of rendering and animating variable text is using HTML and CSS, but it has drawbacks in terms of memory and speed. One of the alternatives which we are exploring in our projects is Signed Distance Field rendering - a technique borrowed from the field of game development, in which each character variation is split into schematic regions to be then rendered back into any scale in real-time.
GPU font rendering tests
What new inputs can we involve in design process? Can images be also used as such instruments, passing on their digital DNA to new types of output?
Generated variable creatures
The type creatures could co-inhabit a generative fantastical landscape - Céline's Type Garden
Variable Lab is a collaborative research endeavour of media artists and developers studio Pointer* and type designer Céline Hurka.
Together they are exploring the new ways in which variable fonts can facilitate written communication.
Variable font technology is relatively recent and is slowly gaining more attention in the design community. We believe it is currently under-explored despite its novelty and significant potential in communication. A variable letterform is a fluid shape with defined extremes and infinite variations. This feature introduces a (time-based) flexibility that can be applied in static and dynamic designs. Such variability can create new layers of information and enrich the reading experience in a wide range of ways. Imagining and implementing those possibilities will be the primary subject of our collective research.
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