Type + Code PFont font; Universe doc setup(){ size(8.5,8.5); textAlign(LEFT); page >L< even {XII} page Yeohyun Ahn. Viviana Cordova.
John P. Corrigan My initial exposure to Processing was through Yeohyun Ahn during my first year of graduate school. I was initially both surprised and confused by her masterful usage of Processing. The more I witnessed, the more I began to see the artistic potential of dynamic typography generated solely by the writing of code. Not limited to static letterforms, Processing can create semi-controlled forms by allowing the program to run with set intervals of operations; the in-between frame sets have their own life, shape and composition. Without knowing the full potential of Processing, I initially had a hard time extending it beyond formal typographic experiments. But, having worked with static Processing files, I now see the potential of Processing-driven forms. The Processing aesthetic greatly appeals to my design sensibilities. The geometric richness and unexpected nuances in saved-out frames allows a strict constant with an infinite number of possibilities. The seemingly random line gestures
are backed by a strict numeric set of parameters. Through this project, I wish to extend the coded language of Processing, through the richness of its infinite variables. Visually, I react to separate and seemingly conflicting code structures, finding a true graphic beauty in the oppositional line qualities. As a typographer and book designer, I was able to translate Ahn’s static files into a meaningful and organized set of letterforms and typefaces expressed in print media. By taking what is a known active file format, the translation to print media creates dynamic letterforms for a variety of static print applications. Using Processing to drive data sets and convert them to print applications remains in its infancy, and its aesthetic possibilities are just beginning to be explored. The usage of Processing celebrates a multi-disciplinary design approach—combining interests in animation, advanced mathematics, interactivity and computergenerated graphics.