Brief:
The origination of a font or typeface - students were expected to conceptualise and create a typeface steeped in a concept. The whole alphabet was not necessary, but enough to communicate a concept was crucial.
Concept:
Originally I wanted to create a typeface which helped people who struggled with anxiety, panic attacks and sensory overwhelm. Inspired by box breathing, the typeface was meant to be predictable, square, and illustrative of the 4-4-4 breathing pattern.
I chose to base my typeface off a grid I created by looking at the atomic structure of oxygen, as this is a main gas, besides nitrogen, which we breathe. As I designed my letters, I saw how organic each character became. At the time of my project I was working from home, Langebaan, which is a seaside town. I was also working through my PADI open water diving syllabus.
Because of these influences, I saw microscopic organisms in each typeface - oceanic creatures which seemed to make up words. I changed my concept about halfway through the project; I was now designing a typeface which promoted awareness of oxygen producing marine life!
I chose to base my typeface off a grid I created by looking at the atomic structure of oxygen, as this is a main gas, besides nitrogen, which we breathe. As I designed my letters, I saw how organic each character became. At the time of my project I was working from home, Langebaan, which is a seaside town. I was also working through my PADI open water diving syllabus.
Because of these influences, I saw microscopic organisms in each typeface - oceanic creatures which seemed to make up words. I changed my concept about halfway through the project; I was now designing a typeface which promoted awareness of oxygen producing marine life!
Typeface
Though they're invisible to the naked eye, they produce more oxygen than the largest redwoods. Scientists estimate that roughly half of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton — drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize.
Diatom: a type of plankton called phytoplankton, the most common of the plankton types.
Prochlorococcus is a genus of very small marine cyanobacteria with an unusual pigmentation. These bacteria belong to the photosynthetic picoplankton and are probably the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth
Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls.
Applications:
Reflection:
I am especially proud of the trans-disciplinary nature of the product. I have enjoyed using the natural world, biology and environmentalism to inspire my work, and to raise awareness of our ecological kin, and the way our world works.
The Diatom typeface is a perfect example of this exchange between disciplines, and how design can take something as clinical as the atomic arrangement of oxygen and create an engaging and striking visual language.
The Diatom typeface is a perfect example of this exchange between disciplines, and how design can take something as clinical as the atomic arrangement of oxygen and create an engaging and striking visual language.
