Basil the typeface
Typography | Code | Generative Design
YEAR: September - November 2023
TOOLS: InDesign, JavaScript & Basil.js
ABOUT BASIL
Crafting Uniqueness Through Iterative Creation
After coming across a tool called basil.js, it inspired me to explore the ways in which a generative process can be used when designing. Through this project I used a generative system to break the predictability of letter forms and embraced the visual complexities of computationally developed shapes to create a typeface with its own unique aesthetic.
WHAT IS BASIL.JS?
Basil.js is a library created by Ted Davis, Benedikt Groß and Ludwig Zeller, for use within InDesign that allows designers to use scripting and automation in their creative process.
THE IDEA
I came up with the idea to use different texts and fonts to draw letters from letters.
Working with placeholder text and some of historic typefaces that informed the visual aesthetics of modern letters, I created a code that used these parameters to create new letterforms. The result is an alphabet visually inspired by typography patterns within text and lettering.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
The first thing I did was develop the generative system. I created an algorithm that would output unique structural patterns that I could then interpret to build the letters.
THE OUTPUT
1. The text with a font assigned at random
2. At each instance where the identified letter appears, it is replaced with a black box.
3. An outline of the letter overlayed on top of the text displayed in a random font.
THE ALGORITHM & CODE
1. Tell the code a letter
2. Have the code randomly select a text
3. Code scans the text and identify all the instances when the indicated letter appears
Written using JavaScript and basil.js, the code was run in InDesign.
INTERPRETING THE OUTPUT
I used the visual output to draw out the letterforms. I only allowed myself to connect the rectangles within the letter outline to create a new letter. Although I could have had the code connect these rectangles, I decided to do it by hand since I was inspired by the origins of typography, where all lettering was done by hand.
Often, I had to re-run the code to generate new patterns before landing on a letterform I was happy with. This was a result of the patterns of different letters created within a text and the unique forms of different letters. In many cases the uniqueness of each output led to visual inconsistencies which I embraced in the final design.
Once I was happy with the generated outlines, I then refined them using a grid to ensure that they followed a visual system and aligned properly to improve legibility.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
Through working on this typeface and creating a code for artistic exploration, I began appreciating the beauty that emerges when technology and creativity converge in the design process. I’m currently further developing this project by embracing the generative system to build designs that resonate with others both in and out of the design space.