dynTypo

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Jeremy Douglass [ WEBSITE ]

1. How would you describe your work in connection with typography and multimedia?
I study IF (interactive fiction) - which some would argue is non-typographic, font-independent, but I see as having strong roots in fixed-distance fonts. In general I'm interested in text which appears in and is operationalized through a grid metaphor - The Matrix Screensavers, typographic automota, and so forth.

2. In dynTypo I'm collecting examples of artists, studios/projects where dynamic typography is used in cooperation with design and multimedia arts. Examples: John Maeda, Peter Cho, Andreas Müller, Yugo Nakamura, Jason Lewis, Letterror, etc. Is anyone else dealing with these issues that are important/influential for you? If so, why do you think they are important for your work?
I consider Y0UNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES to the extent that they are aggressively non-interactive (music responsive flash) and cultivate a careful dynamically-non-dynamic retro-aesthetic - an important reference point in the field. I should also mention "For All Seasons" and "Alphabet Soup."

3. Did you study dynamic typography at school?
Only in the sense that some hypertexts and net art etc. covered in our program (e.g. Diffractions Through) could be said to employ it - not as a formal category or as typography. Interestingly, medievalists who are also interested in digital media do talk about hands and letters (not the dynamic kind) - this might be a fruitful crossover area, although the term typography sets you firmly post-manuscript.

4. How do you see yourself as a designer or a multimedia artist?
My interest in dynamic typography in art I make comes from a few directions - one, from the attempt to capture typographic practices (e.g. the use inline spellchecking marks or the "track changes" function in word) and reflect those in art images - two, from lowbrow dynamic text (e.g. fading a background color so that various lines swim in and out of contrast) - three, from procedural letters.

5. Can you identify some restrictions/limitations in the software you are using? If so, please specify?
I'm not sure I understand the question. As in, I'd like to (morph one letter into another) in (Flash, Processing) but I can't? Nothing specific. I'd like an off-the-shelf system for writing top-down rules for letter entities (i.e. "If all the letters nearby are vowels, become a random consonant") but I pretty much pick the tools for the project and then roll my own - or will.

6. How do you see the use of self-made programs for dynamic typography? And what do you think of using it for both 'personal research' and commissioned projects?
I'm not sure I understand the question. Should critics write their own software, then make art with it? Yes, why not!

7. How do you think dynamic typography can improve our daily basis life? In other words, what do you think about the usage of dynamic typography?
On the one hand, we could end up with mediaglyphics (as in Diamond Age)... but my bet is that an understated vocabulary of dynamic typography will come in with the new digital paper products - minimal update type stuff at first, indicating reactive changes, calling attention, etc. This will be particularly important if there is a long generation of black-and-white epaper.

8. How do you see the future of dynamic typography evolution?
I'd like to see a few things: an era of real stability in the cross-platform use of a wide variety of fonts, a common system of just-in-time font transmission that is considered just as virus safe and just as ubiquitous as a jpg or a png file, and the rhobust availability of fonts which are not just free (as in freedom) but easily altered and inflected to give them spin, attitude, and mood. Those things are all available now, but to specialists and technical types. When there is a huge base, I think dynamic typography will be not just about procedural animation, but about real engagement of the entire public in the appearance and behavior of typography - in much the same way they for example update their icons and moods on IM or LiveJournal. When everyone considers basic typography a key to computer self-expression, there will be a lot more bad typography, but there will more dynamic typography artists.

Thank you!