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SOUNDING TYPE: OPENING
EXPERIMENTAL TYPOGRAPHY
SOUND VISUALIZATION
MOTION GRAPHICS
Sound and type have much in common; both lend themselves to
systems and scales, beats and intervals, rhythm and composition.
They incorporate gestural qualities and changes in scale and
contrast that can be immediate and visceral, that move us
emotionally. This project encourages to experiment and interrogate the translation of music and other sonic stimuli to different kinds of typography, and to be wary of how the potential ideas may take shape and embody material qualities through the various outcomes.
The chosen instrumental recording is Opening by Philip Glass. Glass's work is often associated with minimalism, characterized by repetitive phrases and shifting layers. In Opening, the ethereal and hypnotic ambiance evokes a sense of loss. Moreover, high, sustained notes interwoven with contrary motion arpeggios create a feeling of struggle, which is an attempt to escape and unveil a hidden space. In terms of the visual expression, the grey tone evokes a space of loneliness, elusiveness, and mistiness, where the bulging letters strive to break through the surface. At the same time, puzzling and mysterious swirls emerge—like black holes, they pull the letterforms into constant rotation. This continuous force of countless swirls mirrors the sustained notes, cyclic rhythm, and repetitive beats in the recording.