Interactive Typography

Unlike my previous work, I wanted to push the limits of my graphic design skills into more of an installation-type piece. The result is an experiment of type & light, as a means for the viewer to challenge their own identity head-on.

Background

The current COVID-19 Pandemic has required months of isolation and social distancing to help contain its spread. While these restrictions have begun to lessen, the implications of these measures take a silent toll on individuals, particularly that of college students who are deprived of the typical university experience. Staying connected to peers in today’s world is done almost entirely digitally. In an age of digital perfection and self-comparison, I want to use type and light as a vehicle to promote self-awareness and love in students and open up minds from unconsciously projecting fears onto others in the form of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination. In creating an immersive typographic experience, these individuals can interact with their own identities as a means to foster positive self attributes and to challenge negative ones.

Proposal

I am proposing this piece to be installed in the hallway of Southern Connecticut State University’s own Earl Hall. Students can enter the art wing of the building to be greeted by this piece that allows them to physically step into the light and become a part of the piece. I developed a list of words to be used in the piece representing either positive or negative self attributes. Typeface needs to be legible as a projection of type and bold enough to create distinguishable characters. Words with positive attributions will be arranged as outlined type, with no fill, to be projected on the floor/walls as light. Negatively associated words will oppositely be constructed as solid-filled type to be projected as a shadow. The arrangement of words on the rectangular block will follow no order other than to fill the entirety of the space like puzzle pieces. Words can be oriented at 0°, 90°,180° or 270°, encouraging the piece to be viewed from all angles it may be approached from. Even though this interactive typographic art installation is being proposed for Earl Hall, the piece is having the benefit of not being tied in one location and can be adjusted to fit any space.

Process

After developing the design, I printed and mounted it to 11×17″ cardstock to begin cutting out. Detailed above is the painful, slow process of individually removing each letter, and then my experimenting with creating shadows. While I was able to cast the reflection from my cutout on the wall, at a larger scale like I proposed, the project would need to be a digital projection.