Workshop: Spoken Drawings

Piet Zwart Institute Rotterdam, MA Networked Media

5 and 6 december 2011

• http://osp.constantvzw.org/workshop/pzi/ (Source Files)
• http://ospublish.constantvzw.org/images/Piet-Zwart-Institute-Workshop (Photo Gallery)

As part of the Networked Media Sampler course, OSP give a two day workshop at the Piet Zwart Institute, getting up close and personal with the bézier curves at the basis of the graphics software since the 1980ies.

Bézier curves are usually drawn with dedicated graphics languages like PostScript. Pierre Marchand’s Literal Draw is a tool to explore such languages. During the workshop, we experiment with hooking up Literal Draw to the UFO format, an open standard for defining typefaces. Students collaborate through a custom made web interface where they can manipulate either the Literal Draw representation or the raw UFO XML. Taking cues from procedurally drawn OSP logo, the students work together to draw a typeface of connected frog shapes.

In the source files published on the OSP website one can find both the PietZwartGrenouille.ufo font source, and a generated PietZwartGrenouille.otf.