Priscila Lena Farias / Anna Calvera Marcos da Costa ... - Blucher

SILVA-JETTER, Jorge
importance to note how this concept is related to programming
and the use of the computational medium. Kidd explains that
“With their typeface Beowulf (1991), they were the first designers
to use code to randomize typography” (1990:33). We might
say that something similar happens with typewriters or handwriting
where variety is constantly introduces. But this variant
is based on errors and, it does not follow specific rules and relies
on human ideas of randomness, which tend to be quite limited.
Cheyenne Rivers Lecture Poster
The following poster design is an example of open rules applied
to the creation of a poster. In this case, open rules refer to rules
in which there multiple outcomes are possible. In this example a
system was created in which open rules were programmed into
the piece. The computer randomly determines elements such as
positioning, movement and starting color. Since the rules are
open, the system has multiple outputs (fig. 5 and fig. 6). The
designer, who establishes the rules, programs the behavior of
the piece. But, the final result relies on the computer interpreting
these rules without the designer’s control. The idea of ‘process’
begins to regain importance in what the final outcomes will be.
If only a certain number of the outcomes are needed for a particular
purpose, it is up to the designer to choose his preferred
solution from all the different outputs created by the system.
The judgment value of the designer remains important.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank the faculty in the Department of Graphic Design
at Virginia Commonwealth University. In particular , I would
like to thank Roy McKelvey for all his support and for helping me
review this paper.
References
Gerstner, K. (2007). Designing Programmes. 3rd ed. Baden, Switzerland:
Lars Muller Publishers.
Kidd, G. 1990. Type with a brain behind its face: Anarchy and the Typographer.
MacPublishing, 1(7): 33 - 34.
Maeda, J. 1999. Design by numbers. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Maeda, J. 2000. Maeda@media. New York: Rizzoli.
2011. MIT Media Lab Identity.
(last accessed 05/24/11)
Reas, C. & Fry, B. 2007. B. Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual
Designers and Artists. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Reas, C., Mcwilliams, C., & Lust. 2010. Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture.
New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
About the author(s)
Jorge Silva-Jetter is and MFA student at the Virginia Commonwealth
University. He is interested in the intersections between
technology and design, and the new horizons brought upon by
their mutual cross pollination.
Design Frontiers: Territiories, Concepts, Technologies 357