type garden demonstrates a 'natural evolution' of language signs

graphic designers today have the luxury of technology to create a wide range of typographic styles and even entire families of fonts and typefaces. yet, even armed with typographic history they still struggle to create authentic, original work, that does not take off from one of history’s masters. with an infinite library of established fonts we seem to have lost part of the communicative capacity of letters and almost never use handwriting anymore, a more spontaneous form of communication and a pattern often unique to its author. type garden is an experimental method which responds to the confines of type, hoping to generate new ideas for original artistic solutions by employing the work of mother nature.

type garden project in traveling letters art exhibition in vilnius, lithuania.

created by lithuanian-based graphic designer sigitas gužauskas, type garden is an autonomous type growing machine which explores the aesthetic of letter shapes by providing a special ecosystem for plant proliferation. it works by planting different plant species within the barriers of typographic signs so that overtime their natural evolution transforms the basic shapes of letters.

experimental type growing machine creates an ecosystem for plant growth

the experiment merges the genetic code of plants and the codes established within typeface language. whilst their visual change is influenced by variables such as species, light, gravitation, humidity, and the letter-shaped barrier, their overall unpredictable evolution looks at the mutation of familiar signs in a bid to further understand their aesthetics.

a mix of blue and red light is an optimal mix for plant proliferation

‘my source of inspiration or catalog of ideas is an active observation of nature and an experimental activity’, gužauskas comments. ‘the constantly flourishing plant’s surprises with new aesthetics of the language signs.’

each plant box is supplied by micronutrients

light, humidity, and temperature shape the letters forms

a different species of plants creates the specific shape of characters

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: kieron marchese | designboom