For my bachelor thesis I focused my study about the technology of variable fonts applied to new fields. One of those was the little and underrated world of wayfinding design. Despite wayfinding systems have a static nature, driven by the absence of technology and his cost of production, in a closer future we could see the technology applied to wayfinding design. This combination would generate a new digital form of wayfinding system, based on variable fonts technology and bringing dynamism for each sign.
Variable fonts technology consist in a mathematical interpolation between shapes with the same amount of nodes and deltas. All coordinates are registered across range of values, called axis. One axis correspond to one dimension, once exceed three axes we can actually move inside a multidimensional space. Even if is in his first stage, there are no-limits to using this technology in various fields. The need to interpolate things and decide how they should interpolate each other could be radical.
Wayfinding systems, driven by a digital platforms, could be merged with variable fonts technology and bringing dynamism on something that has always been static.
Book printed on Fedrigoni X-PER
Typefaces:
GT America by Grilli Type, designed by Noël Leu with Seb McLauchlan
Grandmaster by The Designer Foundry, designed by Lucas Descroix
Space Mono, designed by Colophon Foundry for Google Design
Alketo, a variable font with 3 axis designed by Daniele Capelli for this study
