Author: Nikunj Topno

Week 3

Personal History / Context

Archives, preservation

Identity, belonging, oral histories, memories

to keep the culture alive?

How can graphic communication design …………………………

What am I trying to achieve …… record the stories i grew up

preserve memories

give my identity a tangible form while also preserving it’s authenticity / authentic form (oral histories)

I grew up with stories which were mostly in relation to or deeply inherent to nature and I’m afraid with migration and acculturation, these stories and in extension my culture will die in the coming generations.

In effort to preserve it, I want to find GCD solutions to record and give longevity to these stories or memories. These stories have been a connection to my indigenous roots and remembering it and recalling these stories are a huge part of our culture to remind us of our identity and create a sense of belonging not just within our community but also within our environment.

How do I use GCD to preserve the stories with it’s original essence but also publish it for broader audience?

stories through dance and singing?

how do you publish something intangible as dance and singing

how can you make reading a community activity?

Nature of stories I grew up with-

different people had different stories to tell

my mother’s stories were rooted in written stories and books

my father’s stories were rooted in memories of the place he grew up in and stereotypes/rumours/gossip

my uncle’s stories are rooted in agricultural practices and ancestral history

my community interaction was based in songs and dance

every story a small piece forming the whole identity/ big picture / culture

How can I visually harness all senses?

How can text harness different senses?

How emerging technologies can expand the possibilities of text beyond static formats, making typography more interactive, immersive, and multi-sensory.

  • How can text be multi-sensory?
  • How does reading interact with language and culture?
  • Can storytelling exist beyond linguistic barriers?

Week 2

How emerging technologies can expand the possibilities of text beyond static formats,

making typography more interactive, immersive, and multi-sensory.

Why does reading have to be for someone who is literate/ can read?

Is reading creating accessibility bias?

Can reading be for someone who cannot read or write?

Does reading have to be tied to one language?

How can new technologies and interfaces create more accessible forms of reading and storytelling?

  • What is reading beyond traditional literacy?
    • Can reading exist without text as we conventionally understand it?
    • Does reading inherently exclude non-literate individuals?
  • How can new technologies and interfaces create more accessible forms of reading and storytelling?
  • How does reading interact with language and culture?
  • Can storytelling exist beyond linguistic barriers?
  • What are the unexplored possibilities in publishing and accessibility?
    • How can experimental storytelling be made widely accessible?
    • Can archival practices evolve to capture the diversity of storytelling?

CONTEXT & RESEARCH QUESTION:

In an increasingly digital and visually driven world, reading remains predominantly text-based, creating accessibility biases.

This project asks:

  • Can reading be experienced without the need for conventional literacy?
  • How can graphic communication design facilitate new forms of storytelling or reading?
  • Can immersive technologies and experimental publishing methods make storytelling more inclusive?
  • How can oral or performative storytelling traditions, be archived and reimagined using new media?

AIMS & OBJECTIVES:

  1. Investigate how reading can exist without reliance on text or language, using visual, auditory, and performative elements.
  2. Develop prototypes that explores different senses and incorporate motion, and interactive design to create a more inclusive reading experience.
  3. Explore open-source and experimental publishing as a means of archiving oral storytelling traditions.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

  • A series of experimental design prototypes demonstrating alternative ways of reading.
  • A visual and interactive archive of storytelling practices.
  • An experimental publication
  • A proposal for new methodologies in accessible storytelling and publishing.

POTENTIAL IMPACT:

This project seeks to expand the definition of reading by embracing visual, auditory, and performative elements. By questioning accessibility barriers, it promotes inclusivity in storytelling, offering new possibilities for graphic communication design to serve diverse audiences.

References:

  1. https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-inclusive-world-of-multisensory-typography/#:~:text=The origins of typography are,cold through visuals of ice.
  2. https://meaghand.com/myportfolio/shakespearesgarden
  3. https://tinanded.com/projects/kaleidoscopic-home-ar
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6uf1EPDAsI&t=241s
  5. Neuroaesthetics
  6. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=359080&ppg=16

munari libro illeggibile

ian cheng interviews

allegorical meaning

Week 1

Unit 2 Enquiry

  • How does the choice of medium impact typographic expression and reader perception?
  • What factors does a designer take into account while creating the essence?

as it the page, the layout, the form of type itself, or the perception of the reader?

And how do these have an effect on each other?

  • Exploring the interactions/ act of reading through narrative texts set in 3D space.
  • Can type in 3D reframe how we understand text and engage with reading?
  • Can there be a new form of reading…

that is not only informational but deeply experiential, allowing readers to interpret meaning through their senses and movement as they journey through stories?

New line of enquiry –

Can we use the new technologies to visualise and preserve the old world knowledge / oral histories?

saving fables

new form of reading — what is considered reading ——— incorporating senses and physical interactions

looking at the definitions and alternatives for inclusivity and accessibility

Unit 2 Takeaways –

The idea that typography is no longer confined to flat surfaces but is evolving into an immersive, interactive experience. The transition from traditional 2D design to 3D spaces, AR, and VR challenges designers to rethink form, function, and the role of the reader in shaping meaning.

  • Impact of Medium on Typographic Expression & Reader Perception
    • Typography evolves based on the medium, transitioning from 2D (print, screen) to 3D (spatial typography, AR, VR).
    • The designer’s role shifts from merely arranging text to curating an interactive, immersive experience.
  • Typography as a Spatial & Interactive Form
    • Moving type into 3D space alters how we engage with text, making it more sculptural and navigable.
    • Physical and digital interactions redefine how type is read and perceived, influencing meaning and engagement.
  • Wolfgang Weingart’s Influence & 3D Typography
    • Weingart’s experimental Swiss typography, breaking rigid typographic conventions, inspires the transition from 2D to 3D.
    • Recreating his compositions in 3D highlights how depth, perspective, and movement impact typographic communication.
  • Reading as an Active Experience
    • Traditional reading is linear and visual, while 3D reading incorporates movement, space, and interactivity.
    • Augmented reality (AR) and immersive typography allow text to guide physical movement, turning reading into an embodied experience.
  • Design Tensions: Functionality vs. Aesthetics
    • The debate between functional readability (Wim Crouwel) and expressive experimentation (Jan van Toorn) remains relevant in 3D design.
    • Designers must balance creative exploration with the practical concerns of legibility and usability in immersive environments.
  • Technology’s Role: AR, VR & AI in Typography
    • AI and real-time interaction open new possibilities for typography, allowing dynamic and evolving textual environments.
    • AR/VR typography must consider spatial positioning, legibility at different angles, and how movement affects readability.
  • Expanding the Senses in Typography
    • Future reading experiences could incorporate sound, touch, and movement, deepening engagement and comprehension.
    • The integration of multi-sensory elements could redefine reading beyond a visual-only activity.
  • New Forms of Reading & Narrative Structures
    • 3D typography and interactive media create opportunities for nonlinear, exploratory reading experiences.
    • Spatial storytelling positions text as an environment rather than a static entity, redefining narrative structures.

Unit 2 enquiry – the evolving nature of typography in the digital age.

How emerging technologies can expand the possibilities of text beyond static formats, making typography more interactive, immersive, and multi-sensory.

The research also contributes to broader discussions on the future of design, media, and communication in a technologically evolving world

Week 2- Positions through Contextualising

Experiencing text in 3d space

What if type was an object that you could interact with in real life like you would with any other object but also layered with the content that the type holds. 

Spacial design- designing in 3d space challenges

Directing the eye in spacial experiences- how to navigate in 3D environment

-move-x, y axis

-zoom- move- z axis

-rotate

  1. Reduce cognitive load
  2. Minimize disorientation
  3. Speed up visual processing
  4. Increase Comprehension

Ex- you can use motion/animation/ scale to direct

Interactive Depth- Layers of interactions using a variety of different trigger types

including a bunch of active/essential interactions and passive/ optional interactions

Direct the eye to the essential interactions ( interaction might help to keep the reader engaged in the text )

There’s freedom to create a world around these texts that makes the experience more immersive ( diegetic

and non diegetic? ) encourages / increases curiosity – would that be a problem?

AR- combines digital world and physical world

set it within “context”

Ex- site specific art – ar art set within the physical space or an object like a tree

image anchors – possibility to combine print and digital – like AR books

Scale and proximity

we are physical bodies, we recognise proximity with objects around us and scale of the objects compared to us

Proximity triggers

Using Audio/ shadows to create immersion

could i accomplish this in any other medium? if so why use ar?

Look into the use of composition and layouts in gd – how does swiss design play into it? does it ?

Week 3 – Positions through Triangulating

https://gcd.studio/pages/cordillera-an-ode-to-the-mountains

https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/468965/i-think-my-body-feels-i-feel-my-body-thinks-on-corpoliteracy/

Extracting meanings from symbols OR interpreting symbols to extract meaning

— looking at nuances of the symbol

— is there meaning in the process of interpreting?

— can meaning be extracted from the process of interpreting itself?

only sight , touch?

can sound be a symbol?

for example – when you put emphasis on a different word of a same sentence the meaning also could change.

Sound symbolism

reinforces the idea of reading through different senses and could be led by intuition.

Movies do this well by using foreshadowing and film cutting techniques like L and J cut.

Sight: Vision Hearing: Audition Smell: Olfaction Taste: Gustation Touch: Tactician

Engaging with senses

-phone vibrations

-movement in space

-sounds for depth immersion in the story

Looking at films and their storytelling methods

Positives about physical books – it packages the story well

the story is like a gift and the book is the box which can be presented to someone

Can i package a digital medium without any physicality ?

Studio practice – giving different backgrounds to same texts

Letting the words lead your movement and alignment in space

exploring spatial writing structures

Week 2 – Positions through Triangulating

Looking at the type of content I want to engage with (from earlier project brief – iterating)

Author and Reader (intent)

  1. to Describe / to Imagine
  2. to Inform / to Learn
  3. to Instruct / to Follow
  4. to Persuade / to Decide

Long-form and short-form content

https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/choosing-and-using-classroom-texts/understanding-text-types#:~:text=Procedural or instructional text explains how to,to persuade the reader to agree with

Next stage of enquiry:

I’m exploring the interactions/ act of reading through narrative texts set in 3D space.

“Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch.”

“Other types of reading and writing, such as pictograms (e.g., a hazard symbol and an emoji), are not based on speech-based writing systems.[7] The common link is the interpretation of symbols to extract the meaning from the visual notations or tactile signals (as in the case of braille).”

Reading —> the act of interpreting symbols to extract meaning through sight and touch.

Can sound also be a part of reading? are audiobooks reading?

Reading references

“In her ( Muriel Cooper ) experiments, readers navigate textual displays through spatial paradigms that represent depth. This vein of enquiry replaces the small-to-large hierarchy of traditional print media with a near-to-far spatial and temporal dynamic— an eloquent transposition that maps neatly onto our sense of reading as a process of moving deeper and deeper into the document. This direction in dimensional typography investigates the spatial disposition of ‘flat’ letterforms: depth is represented through the layering of successive planar surfaces.”

Narrative Architecture – Cruz Garcia/ Nathalie Frankowski

Kynical Architecture – narrative provocations and practice as subversion

Architecture in narrative form

Every episode in a careful narrative is a premonition – Jorge Luis Borges

From Week 1 :

  • Defining 3D using grids – looking at the space from the lens of architecture

What if we use architectural elements to construct text layout in 3d spaces like a window or a doorway or a hall of contents ?

Proposes different principles of typographic composition

—> Foreground and background

—> Points, lines and planes

—> Volume

—> Time

—> Motion / Physics

  • I can use the layouts to elicit the sense of the text by activating different human senses or intuition.

—> Adding sound as another layer to reading experience

—> Building of information/ knowledge/ ideas

—> Text walls and Idea windows

Chapter Books

Now you see me – S.J.Bolton

Short story / Play / Poetry

Sosobonga – Ram Dayal Munda & Ratan Singh Manki

Week 1 – Positions through Triangulating

Type con Meaghan Dee- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dJ_59nkogE&t=601s

Typography for Immersive, Mixed, and Virtual Environments

things to consider like motion

makes you think about the senses that are activated

makes you think about reading as an act in itself – individual, spacial, audible, time

Ways of Reading

Physical reading interactions of the text —> trying to make the reader engage in different interactions to read a text.

→ could be to make it more efficient

→ more enjoyable

→ to make it to get out of doom scrolling

→ physical activities- health

How does TEXT play a role in reading interaction?

physicality of text

Play with 3D type → maybe i’ll find a new kind of type

→ type as physical objects → that I can play with physically

Objects that communicate → mould it physically/ change it’s meaning or create meaning through interactions

Example- maybe you eat the words you’ve read?

Using 3D mediums to explore the interactions of ‘reading’ ?

AR example – https://tinanded.com/projects/kaleidoscopic-home-ar

Spatial storytelling → looking at something deeply

→ simulating showing/ revealing more information by activating different senses

Design the layouts in context to the reader. I can use the layouts to encourage movement or encourage the reader to relax. refer tim &ed ikea project.

Reading with different senses?

→ body languages

→ intuition – adding intuition to reading

Looking at text as a dynamic form in 3D space?

→ Defining the 3D space

→ grids look like scaffolding of a building

What if we use architectural elements to construct text layout in 3d spaces like a window or a doorway or a hall of contents

Scale sound and proximity

Scale time and proximity

Can I use these scaffoldings to layout a novel or a magazine in 3D space

Positions through Dialogue

The dialogue with Jasmin Morris —helped me sharpen my inquiry into how various media shape communication. What struck me most was the way Jasmin uses technology to communicate complex social themes, a method that deeply aligns with my own curiosity about the interplay between form, content, and perception in graphic design.

During our chat, we unpacked the ways in which digital and print media influence the audience’s reception and interaction with content. This conversation pushed me to explore the nuances of communication across different platforms. It also gave me a framework to articulate the often-overlooked dynamics of print and digital spaces.

We also discussed the implications of new technologies, especially the ones that are set in 3D spaces, in the creation of digital environments that can evolve in real-time. Her practice made me reflect on my own interests and practices. We discussed incorporating languages and cultures as expressions and how using these mediums we have the potential to explore self expression.

Jasmin’s encouragement to “keep the iterations going,” to explore through short, iterative prototypes. This approach reinforces the idea that experimentation, especially in the digital space, is a key driver of innovation. It’s about using technology not as a mere tool, but as a medium with its own language—a language that can be continually revised and expanded. Jasmin’s own practice highlights how technology can amplify or complicate social themes, adding layers of meaning through real-time interactivity.

By considering these iterations as “short and small prototypes,” I can see how the enquiry can progress without the burden of large, fully-formed projects. Instead, smaller explorations allow for a more fluid process of understanding how the audience engages with typography in different environments. These prototypes could experiment with varying degrees of interactivity—such as creating text that responds to user inputs, or using 3D tools like Blender to transform typographic forms into spatial, animated entities. Each iteration becomes part of a larger conversation between designer, medium, and audience.

Jasmin’s insights pushed me to think about how my own work can delve deeper into this realm. Her suggestion to explore VR and AI systems was particularly thought-provoking. With AI, we can create digital environments that are not just reactive but informed by real-time data, constantly evolving to reflect ongoing societal shifts. This presents new possibilities for typography, where content might not only be shaped by the designer but also adapted based on user interaction or external inputs. The concept of “realistic interactions” could take typography to a dynamic space, where the form, meaning, and perception of text continually evolve.

Jasmin’s encouragement to play, experiment, and iterate will shape the next phase of my exploration, where I intend to further investigate how different media—whether print, digital, or augmented—can transform the way typography communicates and is perceived.