Eleanor Yang merges the synthetic and organic to make typography you can touch

In designer Eleanor Yang’s newest project, Synthetic Nature, typography becomes a “living system” in an increasingly computerised world. Eleanor’s work moves between brand systems, motion, generative typography and interactive design – to her, these practices are different ways of asking the same question: “how can visual language behave, respond and care?” The response is a typography that you can literally touch.

Synthetic Nature is a collection of typefaces that can be interacted with by users, with sliders and materials that make modular visual systems expand and evolve. These typographic works are touch-based, and what Eleanor calls typographic “ecosystems”, that react to the user in real time much like how informational systems, like algorithms, respond to our inputs. “We often talk about ‘the digital world’ as if it’s somewhere else, but in reality it’s embedded in cameras, sensors, infrastructure and logistics, the things that shape our daily environment,” says Eleanor. “By letting a digital typographic system respond directly to bodies in a room, the project tries to make that entanglement visible. The screen isn’t a separate window anymore; it’s part of the same air you’re standing in.”

For Eleanor, turning algorithmic data into something touchable is rooted in the lack of varied tactile experiences we have in a time where most experiences with technology take place on one surface: the touch-screen. In Synthetic Nature, users are prompted to interact with grass, sponge and even their own face to customise typographic assets. Out with the same old mouse and keyboard, Eleanor brings a science-fair fun to graphic design. Experimenting with tools such as p5.js, Cavalry, Spark AR and Cinema 4D – Eleanor is something of a tech optimist, excited by how fast technology evolves – she makes use of all sorts of different programmes and allows them to “talk to each other”.

The typefaces in Synthetic Nature are a “trio of different creatures”. The DNA type is built from small, clustered units that repeat and branch like mutating, microscopic life forms, while the Mesh type is more porous and sponge-like, suggesting tiny networks and tissues. Finally, the Data type is made up of twisted wires, knots and cables like expansive circuit boards. “This family is about measurement and control: life as something tracked, optimised and routed through invisible channels,” says Eleanor. “These are three ways of thinking about what ‘life’ means when biology, computation and culture merge.”

Eleanor’s ribbony, glittery, microbial typeface design is mesmerising. Each installation was designed with the type system first, then each letter was built to behave like a small organism. From there, she structured the interactive elements around three stages: activation, evolution and reset. Activation is driven by webcam data; when someone appears, the system detects their face and depending on their proximity to the installation, the typeface slows and shrinks. In Evolution, a second camera focuses on touch materials. When a hand touches the installation’s materials, the type generator increases in line length or density. In Reset, the installation begins a soft shutdown when nobody is there to interact with it. It’s remarkable technology and one that should be implemented into type a lot more, especially when the barriers between digital and analogue seem to widen every day.

Everything about Synthetic Nature is rooted in a love for biology and type design. Eleanor is fascinated by how organisms are built, so she allows typography to feel alive like one. To Eleanor, this installation is about what certain life forms will look like in a century, and what will become of our technologies, which feel more like living things more than ever before.