Suhong Hwang

TYME is a thesis research paper and project, which explores the prospect of typographic forms based on the expression of the ephemeral nature of time in an interactive environment. TYME, whose title is derived from the combination of the words Type + Time, consists of three computational models: 'SMOKE', 'SCATTER', and 'ILLUSION' for each of the expressive letterforms. Each model represents one of the following unfixed qualities of type in a digital environment: emergence, changing, and disappearance. The purpose of this thesis is to present these three models as poetic type tools, which can be utilized for conveying messages with the quality of emotion and perception, and for reflecting properties of visual play similar to a game or toy. Today, typing is not just a record of speech or writing; rather but a direct expression of thought. This idea is more obvious in digital media. Perhaps, instead of speech or writing, the development of an "unfixed" text, which is temporal and material, might be a better way to communicate and visualize our consciousness. TYME introduces a generative integration of time by using digital typography which functions on the intersection of text and image. The TYME project investigates the transmission of the ephemeral through a digital environment, and allows a user to share and explore the expressive possibilities of computational typography as a creative medium and an aesthetic experience.