Education
Workshop

Typoroom23’ Graphic Workshop ft. Morisawa & Arphic

June 29, 2023

Morisawa
Arphic Technology

Liu Yu, Typoroom, 2023.

TPadd assoc. was invited by Morisawa Taiwan and ArphicFont to co-host a series of workshops centred on reimagining the classic products of these two renowned typeface publishers.

Participants will approach text as pure shapes, deconstructing and reinterpreting typeface applications and creative expressions. Through four thematic perspectives—dynamic interpolation, sculptural aesthetics, hyperreal imaging, and religious symbolism—participants will explore unconventional approaches to Chinese typography. Each session features instructors from both 2D and 3D graphic design fields, encouraging experimentation with the boundaries of traditional text design.

Following the workshops, designer Liu Yu-Ju will curate an online exhibition using spatial.io to re-edit 50 pieces created by workshop participants. This immersive virtual showcase highlights an illusory and mysterious viewing experience, emphasising the transformative journey of creators from independent subjects to integrated objects, and invites the public to engage interactively with typography.

Session 1
The Shapes of Dynamic Interpolation

Instructors: Lin Cheng-Hsuan, Chen Bo-Yin, Huang Chun-Wei

This workshop delves into transforming flat, two-dimensional text into forms with depth and dimensionality. Participants will explore the multidimensional possibilities of typefaces by analysing variations in angles, glyphs, and stroke thickness. This process unveils the hidden versatility and aesthetic potential of typeforms, encouraging creative reinterpretation.

In between 2D and 3D

The concept of transparency, deceptively simple yet capable of producing rich visual effects, is further examined. By leveraging keyframe animation, masking techniques, and shape tools, transformations are visualised as glowing fireflies in the night sky—a contrast of presence and absence. Through interplay with light, colour, and form, participants will learn to translate emotions into compelling visual expressions

Session 2
Typography Speaks of Lif

Instructors: Lin Ting-Han, Wu Cheng-Han

Typography serves not only as a medium for recording and communication but also as a graphical element. In Chinese script, the meanings of characters deeply influence their application, often constraining a designer’s perspective. This workshop seeks to break these constraints through meticulous design methods, sparking participants’ intuition and sensory awareness.

Capturing Everyday Life to Redesign Typefaces That Express Emotio

Using everyday life as the starting point, participants are encouraged to transcend the inherent meanings of text and explore the freedom of typeface form. Set against the backdrop of Taiwan’s daily life, this visual experiment invites participants to extract shape elements from selected characters that resonate with their personal experiences rather than relying on literal meanings. These elements are then deconstructed and recomposed, with the aid of AI modelling software, to create innovative forms derived from vector graphics.

Session 3
Two-Dimensional Realism: The Intersection of Dimensions

Instructors: Chiu Ting-Han, Li Ming-Hsueh

The earliest forms of text were intended to intricately depict the real world. By abstracting and graphically representing qualities of reality, humans refined these depictions into simplified forms, creating a visual-language correspondence that led to the birth of early pictographs. Over time, text evolved as a symbol, reducing the richness of the three-dimensional world into simplified two-dimensional representations. Modern image creation, however, seeks to reverse this process, extending these simplified two-dimensional forms back into three-dimensional space.

Creating Spatial Imagery and Physical Texture Through Typography

In this workshop, participants will transcend the conventional flat representation of text. Through techniques such as texture manipulation, layer styles, blending modes, advanced text modelling, UV mapping, and projection mapping, participants will create posters that integrate 2D and 3D design methods. These creations will delve into the interactive potential between typography as a symbol and its visual representation.

Session 4
Becoming Faith

Instructors: Chang Dan-Yu, Peng Hsing-Kai

Form embodies the spirit of the creator. This session uses imagery from Taoist temples as a backdrop, paired with soundscapes, to create an immersive creative environment. Participants will disconnect from the mundane, deconstruct and reimagine text forms, and project their creations onto live visuals, resulting in a collaborative artwork that bridges the personal and the collective.

Exploring Religious Experience Through Typography

This fragmented series of tasks—“Conversion, Construction, and Deconstruction of Faith”—guides participants in rediscovering the influence of Eastern and Western religious ideologies on human and societal subjectivity. Through this process, participants produce organic, infinitely diverse typographic forms. By disrupting and reconstructing these forms within symbolic layouts, they master the unique planar space of Eastern design, creating evocative images through simple yet impactful techniques. Each participant embarks on a typography journey that is deeply personal and entirely their own.