Computational Typography

InDesign layouts using code

Description

My final major project at the London College of Communication was around exploring scripting inside of Adobe InDesign using a library called basil.js to create artwork that would impossible to make using the graphical user interface.

client

Shinji Pons

Type

Generative Design

Year

2014

Problem

I was tired of doing everything by hand.

While working on Modulo, my layered typeface, I realized how tedious and inefficient it was to manually overlay hundreds of individual text frames for my type tests. I researched using the raw InDesign SDK and Processing but settled on Basil.js.

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Process

Basil.js to the rescue.

People at the Basel School of Design have open-sourced a library that allows anyone with access to InDesign to use scripting.

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Outcome

Manually doing something more than once is for insane people.

Thanks to this project, I understood that code could be used for creative purposes but more importantly, that it was an incredible way to automate tedious tasks and reduce errors while creating work that would have been unfeasible by hand. All while using open source!