toxi_openframeworks · GenerativeTypeLetterforms

Generative Type Letterforms

Letterforms assembled from a 9×9 stroke grid alphabet (A–Z subset), then modulated by a parametric function (bar widths and stroke positions follow `a * sin(b*x + c)` style curves) and optionally recursively subdivided into smaller marks. The skeleton is the parametric-typography idea behind Karsten Schmidt's `thi.ng/font` (which defines glyphs from grids of vertical / horizontal / diagonal / dot primitives via a JSON grammar) and the oF / Processing generative-typography canon (Rune Madsen's *Printing Code*) where letters are shape systems rather than polygon outlines.

Original: https://github.com/thi-ng/font

▶ Try the live demo (JS port) ▶ Run reference.py via Pyodide 10 formulas have instant JS ports. The Pyodide path runs the actual Python in your browser — first load is ~6 MB, then instant.

Family: toxi_openframeworks
Source: toxi · openFrameworks
Evolution: geometric
Render: rasterized_glyph
Complexity: low
Agents: 0
Year: 2018
Author: Karsten Schmidt (thi.ng/font) / Rune Madsen (Printing Code)

Math essence

Each character lives on a fixed 9×9 grid. For each 'on' cell at (i, j), compute mod = amp * sin(freq*π*i/(n-1) + phase) + amp/2 * sin(...). In `modulate` mode the cell size is locally scaled by `(1 + 0.35*mod)`. In `shift` mode the cell is translated by `(cell * mod, cell * mod)`. With probability `subdiv_prob`, a randomly-colored sub-cell (the 'glow' color) is painted at the cell location. The output is rasterized to a HxWx3 image with the chosen ink/glow/bg colors.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Range	Description
`dim`	int	`360`	200–1000	Square canvas side length in pixels.
`text`	str	`TOXI`	—	Text to render (uppercased, A-Z glyph subset).
`cell_size`	int	`28`	8–64	Base pixel size of one stroke cell.
`param_freq`	float	`1.6`	0.5–8	Spatial frequency of the modulating sinusoid.
`param_amp`	float	`0.55`	0–1	Amplitude of the modulating sinusoid.
`subdiv_prob`	float	`0.35`	0–1	Per-cell probability of a sub-mark being added.
`subdiv_levels`	int	`1`	0–4	Recursion depth for sub-marks.
`mode`	str	`modulate`	—	How the parametric function affects each cell.
`bg_color`	tuple	`245,240,230`	—	Background colour.
`ink_color`	tuple	`38,38,52`	—	Main glyph stroke colour.
`glow_color`	tuple	`220,90,70`	—	Sub-mark / subdivision colour.
`seed`	int	`null`	0–999999	RNG seed.

Reference

First 60 lines of reference.py. Full source: library_external/toxi_openframeworks/GenerativeTypeLetterforms/reference.py

from __future__ import annotations

from typing import ClassVar

import numpy as np


_GLYPHS: dict[str, str] = {
    "A": (
        "#########"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "#########"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
    ),
    "B": (
        "########."
        "##....##."
        "##....##."
        "##....##."
        "########."
        "##....##."
        "##....##."
        "##....##."
        "########."
    ),
    "C": (
        ".########"
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        ".########"
    ),
    "D": (
        "########."
        "##....##."
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##.....##"
        "##....##."
        "########."
    ),
    "E": (
        "#########"
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "##......."
        "########."
        "##......."
        "##......."

Try running it locally

The reference implementation is self-contained Python with numpy. Install the package and run:

python library_external/toxi_openframeworks/GenerativeTypeLetterforms/reference.py

Need help? See Learn for the standard environment setup, or Playground for an in-browser sketchbook.

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