Fluid type

New York – Experimental typographer Craig Ward has collaborated with biochemist and photographer Linden Gledhill to create Fe203 Glyphs, a typeface produced by manipulating ferrofluid.

• Craig Ward has previously created typography using pollen cells
• Typeface will feature on a series of letterpress prints

The ornamental typeface is made by placing ferrofluid between two glass plates. The liquid was then exposed vertically and horizontally to magnetic fields, causing the ferrofluid to become magnetised, break apart and change shape.

The resulting forms are ‘a library of complex hieroglyphics – each as unique as a snowflake – that call to mind indigenous markings and symbols from science fiction’, says Ward.

Once the shapes had been formed, Ward and Gledhill traced the ferrofluid as vectors and created a series of glyphs.

The Big Picture: Globalisation is changing how we communicate and, as a result, languages are becoming more fluid. Glyphs are an example of a visual form of communication that can be understood internationally. Learn more in our forthcoming New Bricolage Living macrotrend.