Processing for Designers page >R< odd page {45}
INTERMEDIATE DESIGN
15.0
Y–System The basic concept of this example of repetition—which I completed as part of the GD MFA Studio—was that each branch on the letter “Y” would become a smaller “Y” for a potentially unlimited number of repetitions. To simulate this concept in Processing, I referenced the binary tree algorithm, a basic data structure in which each node has at most two offspring, and defined a function, Ysystem( ). It has six parameters: x1, y1, x, y, angle and level. With a screen size of 800x 800 pixels, it was duplicated, rotated, connected and overlapped, employing the six parameters to visually create three pattern elements. These three elements were repeated in Adobe Photoshop to generate the three final experimental pattern designs.
This three-dimensional virtual typographic tree (left) features the word “code” in reference to the L-system algorithm, which generates fractals and realistic modeling of a tree, programmed by Jer Thorp. The “code tree” has been duplicated and rotated for the cover design of Type + Code.
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