Garden of Words

An interactive website for encoding text in typographic flowers.
Final project for Interactive Design and the Internet with Will Denton at Yale.

Interactive Website • Creative Coding

Sample typographic bouquet with pink background and white text (detail)

Garden of Words is an interactive web application that transforms user input into a generative typographic landscape.

Created as a final project for Interactive Design and the Internet, the tool explores the intersection of language, code, and organic form. Using a custom p5.js script, the application converts raw text into legible flower-like shapes that bridge the gap between rigid digital typography and the natural world.

The code employs conditional logic to render different "species" of plants based on character count in order to ensure legibility regardless of string length. Short submissions (under 10 characters) become vertical stalks; moderate phrases (10–30 characters) curl into circular buds; and long sentences (over 30 characters) unfold into complex, five-petaled blooms.

Inputs longer than 30 characters form a five-petaled flower
“This is a very long sentence that will become a flower with five distinct petals”

Inputs between 10 and 30 characters form a circular bud
“This is a moderate sentence”

Inputs shorter than 10 characters form a vertical stalk
“Short!”

Demo: Submitting a long sentence
“When I type a message into this field, that message turns into its own unique typographic flower!”

Demo: Submitting a short sentence
“Tiny!”

Users curate their own digital environment by choosing between a unified Bouquet or a sprawling Garden.

The interface empowers users to control the composition. "Bouquet Mode" constrains all stems to a single origin point for a structured arrangement, while "Garden Mode" uses randomized coordinates to scatter flora across the viewport. Users can further customize the output by toggling colors, regenerating the seed for new layouts, or "blowing the flowers away" to reset the canvas.

Demo: Selecting “Bouquet” grows your flowers from a single point

Demo: Selecting “Garden” grows your flowers throughout the canvas

Demo: Selecting “Regenerate” gives you another random arrangement

Demo: Selecting “Reset” blows your flowers away like a dandelion

The tool bridged the gap between interactive code and print design for the Yale School of Art.

To demonstrate the tool's viability as a professional design asset, I used Garden of Words to generate posters for the Visiting Artist Lecture Series posters (featuring Loose Joints, David Campany, and Katherine Bradford). The generative output proved versatile enough to anchor a cohesive identity system that moves seamlessly from the browser to the printed page.

Poster for Yale’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series with Loose Joints Publishers
Made using Garden of Words

Poster for Yale’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series with David Campany
Made using Garden of Words

Poster for Yale’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series with Katherine Bradford
Made using Garden of Words

Sample Garden featuring quotes from The Catcher in the Rye

Sample Bouquet with green background and black text (detail)

This project serves as a digital evolution of my background in traditional blackletter calligraphy.

Throughout my time as a designer and calligrapher, I have been fascinated by calligrams — visual poetry where text is arranged to form thematic images. Garden of Words automates this historic practice by translating the manual tradition of the calligram into a generative experience. It proves that code, when handled with care, can retain the organic warmth of the human hand.

Luke’s Gospel Calligram, 2021
Ink on paper

You can visit Garden of Words here!

Next Project: Times Display

I’m a graphic designer and student at Yale (’26)

I’m a graphic designer and student at Yale (‘26) focusing on typography, motion graphics, and design systems. My practice is rooted in a deep respect for art history and craft. Before studying design, I practiced traditional blackletter calligraphy, a practice that continues to inform my approach to typography and lettering.

I have gained professional experience designing for artists such as Jeffrey Gibson, Mickalene Thomas, and Joel Mesler, and for arts institutions including Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and JOOPITER. I have also interned for Irma Boom Office, Mickalene Thomas Studio, and Hyperallergic.

In an increasingly automated design industry, I believe the human touch is a designer’s most valuable tool. Whether through hand-drawn calligraphy, organic shapes, or tactile print designs, I strive to imbue my work with a distinct sense of humanity that distinguishes it from the algorithmic and the artificial.

I’m currently seeking a full-time role and always interested in freelance work.