SPLICE

A TYPEFACE FOUND IN HUMAN PROTEIN STRUCTURES

MFA GRAPHIC DESIGN THESIS / RESEARCH / 2026

Today, we are more disconnected from our bodies than ever. Generative AI flattens visual culture; politics attack scientific research. Splice responds by encoding language in molecular structures that already exist inside us all. This operates under the radical idea that scientific data doesn’t always have to feel institutional. It’s personal. It belongs to you.

Splice is a 3D typeface in which every character is a real human protein structure sourced from AlphaFold, an open-source database of computationally predicted molecular models. Each glyph was found using pareidolia as a formal methodology: rotating protein models until legible letterforms emerged. Discovered, not designed.

The centerpiece is a mechanical keyboard on a plinth. A screensaver cycles four phrases in the protein typeface: This alphabet is made of you. Your body cannot be erased. Now it is your turn to say something. What are you going to say? A visitor can type anything. Each character renders in real time as a rotating 3D protein molecule. The phrase is simultaneously sonified: amino acids are mapped to musical tones, so a unique ambient chord is generated for every input.

Three floor-length strips of sheer chiffon printed with protein letterforms hang in the space, responding to movement and touch. Four 3D-printed resin protein sculptures spelling B-O-D-Y are mounted to a mirror, so viewers can see themselves reflected behind the molecules. The interface is set in Computer Modern, designed via Knuth's Metafont, a typeface built from mathematical parameters rather than drawn by hand, echoing Splice’s methodology.

The human body has been translated into language. What are you going to say?

VISIT SPLICE-TYPE.COM