It organizes the visual information(such as signs, symbols, graffiti, t-shirt, neon lights... ) by attaching arbitrarily-assigned meta-text data which will be stored in the online database. With this application, users can type their text messages and receive graphically related random images in their text order. The visual information is reconstructed by an algorithm picking proper pieces of graphics from what the users have contributed to the site.
Users can also upload their own images, relate these with text phrases and send them across to friends. Users are able to share their images and use other peoples’ images as well. As a result they can receive visually-enhanced text messages across networked media devices.
One cold night while I was waiting for the bus to arrive, I was gazing at the shimmering neon lights and shop signs surrounding the city. The only thing I could do to distract myself from feeling cold was to follow the "words" scattered in the cityscape one after another. I kept on reading the words, mumbling to myself until I was about to reach my limit of patience. Then I noticed that the last words I read were close to forming a sentence. "Your, eyes, open, What!, You get!, See" -- (Open your eyes and see what you get.)I felt the inspiration when the sentence connected in my head. I quickly took out my mobile phone camera and started to capture word by word.
People who live in urban areas have been overloaded by tremendous amounts of "Forced Information". Public signs, advertisements, and graffiti are forced pieces of information from someone else, waiting to being read. Majority of the people are not able to accept every single piece of information that comes into their eyesight. They filter through them subconsciously, and try not to acknowledge information that is not necessary at that moment. But the information will be doing it's task no matter what. Just like a traffic signal on empty roads. They will keep on sending out the designed information until they are taken away physically. So I thought, "would it be possible to reassemble the tremendous amount of urban visual information and to use this in another form?" In other words, reconstruct the objective of each information and unify this into serving a different purpose.
Today many people are carrying around various media input devices, like mobile phones and digital cameras. If everyone can capture the visual information and use them for their own messages, this could be a way to reconstruct information. Using the urban visual information elements and attaching the meta data for their own purpose would be a unique way to spread messages rather than communicating with only text data or voices. As result, visual factors can enhance the depth of feelings, and if the information is a message from a friend, the useless "forced information" could generate an unexpected value. The inspiration I felt in the middle of the night soon grew into a fundamental concept idea of media-art, and soon TYPOGRAFFIT started to construct itself...
http://typograffit.com/posts/compose/VOjIFMoK5Mhi
