Make the type the artwork.
Anybody, Recursive and Fraunces support three distinct experiments: SHIFT, FLUX and INK. Their original designers are credited; these are visual studies, rather than newly designed typefaces.
Type / Graphic Experiments · 2026
SPLAY
Letters with
room to move.
An experimental type foundry with variable letterforms, kinetic specimens, interactive posters and a browser-based poster maker.
SPLAYVisual language
SPLAY
Type / Form / Experiment
Inside the project
The whole picture.
A source-reviewed overview of the website, its content and the systems behind it.
- Published pages
- 10
- Language
- English
- Build
- HTML · CSS variable fonts · JavaScript · Canvas
- Hosting
- GitHub Pages
- Media
- Fonts and favicon on Cloudflare R2
- Audience
- A designer or curious visitor experimenting with letterforms and poster composition.
- Type experiments
- 3
- Poster compositions
- 12
- Export formats
- 3 PNG sizes
Colour language
Ink#0D0D10
Paper#F7F7F2
Pink#FF2D96
Original website typefaces
- Anybody
- Recursive
- Fraunces
How these figures were counted
10 static destinations, including three type specimens. There are no photographic assets; the 12 posters are authored live compositions, not raster images.
Reviewed 23 October 2026. Duplicate source copies, error pages and responsive image variants are excluded. Counts describe the original website, not this case study.
View the reviewed source ↗The starting point
Start with a world.
Give it a reason to exist.
I wanted typography to be the material of the website, rather than a layer placed over photographs. SPLAY turns variable font axes into something visitors can explore, compose and export in their own browser.
Design decisions
Why it looks
the way it works.
Three decisions that connect the visual language to the experience.
Expose the axes without exposing complexity.
Weight, width, slant and other supported axes use direct controls. Visitors can understand the effect through the letterforms immediately, without needing a technical explanation first.
Connect exploration to making.
The poster gallery leads into an editable workshop with composition, colour and type controls. Undo, redo and shareable design parameters make experimentation practical.
From design to behaviour
Same letters. A different voice.
A small Anybody specimen, using the same font family as SHIFT. Edit the text and change its weight and width. Typeface by Tyler Finck / Etcetera Type Co.
Variable specimens
Three dedicated specimen pages expose the original variable fonts through named, readable controls.
Explore this feature ↗Live type playground
Editable text and axis controls let the visitor explore a letterform directly.
Explore this feature ↗Poster workshop
Create a composition, change its palette, undo decisions and export a PNG. Browser Canvas can differ from the live preview on less widely supported font axes.
Explore this feature ↗One identity. Different compositions.
Built for the screen
in front of you.
Touch controls replace optional pointer behaviour. Text experiments are constrained to their available space, and the poster workshop uses a narrower control layout instead of shrinking the desktop interface.
What I explored
A visual idea,
carried all the way.
There is no need for photography when the material already has enough range. The strongest connection in SPLAY is between a visible change and the rule that produces it.