Experimental 3D Typography — 36 Days of Type

36 Days of Type is an international design challenge in which participants create one letter or numeral per day. For the 2021 edition I used the format as a laboratory: 36 small studies in form, light and rhythm, exploring how typography, material and motion relate to each other in three-dimensional space.

The approach: one letter, one idea

Each letter is paired with a term from the world of 3D and animation: A for align, B for boolean, F for fluids, K for keyframe, all the way to Z for depth. The term sets the theme, the letter becomes the object that explores it.

Color and movement were kept deliberately minimal, directing attention to the structural qualities of each form: how a surface catches light, how an edge reads in motion, where a letter stops being type and becomes sculpture.

My role: art direction and 3D animation

I handled the series end to end, from the concept and art direction to modeling, lighting and animation. To keep up with a daily deadline, I built the series on procedural workflows in Cinema 4D, so materials, lighting setups and animation logic could be reused and varied without starting from scratch every day. Alongside the animation itself, the project was a way to test new tools and refine aesthetic decisions under real time pressure.

The result

36 animated letters and numerals that work as a series and as individual studies, and a set of techniques that now feed directly into client work.

Related work

Typography plays a leading role in my editorial work too: for Cleer, I designed the typographic system of a 213-page Learning Journal. And if you're drawn to the sculptural side of this series, take a look at the 3D character I created for artist Suzy Kellems Dominik, where form, material and light carry the story.

If you are looking for a 3D animator in Berlin for typographic or logo animation, this series is a good preview of the approach.