Nature Float: A 96-page book on microbial communication, merging code-generated fonts and TouchDesigner. Limited to 10 embossed copies, Tokyo TDC 2025 Nominee, now at ggg Ginza.

Nature Float is a 96-page experimental book inspired by microbial communication, particularly the intricate behaviors of slime mold. During a four-month laboratory observation, I witnessed how microbial colonies interact—forming networks and exchanging signals—much like the way human scripts convey meaning. This parallel sparked the question: could language itself become a living, growing organism?

Over the next four years, I developed dynamic letterforms through programming and TouchDesigner, designing type that visually “grows” like bacterial colonies. The book captures these evolving scripts, where microbial patterns merge with human language, revealing unexpected, poetic intersections between species.

Printed in Shanghai with exquisite copperplate embossing, the first edition is limited to just ten copies, each emphasizing tactile textures that echo organic surfaces. Nature Float has been recognized as a 2025 Tokyo TDC Nominee and is currently exhibited at ggg Gallery in Ginza, inviting viewers to explore how communication transcends the boundaries between nature and human culture.

Through this project, I hope to expand the idea of typography beyond static symbols, proposing a living script that embodies biological rhythms—where microbes and letters co-exist, grow, and silently converse.

Freja Zhang, Designer