The passing of negativity

Negativity is contagious. I often notice it myself: I take on the negative energy of others and unconsciously pass it on, without realizing it or intending to.

I wanted to visualize this phenomenon by means of a variable font. In addition, I investigated how different letter shapes within sentences can influence the way we experience text. I was inspired by the concept of "Bouba & Kiki"—a psychological study on the association between language and form.

In this study, participants from 25 different language areas were shown two shapes: one with round, flowing lines and one with sharp, angular points. They were then asked which shape was called "Bouba" and which "Kiki". As many as 71.1% of the participants linked the round shape to "Bouba" and the angular shape to "Kiki". This effect was even demonstrated in languages that had little contact with other language families, which suggests that this association is universal.

I incorporated these findings by visually linking positivity to "Bouba" and negativity to "Kiki". In my alphabet I created a gradual transition from positive to negative forms, to make the impact of "The Passing of Negativity" tangible. In addition, the basis of the font is "Helvetica", the best font on earth!

Sources & references:
Helvetica - Max Miedinger &
Eduard Hoffmann