Concept & Inspiration.
For this project, my main goal was to create generative text that transforms everyday, mundane things we’re so used to into something unexpectedly funny and slightly absurd.
When thinking about text we frequently encounter, warning signs came to mind. They are a common part of our daily lives, but we have become so accustomed to them that we barely notice what is written anymore. In this project, I wanted to experiment with something as rigid and conventional as warning signs, turning them into something absurd through generative text.
Perhaps my surreal warning signs might catch the attention of passersby, if only for a moment?..
Highlights.
In this code, I worked with file uploads in p5.js to import both my spreadsheet (containing three rows of random text) and a custom font (Heavitas), using the loadFont() and loadStrings() functions we learned in class throughout the week.
This is the first project where I focused on making the code as concise and efficient as possible by identifying repetitive patterns. To achieve this, I used a technique we didn’t cover in class but found intuitive—an array of arrays, let rows = [[], [], []];.
Additionally, I applied concepts from previous lessons to optimize the use of for() loops in various parts of the code, which I’m particularly proud of.
// Splitting each row into separate words and storing in 'rows' array
for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
rows[i] = split(strings[i], ',');
}
// Setting array to store the randomly generated text for three rows
let signText = ["", "", ""];
// Building a function to generate a random sign from three rows
function generateRandomSign() {
for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
signText[i] = rows[i][int(random(rows[i].length))]; // Random selection for each row
}
}
Reflection.
Although this project may seem simple, the code was challenging to work with as I struggled for a while to shorten it without removing any functionality. Nonetheless, despite these difficulties, I enjoyed the process, especially at the initial stage, when coming up with random words and imagining the crazy possibilities of their combinations.
In the future, I would like to focus more on making the text responsive and adding real interactivity. I would also love to incorporate a warning pattern animation to make the code more visually engaging when I have more time. Overall, working on this assignment was extremely valuable for my coding skills, as I can see myself using generative text for other projects, like creating a mini-game.
Embedded Sketch.
Mouse click to generate a random warning sign.