2023
3D Modelling • Interactive • Visual Identity • Video
After 150 years, Type is ready for a redesign
visual identity
The Visual Identity for TAB ZERO is centered around a futuristic reinterpretation of a long-held status quo.
Modern keyboards are inefficient - TAB ZERO draws on data and intuition to reinvent the way that we type into something that feels natural, smooth and ergonomic.
The design is based on letter frequency and frequent letter pairs, which looks at the way in which we actually use language and groups letters on the keyboard to reduce travel time between keystrokes - speeding up typing and reducing errors.
interactive
This interactive 3D typewriter, built with Blender and Verge3D, is a proof of concept designed to show how the keyboard layout would theoretically work.
On desktop, users can click on keys or use their keyboard to generate text input as mapped to the keys on the typewriter.
On mobile and touchscreen devices, the typewriter can be physically clicked, simulating the experience of typing with the new keyboard layout.
3d modelling
video
This process video shows the construction and development of the interactive project - from technical drawings to vector wireframes, 3D modelling, rigging and finally the interactive elements themselves.
The 3D model is based on a Rheinmetall typewriter and was constructed entirely from scratch - first hand-drawn and then digitized in Adobe Illustrator, and then modelled in Blender. A combination of Verge3D and native code brings the interactive elements to life.
The full process took approximately 2 months, from the start of April to the end of May 2023, although the initial concept for TAB ZERO was born about 4 years prior.