Benjamin Coultas-Roberts

SOUNDFORM: A Speculative Investigation into Sound-Driven Letterforms and Phonetic Visualisations.

The objective of this project is to reconnect sound and letterform through the transformative powers of digital technology, and in doing so challenge the brain’s constant search for familiarity. This project is speculative in nature, an investigative quest seeking to depict the connection between sound and letterform.   The contemporary English alphabet is comprised of arbitrary letterforms that lack a direct connection to the sounds they represent. Although we are taught to associate letterforms with sound, they carry no inherent meaning. In contrast, the letterforms of the English alphabet’s ancestors were originally symbols of objects and animals, which reflected the sounds associated with each letter. For example, the Phoenician letter '𐤀' was shaped like an ox because it represented the 'ah' sound, similar to an ox's bellow. I aim to explore how one can reconnect sound and letterform in the digital age, reimagining forms that more accurately represent the sounds we produce.