SECTOR
MY ROLE
SKILLS
Experimental Typography
Language Systems
Visual Communication
Research & Concept Development
Typographic System Design
Visual Language Refinement
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Humble Bee is a typography project inspired by bee dance communication, capturing the essence of their movements.
It reinterprets the English alphabet by translating the directional cues bees use to locate flowers into abstract typographic forms, structured through a grid-based system. Beyond aesthetics, Humble Bee embodies a philosophy of introspection, emphasising the harmony between bees and nature to promote humble coexistence.
This project invites us to reimagine human language through the lens of bee communication, offering a new perspective on the balance of the natural world.
SECTOR
Experimental Typography
Language Systems
Visual Communication
MY ROLE
Research & Concept Development
Typographic System Design
Visual Language Refinement
SKILLS
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
THE BRIEF
How might we reinterpret human language by translating non-human ways of communication into a new visual system?
The goal was to develop a typographic structure grounded in the behavioural patterns of bee communication.
RESPONSE
The design process began by extracting the spatial logic embedded in bee dance communication: their use of direction and distance to signal the location of flowers.
These elements were formalised into a set of parametric rules to guide typographic construction.
Each character was built on a grid system. Long directional movements became elongated strokes, while quick rotational cues formed compact, rounded shapes.
The resulting alphabet, though abstract at first glance, follows a consistent logic and remains decodable with an understanding of its structure.
Directional system extracted from bee movement patterns
Translating movement logic into typographic structure
The colour scheme draws from the visual environment of bees, incorporating high-contrast yellows and purples that reflect both their natural appearance and ultraviolet perception.
Final typography based on bee dance communication
Final typography based on bee dance communication
