Exploration

APEX - A Typeface That Plays

Company

Year

Role

Contribution

APEX is a variable font I made for my monthly music mixes. The shapes are inspired by physical piano rolls, the punched patterns that carry rhythm and sound before a single note plays. Each character is designed to stretch, compress, and break apart. Like a note that can be pitched in any direction.

Process

I designed a limited set of characters in Figma to lock in the art direction. From there, Claude Code extended the system directly on the canvas (rows, gaps, arches, spines) in a back and forth that felt like designing with a collaborator, not a tool. Once the character set was coherent, it built the font files so I could stress test them in After Effects and Cinema 4D. That process surfaced real technical decisions: how many points a shape cap needs to stay smooth in 3D, where the system breaks, how to fix it. Then I pushed further and had Claude Code generate a variable font file so I could stretch and animate it programmatically.