Kiel D. Mutschelknaus is a motion and generative designer from Maryland. Kiel's studio focuses around crafting generative tools to create bespoke typography, image, and motion work. His coding project, Space Type Generator, is an open source tool that allows users to create their own kinetic type experiments. STG has been used around the world for everything from music videos to magazine covers to large scale murals. Space Type Generator has been written about in It's Nice That, Page Magazine, Eye Magazine, The Verge, étapes, and Novum Magazine.
Kiel's clients include Apple, Spotify, Nike, The CW, New York Times, Panasonic, Adidas, Ray-Ban, YouTube, and Bloomberg. He has had editorial work in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, MIT Technology Review, The Verge, Columbia Engineering, and The New Republic.
From kinetics to generative art, typography has become increasingly popular in the motion design field, particularly with the rise of digital art and design. According to you, why is type so beautiful in movement? There is a specific project of yours that better expresses the power of letters in motion graphics?
Type is already very beautiful and it just makes sense that it could also be really compelling in motion. Type in motion isn't something new (we've had title sequences for a century), but I think the thing that has really caught on recently is the type in motion pieces where the standards and core fundamentals of typography are being challenged and broken. I think that has a large part to do with a couple things:
> the prevalence of variable fonts and
> the loosening of the classic, type-shall-not-be-distorted-or-skewed commandment
Those traditional approaches to typography have been degrading for awhile now and that sensibility, combined with technology, has created a really fruitful environment to explore compelling type in motion. And everything moves now! Most of the information we consume is on a screen. With the variability and flexibility of that medium, it's easy to want to experiment and explore those possibilities. And it's yielded some really exciting and beautiful work.
All of my Space Type Generator projects are about expressing and exploring this power. They all take some generative or automated motion and try to find how it can be combined..
From simple animations of single words or phrases to complex stories told through moving letters, there are endless possibilities when it comes to combining lettering with motion. What are the qualities of a typeface that are most valued in an animation? Is there a particular aesthetic for making new media art with lettering and typography?
It really depends on the animation. Generally, for most of my experiments, I think the simpler the forms, the better. I'm usually trying to keep the emphasis on the motion, so keeping the visual clutter in the letter forms to a minimum is key. There are, of course, very beautiful display fonts that could lend themselves to exciting, specific motion flourishes. But the more visually intense the font is, the more likely it could devolve into a cluttered mess with the added visual weight of motion.
I also tend to like heavy, thick fonts in all caps. If I'm working on a very structural and dimensional generator or motion, it's nice to have a font that has a thickness that can fill in the form.
"If I do see something interesting online (IG, Twitter, etc), I try to look away quickly. I find it more interesting to try and reference what I think I saw rather than thoroughly investigating or researching what it actually was."
Can you describe your creative process when you work on animated typography? do you have a particular way of working or a ritual to keep you inspired to work with type in motion?
There are a few ways I get inspired for new pieces:
> A lot of times my generators evolve from previous experiments. One generator will have some leftover piece or aspect that I extrapolate on and it ends up leading to the next generator.
> I make a lot of mistakes in coding (I'm self-taught and barely know what I'm doing). Making in this amateur space has led to some really beautiful accidents.
> If I do see something interesting online (IG, Twitter, etc), I try to look away quickly. I find it more interesting to try and reference what I think I saw rather than thoroughly investigating or researching what it actually was. A texture or composition or type combo will catch my eye and I'll close the tab and ask myself what about it was so interesting. Then I'll try to recreate that in code. It's a way of distilling inspiration subconsciously and based on memory.
> Remixes! Trying to curate, combine, reconfigure, and Frankenstien together some of my work has led to some really exciting work.
"Type that can have an added layer of communication and expression through motion is too powerful a tool not to be further utilized."
Talking about this strong presence of typography in contemporary motion design projects, do you feel it's just a trend of the moment or a timeless tool to communicate?
It's really loud right now but I do think it'll calm down. Just like all other trends and movements in graphic design, it'll eventually settle into a role to play in future design. It's fun to use this type in motion to explore possibilities and challenge the norms of visual communication, but eventually (and maybe already) it'll become acknowledge as a useful and compelling technique. And it definitely will have a role to play in future graphic design. Type that can have an added layer of communication and expression through motion is too powerful a tool not to be further utilized.
This interview is part of the Type Trends 2023 Lookbook / Vol 5: The counterspaces – Typography in the Age of Black Swans
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