The graphic design of the exhibition Fin et début / Einde en begin was developped with OSP (Open Source Publishing).

They have shared with us the process involved in the creation of this visual identity, which you can read below.

These are its main principles : 

• using what’s there: waste as a resource

• small, energy efficient, lightweight

• reuse and repair

• modularity

• diversity of approaches

• in the public domain

We began by drawing a parallel to the craft of patchwork and quilting, inspired by the idea of assembling fragments to create a unified whole.

• We experimented with patterns and typography with a tool named [Cobbled Paths](https://gitlab.constantvzw.org/osp/tools.cobbled-paths/) (made by OSP member Doriane).

• Cobbled Paths is a web interface that brings multiple tools together, to allow experimental and direct collaboration on pen-plotted drawings by making ASCII art. 

• It travels like this : from an ASCII drawing > to being translated with svgbob into svg > to vpype to make polylines and smooth curves > ends as a HPGL file so it can render a drawing that can be plotted. 

What is ASCII?

• ASCII is an encoding of characters. These comprise a standard that is used for electronic communication. Made with a limited set of characters such as / @ # . ; , + = - _ * \ ( ), ASCII art are compositions made only using letters and characters that can be manually drawn, character after character, or created programmatically.

What is jp2a?

• Another way to have ASCII is to use a tool called [jp2a](https://github.com/cslarsen/jp2a ). 

• It translates an uploaded jpg image into ASCII art. It's a way to create complex ASCII compositions.

What is svgbob?

• Also part of Cobbled Paths is SVGBob, a library for rendering SVG from plain text ASCII art. An SVG vector interpretation of the shapes and lines is rendered in a side view. A "/" and a "." together create a curve. It connects the caracters lines from ASCIIs into curvy interpretations, to create new unique drawings.https://github.com/ivanceras/svgbob

• It can later be translated to HPGL to draw them with a pen plotter using normal pens. (extract taken from https://plotterstation.osp.kitchen/agenda.html)

What are FIGletfonts?

• Figlet fonts are made from ASCII characters. When Figlet fonts are put through SVGbob, they create new fonts with interpeted curves that are interesting to use.

This seamful patching together of small tools, adapting them to a specific context to allow for meaningful engagement, is patchwork computing. by Marloes de Valk in ‘Patchwork Computing’ on https://damaged.bleu255.com/Patchwork_Computing/

A pen plotter takes instructions to plot coordinates on the x- and y- axes with a pen, while it is up or down. While the machines we used pre-date modern office printers, it offered a way to output vector graphics on paper using a set of coloured pens. 

The pen plotter can only plot from HPGL files sent to it.

The resulting compositions have a mechanical quality, as the plotter precisely follows the lines and curves from the provided file. However, since we use a liquid ink pen to plot, the strokes may vary slightly—becoming darker or even smudged if the plotter pauses in a corner with the pen still touching the paper.

In this project, the visuals explore natural and organic themes, focusing on elements like weeds, roots, patterns, flowers, and insects.

We included the poem being split between the other visual elements.

Drawing inspiration from Lise Duclaux’s Les Errantes Naturelles, we consider how weeds, often seen as undesirable, can grow even through concrete, embodying strength and persistence—an idea that resonates with the poem's themes of hope after destruction. 

Flowers were also one of the main represented pictural element of the previous exhibition identity for “NaturArchy”, where we incorporated the permacomputing flower logo.

We experimented with different techniques, from JPEGs to ASCII to SVG and also hand-drawn ASCII to SVG. This dual approach reflected contrasting speeds and processes: manual hand-drawing is lightweight, while the JPEGs to ASCII more complex compositions made the plotting more intensive. 

The resulting compositions are crafted spontaneously and intuitively, thinking of the massive jigsaw puzzle they will become.

These compositions are then cut into squares, measuring 4,5x4,5cm.

Square shapes resonate with cobbled path and how it’s built, with this idea of seamfullness and with the materials we planed to use.

The FIGfont catalogue has several “squared” typefaces we could use. We imagined a tile system on the facade, having the exhibition title made with squares. Instead of printing a large amount of posters, we thought iMAL' facade could become the poster. 

We thought we could have content plotted on the squares, some drawings and the poem. 

When physically coming closer to the facade, the visitor would experience a second and more intimate level of seeing and reading.

Open Source Publishing questions the influence and affordance of digital tools through its practice of (commissioned) graphic design, pedagogy and applied research. They prefer to use exclusively free and open source softwares (F/LOSS). Currently the group is composed of people with backgrounds in graphic design, typography and development. They find excitement in the cross-over between its members respective fields and competences.

Legally OSP is structured as a bilingual Belgian non-profit organization (asbl/vzw) and aims to question and find alternatives to the standard graphic design studio model.