NNFT

Also playfully called our Feral Font, NNFT (Neural Network Font Type) used "small data" - trained on the minimum number of images - in an AI stable diffusion model, to draw child-like sketches of each letter from the alphabet. Here, as in human development, the machine does not at all understand the sign or significance behind the text, and only tries to repeat the patterns of each alphanumeral.

From the smallest bits of computer data and its imaging, we produced the smallest bits of legible human meaning, both ready to be built on towards the next stage of development.

We chose our favorites outputs for each letter, then vectorized and turned them into a TTF (true type font) for public distribution and use (download below). The font - and it is worth noting that the word "font" is also a synonym for a receptacle or container - itself contains infinite potential for meaning, and might represent, or be presented in, any form.

NNFT is the central art + design element to Stern and Stiles' forthcoming, traveling museum exhibition, Generation to Generation: conversing with kindred technologies (premiering April 2025).

NNFT has thus far been used in various NFTs - both generative and premade - stencils, wallpaper, coloring books, web pages, 3D resin prints, and digital prints.

We have also turned the full alphabet into letterpress plates, and pulled artist book variable editions on a Vandercook press from the 1800s.