Generative art
12-01-2022 • Ryan Prendergast
For a while in 2022, I got really into generative art, which is where you procedurally define a texture or a pattern in javascript. Usually, there's a random seed that goes into the algorithm, so every time you load the page the result is slightly different.
The master at this is Tyler Hobbes. His geometries have been painted as murals, printed to be hung on walls, and sold in books. He also writes essays on his process, which is how I got into trying it myself. Everything uses p5.js, a simple canvas rendering tool for the web. It's a fun exercise to try to mimic him, and in the future I'd like to go back in this direction. Web design these days lacks texture and complex geometry. The tool defines the appearance--the dominant tools are tailwind css in react components, and their the result is flat design. I'm hoping for a future where websites look more like tyler hobbes prints, and less like jira.
You can see the 10 sketches I attempted here: https://generative-art-chi.vercel.app/