I really enjoyed this reading and Small’s analysis of how to create expressive typography. I thought his section on sound was definitely enlightening and not something we’ve seen that much of, and I also really liked the thought put into the technical components of typography on screens even if a lot of the actual math went over my head.

Small’s section on dynamics was a great read because it really helped me understand how animation is done digitally – how we can model different actions, and what underlying processes are going on to give the text the appearance of moving. The distorting matrices and springy fonts sections were especially helpful for that, and looking at how we distort perspective using matrix math.

I also really liked the detail Small added about using sound to better understand what happens with the forces, such as the clicking sound to notate a mass has been tacked down. I liked how much thought was put into how sound could be incorporated into typography (and vice versa), because I feel like this is a subject we haven’t really seen as notably in previous readings. I do think that it’s fairly difficult to incorporate sound and typography, however, especially now that it is a social norm to have pretty distinct visuals and audios (outside of select media like films and videos). I also think this is an area that needs a lot more research and experimentation – Small’s example associating volume and size was definitely understandable, but I thought it was a pretty obvious example and true incorporation of typography and sound should go deeper.

Finally, I really enjoyed the section on Wet Fonts from the perspective of digital art alongside just typography. Digital brushes also simulate some of the real aspects of paper and different types of paintbrushes – the method Small talks about to simulate wet fonts is likely very similar to how watercolor paper/paint would be simulated.