Computer - Aided Calligraphy: Where Write isn't Wrong

We appear to have a compulsion to try to give computers creative powers. Thisis most clearly seen in the arts, where we can find examples of attempts to go beyond using computers as tools that only assist in the creative process. Early computer art was very crude but computer hardware and software now offer facilities that creative artists can exploit to the full.Building on early research into using the computer to generate original letterforms, a computer-aided calligraphy process has been developed. A random algorithm generates variants of the letters of the original input calligraphic alphabets in a manner that is analogous to the variations in hand-produced work. By using appropriate inks and papers, the calligraphy produced has an archival permanence.The aim is not simply to replicate hand-produced script. It is argued that the system produces genuinely individual creative calligraphy.