Every image here started as a few typed characters.

Char Dev is a type sequencer. Open a program, choose some characters (glyphs), and play in the sandbox. When you're done, export a seamless loop for your feed.

Open Char Dev

Char Dev runs in your browser. No account, nothing you make leaves your computer. It's free!

Program XO GRID 4:5
Phase Spread
Motion
Effect
00.00 /04.00 Loop 4 s ● Seam OK

A simplified demo. The app has 50+ effects, three layouts and video export.

PROGRAMS

Here are 12 of 60+ built-in programs, shown in their initial state. Labels show the character(s) in use.

How it works

I know sequencing characters is an unusual idea. The idea is to provide a type-centric constraint to generative digital graphics. So: type a few characters. Char Dev places them on a grid, moves them in a repeating pattern and runs them through video effects. The result is a loop that ends where it began.

  1. Type

    Type up to ten characters: letters, numbers, arrows, box-drawing blocks, even cuneiform. Pick a font, or drop in your own.

    In the app: Glyphs
    Charactersxo2 of 10 · each one is a slot
    The first character is slot 1, the second slot 2. Patterns and morphs point at slots.

  2. Arrange

    Place them on a grid, in rings or along a flow field. Pattern X and Pattern Y decide which character goes in each cell. A gap in either lane leaves the cell empty.

    In the app: Layout › Pattern sequencer
    Pattern X xox· Pattern Y xx·

  3. Animate

    Put an LFO on almost any setting: a repeating wave that moves the value up and down, a whole number of times per loop. Phase Spread offsets each character's timing, so the motion moves across the grid by row, column, ring or at random.

    In the app: Motion, and the ~ beside each slider
    Lane · Scale
    wave sinecycles 2 per loopdepth 0.8Phase Spread Row
    The same Scale LFO on every character, with Phase Spread set to Row.

  4. Add effects

    Stack effects from a list of 50+: CRT, VHS, phosphor, halftone, engraving, topography and more. Order changes the look. Any effect can be masked or carry its own LFO.

    In the app: Post, the signal chain
    1. IN
      Scene
      DEPART0123 · grid 11×14
    2. 01
      CRT Burn-in
      amount .92 · ghost both
    3. 02
      CRT Monitor
      pixelation .30 · curvature .35
    4. OUT
      1080×1350
      168 frames · 7 s
    The departures board program: amber pixel letters DEPART0123 on a curved CRT with burned-in ghosts
    The built-in program departures board: two effects on one typed word.

  5. Export

    Export a still or one full loop, at artboard size or re-laid-out for Instagram. Every video is a seamless loop: the last frame matches the first.

    In the app: Export
    • Exportartboard 4:5 · 1080×1350
    • PNGa still, artboard resolution
    • MP4one loop, H.264
    • WebMone loop, VP9
    • PNG Seqevery frame, zipped
    • IG 4:51080×1350 feed post
    • IG 9:161080×1920 Reels and Stories
    00.00 07.00 ● Seam OK

Add some characters, watch them develop.

Open Char Dev

A browser-based type sequencing graphics tool, like the one you always dreamed of! No account, and nothing you make leaves your computer.