#boustrophedon

[crawfishcomic]

I drew this when I was 9, it was destiny. You're meant to read this in a zigzag, starting left to right.

[valxyz]

Parametric Grid Curve on 3D Surfaces A single parametric curve q(t) = (x(t), y(t)) that traces an entire 2D grid without lifting the pen, then mapped onto 3D surfaces like spheres and tori. On the left, the surface rotates in 3D showing the grid wrapped around it. On the right, the x(t) and y(t) components update in real time as the surface rotates. The challenge was finding a closed-form parametric function that draws a complete grid as one continuous path. code

[verdantachillean]

I would love a boustrophedon font that would be cool, I want to strike fear in the hearts of the other social media apps!!!!

[maaruin]

Could we bring back writing in Boustrophedon, please? It is so much easier to keep track of the lines when the text alternates between left to right and right to left.

Sure, it will get some time to get used to it, but with practice it seems superior to always writing in one direction.

[literaturha]

Indeed, writing once mimicked a plowed field: a farmer drove his ox down a row, then turned in the opposite direction, and this is how Greek text was printed—'boustrophedon' = ox-turning. Less far-flung: songlines, stories told by Aboriginal people walking their country, stories rooted in landscape. The beats of poetic meter were first the beats of feet, the link between 'chorus' and 'choreography.' And a 'passage' of text is like a 'passage' in place. And so on.

Jane Alison, Meander, Spiral, Explode

[penpanoply]

August: “Don’t Carry It All”

Challenge: boustrophedon (a bidirectional form of writing, as the ox plows)

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If you are having trouble reading it:

“So raise a glass to turnings of the season / And watch it as it arcs towards the sun / And you must bear your neighbors burden within reason / And your labors will be borne when all is done”

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Do you like my tiny ink glass?! It’s perfect for little projects, or when the giant ink bottle is getting low—it held walnut ink this time :) (plus it’s just cute)

[bellumcatilina]

The b in lgbt stands for boustrophedon system

[dedalvs]

Hi David! I was just wondering if you ever creäted a boustrophedon writing system, and if you managed to computerise it, that would help me a lot!

I have not, and in fact the technological challenges are what have prevented me from doing so. I’m actually creating a system that would be better RTL right now, but since I’m doing a font, I’m doing it LTR just because I don’t want to have to deal with the headache. Call me a coward if you will: I will accept it! But gosh durnit, sometimes things just need to get done! So yeah, unfortunately I have no advice. :( Easy enough to do with pen and paper, but when it comes to the computer, I’m buffaloed. Seems like you’d need a program that knows how to do boustrophedon, and I haven’t yet encountered one. Maybe others can comment with some helpful advice?