A physical typeface constructed from plastic milk crates realized as a series of performances, short videos, physical installations, and digital interfaces.
    The project was born out of an interest in exploring urban elements through type design. The initial inspiration was the grid based patterns created in downtown back alleys by stacks of milk crates from various bakeries and shops. This inspiration became a physical typeface constructed in real time using milk crates and documented as a performance using video. The video was later transcribed into a digital interactive gallery installation. The original interface allowed users to type messages on a keyboard and adjust different parameters such as the size of the letters, number of lines, and duration of the message. As they typed the letters would be constructed by human figures, remain for a set time, then were deconstructed to make room for more messages. Each message a participant would type was saved into a database, and during times of inactivity the software would access these previous messages and display them at random. The gallery installation software was later developed into an online interface without the database functionality.

At the time of its initial release in 2006, the interactive version of the typeface went viral, primarily by way of email. This resulted in a good deal of positive internet buzz, a request to have the work appear in a movie title sequence, and an unfortunate incident of plagiarism by an unscrupulous design studio doing a national campaign for the telephone carrier Sprint.
    The project has been published and exhibited in a number of venues. It was shown as a digital performance at the NCAA Conference in Providence, Rhode Island (2005), and an installation at the Sol Koffler Gallery in Providence, Rhode Island (2005). The digital interface was exhibited as part of the official selection of work for the CAA Conference in Boston, Massachusetts (2006), and at the Festival de Arte Digital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2007).

Exhibitions & Publications:

Hammett, Levi., & Michael Hersrud. Dairy (Interactive website). Festival de Arte Digital, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. (Juried, Group Exhibition & DVD catalogue, International). 2007.

Hammett, Levi., & Michael Hersrud. Dairy (Interactive website). College Art Association Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. (Juried, Group Exhibition, National). 2006.

Hammett, Levi., & Michael Hersrud. Dairy (Digital Performance). National Council of Art Administrators Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. (Invited, National). 2005.

Hammett, Levi., & Michael Hersrud. Dairy (Interactive installation). Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. (Juried, Group Exhibition, Local). 2005.