The Artfkt collection library
Systems
Image-making through rules and exceptions
Systems rebuilds images through visible rules: modular marks, nested frames, detail-led subdivision, reordered strips, and deliberate omissions.
Use the collection for graphic compositions where an underlying order makes each exception meaningful. Establish the rule clearly before deciding how much to disrupt it.
Included in Artfkt for Mac. All collections, one desktop studio.
Choose what information the system follows
Modular Glyphs reconstructs tone and direction through bars, arcs, circles, and wedges. Recursive Subdivision divides detailed regions into a hierarchy of smaller shapes. One gives the image a vocabulary of marks; the other changes the size of regions according to the source.
A clear source silhouette helps you judge whether that rule still describes the subject. Broad quiet areas can remain simple while detailed areas become active. If all regions subdivide or change equally, the hierarchy is less useful as a compositional guide.
Repeat the current picture or reorder its parts
Recursive Frames places a finite number of transformed copies of the current image inside itself. It creates nested structure without storing previous frames. Strip Permutation instead rearranges complete strips through a reproducible shuffle, making continuity and interruption visible at the same time.
Use a strong line or recognizable object to expose the rearrangement. A source with little variation between strips may look nearly unchanged even when the ordering is different. Keep the relationship between original information and rule visible enough for the viewer to discover.
Make omission part of the design
Chance Erasure creates correlated geometric gaps. Rule Break disrupts an ordered field of nested outlines through seeded omissions and offsets. Their negative space can give the image a clearer hierarchy, especially when the starting pattern is dense.
Add disorder only after the base structure reads. A few exceptions against a clear rule can be more expressive than pervasive randomness. Keep essential copy separate when the generative structure is meant to transform the image rather than the message around it.
Effects in Systems
6 effects to explore and combine.
Modular Glyphs
Reconstruct tone and direction with bars, arcs, circles, and wedges.
Recursive Subdivision
Subdivide detailed image regions into a hierarchical geometric composition.
Rule Break
Disrupt an ordered field of nested outlines with seeded omissions and offsets.
Recursive Frames
Nest finite transformed copies of the current image within itself.
Strip Permutation
Reorder complete image strips with a reproducible bijective shuffle.
Chance Erasure
Create correlated geometric omissions and deliberate negative space.
Creative applications
- Translate a recognizable image into a modular graphic vocabulary for a poster.
- Build a nested-frame cover with a clear center and repeated image boundaries.
- Create negative space within a dense rule-based composition using controlled omissions.
Starting workflow
- For a modular image study, choose a source with one clear subject and distinct light and dark areas.
- Apply Modular Glyphs and establish mark scale so the subject remains visible through the symbols.
- Adjust rotation response while comparing the mark direction with the source’s structure.
- If the field is too dense, compare a restrained Chance Erasure addition that opens useful quiet areas.
- Review at final size. Keep enough of the underlying rule intact for the omissions to read as deliberate exceptions.
Make it part of your next composition.
Combine Systems with other collections, images, and editable text in Artfkt for Mac.