XR Typography

Create an immersive typography experience that explores what it means to put words out in the real world.

Typography is usually confined to a box. It sits on a baseline, aligns to a grid, and lives on a flat surface — a screen, a page, a poster. The rules are well established and they work beautifully for those formats.

But in spatial reality, you have the whole world. If your type only faces one direction and sits in a flat rectangle, you might as well have kept it on a computer screen. There is no reason to use the world if you are not going to use the affordances of the medium.

This assignment is about exploring and playing. Why is this text here, in the world, and not on a webpage or a print piece? What makes it different being here? How does placement, scale, and depth change how words feel? How does walking around text — being close to it and far from it — change the experience?

Your goal: Pick a quote that matters to you. Place it in the world using the SDC editor. Play with scale, placement, and sculptural form. Document your process and discoveries along the way.

XR typography — colorful 3D text reading 'Happiness is the highest good' placed in an outdoor AR scene

Student project by Alyssa Shen — 'Live the life you have imagined' in colorful 3D letters with flowers in AR

Getting Started: Adding Typography in the Editor

Here is how to create and customize 3D text in the SDC Art Room:

Open a project — go to the Art Room from your Desk, or click "+ New Project" in the Projects tab to create one linked to this assignment.
Add Text — click the "Add Text" button in the left panel. You will be prompted to type your text. Hit OK and it appears in your scene as a 3D extruded object.
Select your text to see its controls in the right inspector panel:
- Text content — change what the text says
- Font — click the font picker to browse Google Fonts or upload a custom font (TTF / OTF / WOFF)
- Font size — slider controls how big the text is in the scene (0.01 – 50 units)
- Extrude depth — controls thickness. Set to 0 for flat text, crank it up for deep sculptural letterforms
- Side color — the color of the extruded edges, separate from the front face
- Bevel — toggle on for rounded edges, adjust bevel size for the look you want
Position your text — use the transform tools in the top toolbar (Move / Rotate / Scale) to place your text in the scene. Try rotating it, stacking words, or spacing letters far apart.
Style the surface — use the material controls in the inspector (color, metalness, roughness, opacity) to give your type a unique look. Try a glossy metallic finish or a soft matte surface.
Preview it — click Preview to see your scene without editor UI. Use the Share button to get a QR code and view it in AR on your phone.

Tips: Try making text huge and walking through it. Place words at different depths so you discover them as you move. Rotate text to face unexpected directions. Scale a single letter to the size of a building. See what happens when you make type so small you have to lean in.

SDC editor left panel showing primitives grid — Cube, Sphere, Cylinder, Cone, Plane, Torus, Mirror, Path, and Text buttons

The Add Text button in the left panel under Primitives

SDC editor Appearance inspector showing Color, Text, Font, Size, Depth, Side Color, and Bevel controls for 3D text

Font, size, extrude depth, side color, and bevel controls

SDC editor toolbar showing Move, Rotate, Scale, and Play transform tools above the 3D viewport

Move, Rotate, Scale tools in the top toolbar

Full SDC editor view with 3D extruded 'Hello' text on the grid floor, inspector panel on right showing transform and appearance controls

Full editor view with 3D text, transform gizmos, and inspector

Your Quote

What is your quote? The words you will bring into spatial reality. It could be a line from a poem, song, book, speech — or your own words.

Why did you pick this quote? How does it make you feel? What draws you to these words? What do they mean to you personally?

What is your concept? How are you thinking about placing these words in the world? What is the idea behind your approach?

What are you going for? What feeling or experience do you want to create? What should someone feel when they encounter your piece?

Mood board or concept sketch

Reference image

Explorations

These are the fundamentals of working with spatial type. Check off each one as you explore it — there is no wrong way to do this. The point is to play and discover.

Playing with placement Where does the text live in the world? On the ground? Floating above? Around a corner? Try putting it somewhere unexpected.
Playing with scale Make it massive. Make it tiny. What happens when a letter is the size of your hand versus the size of a room?
Getting sculptural Type does not have to be flat. Extrude it, rotate it, stack it. Treat your letters as physical objects in space.
Magic wand concept If you could place text anywhere in the world with a wave, where would you put it? What would it say? Let the freedom of the medium guide you.
Close vs. far — how does it feel? Walk right up to your text. Step way back. How does the experience change with distance? What does proximity reveal?
How do you want the audience to see it? Should they discover it gradually? See it all at once? Be surprised? Think about the moment of first encounter.
How do you want the audience to experience it? Walk around it, walk through it, look up at it, lean in to read it? Design the movement and the journey, not just the words.
What makes it different being in the world vs. on a screen? If you took a screenshot of your piece and it looked just as good, you have not used the medium. What is the thing that only works here?

Exploration example — placement

Exploration example — scale

Exploration example — sculptural

Dedicated Project

Your main scene for this assignment. Open the editor to start building, or view details of your current project.

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Technical Notes

Jot down things you learn about the editor, shortcuts, or tricks that work for you.

Editor tips image

Process Photos

Upload screenshots from the editor, viewer, AR testing, or any part of your creative process.

+ Click or drag to add a photo