Cistercian Glyphs

Cistercian numerals are a medieval notation that writes any number from 1 to 9999 as a single glyph on one vertical staff. Four quadrants around the staff, one for each decimal place, a few strokes in each. You read all four at once, not left to right. This app draws them, and lets you take them with you. THE GENERATOR Set the number on a four-column wheel, one column per place value. The glyph is written as you turn it — a stroke at a time, outward from the staff, in the order a scribe would write them. Eight contrast-checked colour pairings, or any two colours you like. Eight finishes, in two groups. Four are light described as gradients: flat, aura, spotlight, nebula. Four are surfaces generated on the GPU, and they are the things a gradient cannot be — ink let into water, gilding catching the light, vellum held up to a window, curtains of aurora. All eight are built from the two…