a typographic miniature golf course by ollie willis

a typographic miniature golf course by ollie willis
all images courtesy of ollie willis

london based graphic designer ollie willis has created a typographic miniature golf course. willis is not a golfer, but he does design typefaces and he found an analogy between golfing and graphic design — they both require patience, precision, and are often considered by their respective professionals to incite a range of emotion: frustration but ultimately fulfillment. in the structure, bright green astroturf is fitted into a contoured wooden frame and the course follows the curve around the lowercase, sans-serif  letter ‘g’, the first letter in willis’s series.

the starting point for the putt is located at the ear of the letter form, and the 4-inch round hole is fitted in the character’s bowl. the playable course had to combine the rules of typographic design around the specific architecture behind a golf course, 45º and 90º angles allow the golf ball to pass easily around the space. willis is working towards building an entire alphabetic course, so you and your friends can interact with the structures, assembling letters from the 26 holes into words, names, and sentences.

the flagstick sits in the hole at the bowl of the letter form

a detail of the curved character mini-golf course

the golf club at the start of the course

a close-up of the wooden frame and astroturf

the course moves around the entirety of the lowecase letter ‘g’

people interacting with with miniature typographic golf course

the artist will design all 26 letter forms to make a full, playable course