By gum, you'll find this weird take on 3D lettering hard to swallow...
This dental-inspired lettering is inspired and disturbing in equal measure
We've seen a lot of different approaches to lettering in our time. But here's something we haven't seen before – an entire alphabet made from mouths.
'Oral: phabet' is the work of Japanese graphic designer Takayuki Ogawa, who last year graduated from Tama Art University. She created the letters using stone powder clay, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish, wood and iron.
Ogawa based the characters on mouths, she explains, because it's the one part of the body that can represents all the various emotions by itself. She was also inspired by the way that letters are used within basic text message emoticons – such as the letter D signifying laughing.
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and author specialising in design, photography and technology. His latest book, The 50th Greatest Designers, was released in June 2025. He's also author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine.
