Many years ago I studied American Sign Language in an effort to better communicate with some friends of mine within the deaf community.

I found ASL to be a beautifully expressive language from a vibrant and active culture.

Out of that attempt came this stylized depiction of the manual alphabet used in finger-spelling. Until recently it had only existed in analog form, born of pen and ink on paper.

So now I'm glad to say it’s turned digital.

Typing a period (.) will reveal the sign for “I Love You” (a combination of the letters I, L and Y), which fits nicely within the shape of a heart. Holding down the shift key while again typing period (greater, >) will reveal the heart in its filled-in form, which can serve as an underlay. Use these in an application that supports layering in order to create different color combinations.

There’s a stylistic alternate letter “S” and an “OO” ligature which can be accessed in OpenType-savvy apps.