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art
2.4.2020 illustration

A side-project about butts. No more, no less.

I’ve always been a fan of the weirder side-projects that’re out there.

They take you out of your comfort zone, out of your work zone, and put you in a special place where you can explore anything and everything in the world.

One morning, Pablo Stanley woke up and decided to embark on a side-project adventure. That journey was the creation of buttsss.com.

In Pablo’s own words:

I doubted myself at every step, with a voice in my head telling me, “Butts? Pablo, this is terrible. Stop!”

Buttsss is not only a creative outlet, but also the world’s fullest and most complete collection of illustrated butts. From the Triple Butt and Space Butt all the way to the UX Butt and the Business Butt, they’re all accounted for!

Butt I haven't had enough.
resource
2.2.2020 code

Minimalist note-taking has never been easier.

Note-taking is as old as time and over the years there have been various note-taking apps with new takes on what works… and since everyone is different, each app has its own audience!

Manifest.App is a great grid-based, sticky-note-esque note-taking app, (built by Jonathon Toon) that runs nicely in your browser.

Manifest utilizes a neat grid structure, ensuring your notes sit nice and cleanly on the page. You can click and drag, adding as many notes as you like. The pinboard streteches nicely to your whims, working great on both big and small screens.

In an effort to keep things as simple as possible, features are scarce (in a good way). This keeps your notes short and precise, without the need to overflow the page.

What's running behind the scenes?
art
1.29.2020 code generative-art plotter

The best of PlotterTwitter, January 2020.

Well, January is almost over and it’s time for a recap of one of my favorite Twitter hashtags: #PlotterTwitter.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with #PlotterTwitter, it’s a place for people to show off their plotter art. It has become an incredibly creative space with everyone able to see each other work and expand upon it.

And so here we are, a little recap of some of the best works in January’s #PlotterTwitter!

Netpraxis created some very nice designs using moiré patterns which are complex patterns that emerge by overlaying two simple patterns on top of each other. They can look endlessly complex and simple at the same time.

Julien Gachadoat created some super clean, mechanical-esque plots. I haven’t really seen anything like it.

Showing that you can find inspiration anywhere, Ruud de Rooij plotted out every single way to cross a road 7 times without crossing over your path.

Tyler Hobbs used a plotter to draw outlines of circles, and then painted the colors in by hand.

Louis Hoebregts recreated some Keith Haring works with a creative grid of swirls.

Yuin Chien plotted out 2D renderings of folded paper based on origami diagrams. With beautiful colored markers on black paper, they truly pop out of the page.

More! Give me more!
code
1.28.2020 art shaders

A super way to show off your stunning shaders.

If you’ve ever looked into shaders, then you’ve probably run into Shadertoy, a fantastic tool for building shaders in the browser, as well as a community for showing off what you’ve made. That said, Shadertoy’s aesthetic and appeal is directly targeted at developers who want the shader and its code.

CineShader, is a layer over top of Shadertoy created by Lusion. It’s a website built to share your shader with a broader audience. CineShader does this in a way that shows off more than just the art. It showcases the beauty and feel of the shader as though it’s artwork on a wall.

By creating a 3D scene, along with a dark shaded audience member, CineShader creates the tone and feel of being in a gallery, silently observing and enjoying a piece of work

Wow! What else can it do?
code
1.25.2020 art

Fifty-Two weeks of canvas creativity!

Canvas Cards is an amazing year-long project by Luke Patton which features weekly creations using HTML <canvas> elements. Each of the cards has a different set of inspirations, looks, aims, and goals. And wow are they beautiful!

The website itself also allows you to edit the code and re-run the preview in the browser, meaning you can get to play with each and every demo without cloning the repository.

The different combinations of colors and styles have really kept the project amazingly interesting as it progressed throughout the year.

For anyone who’s ever tried to do something every week for an entire year, you know how difficult it can be, which really gives the project that extra special shine.

How could I do something like this?
typography
1.24.2020 font variable-font

Marvin, a space aged variable font for the modern web.

Ever since variable fonts were introduced to the web, we’ve been seeing more and more creativity and beauty. Marvin Visions popped up in 2017 and was a trailblazer that carved out the space!

Marvin Visions is a modern and consistent reinterpretation of Marvin, a typeface originally designed by Michael Chave in 1969 and published by Face Photosetting. It has been revived and expanded by Mathieu Triay for the identity of Visions, a new science fiction magazine.

Now, Marvin Visions was released in 2017. But it’s really just too amazing not to write about!

The website itself shows off how sleek and versatile variable fonts can be, resizing seamlessly from thick to thin, tall to short.

Any other special details?
sounds
1.23.2020 throwback-thursday tonejs

These minimal instruments will have you feeling like a pro.

It’s Throwback Thursday, and this project is still just as beautiful and fun as it was the day it came into the world!

Berlin-based developer Martin Wecke has created a fantastic minimal set of browser based instruments that are both aesthetically beautiful, and simple to use!

There are three experiments in all: The first, a cycling beat machine that you can play with your keyboard (and for the musically challenged, it will make sure your beats are in time).

The second, a triangular arpeggiator, allows you to warm and change the sounds in 2d space.

And thirdly, what could best be described as a wobble machine, which gets more and more addictive the more you play it.

How are they made?
amazing people
1.20.2020 demoscene art

Want to know what the web is capable of? Here you go!

Artist and creative developer Lars Berg has one of the most amazing portfolios out there, full of wondrous WebGL experiments that always push the envelope.

Lars’s sketchbook is really one to sink your teeth into! From weird springy life-like paper image stretchy things.

To creepy spikey slug creatures that will completely weird you out.

Really, the creativity just doesn’t end.

I'm not weirded out enough already
games
1.18.2020 art meditative

This game is calming, super fun, & addictive all wrapped in one.

Falling sand games have been around for a long time (as early as 2005, according to the Wikipedia). They provide a canvas for artful exploration, creativity, and are just all-round relaxing fun.

SandSpiel by Max Bittker is no exception. It’s a fantastic sand simulation combining a lot of great elements from the originals, from the base sand and water, through to lava, wood, fungus, and ice.

The aim of the game is to create. Pouring water and seeds onto the ground will result in plants and flowers blooming. Drop some lava onto it and it all goes up into smoke.

People are really getting creative with this… it’s well worth your time to drop into the gallery and browse the creations!

Now, I’m a little late writing about this (it was released in late 2018), but it was too fun not to share. Max has also written up a great “making of” article, digging into the inspirations, aspirations, and more.

I love this and want more!
take my money
1.17.2020 art generative

Computational knitwear!? Here's my money, you can take it all.

If you’re looking for something unique as a gift, or for that personal flair, then look no further than KnitYak.

KnitYak started off as a kickstarter, launched by Fabienne “fbz” Serriere, with the goal of creating generative knitwear, and wow-oh-wow was it a success.

By basing all the designs off generative algorithms, KnitYak is able to make each item a one-off.

Looking through the catalog, you can recognize some of the generative algorithms that defined the art-space, from the Mandelbrot set to the Cellular Automata. There’s something very beautiful about pulling an algorithm out of the computer, and turning it into something you can physically touch and hold.

Wow, how are they making these?