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4.4.2020 code

The most beautiful command line docs. Maybe ever?

When you’re getting into development, one of the trickier things is getting used to the command line. Learning git, and git commands are often one of the first steps in Bootcamps, and for anyone who is coming into coding from a design or creative background, suddenly working in the brutally simple terminal can come as a big surprise.

This wonderful website, dash dash, takes all of the manual pages of different command-line tools and pulls all of that documentation into a clean concise website.

What went into it?
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3.28.2020 code generative-art dat.gui

Origami with JavaScript. An amazing study of color and folds.

If you’ve ever sat and tried to figure out the math behind geometric folds? It’s an incredibly tricky process! With this Origami Study Yuin Chien has created a beautiful digital representation of the folds, and colors of origami.

In her own words, the project is:

A series of visual study exploring origami compositions and colors, hoping to give forms to personal memories and poetic imagination.

More like this?
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3.5.2020 code

This is interactive poetry at its best.

Thibaud Goiffon is a French student studying graphic & interactive design. His project, Intimacy, shows off an amazing spark of creativity and an ability to make curiously fun web toys!

What have people been making?
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3.2.2020 code art

Broider your borders with this nifty tool!

The aptly named Broider by Max Bittker is a nifty tool for creating, and decorating, your borders.

Broider allows you to paint your borders in a one-bit style (the bit is either on or off, no colors), with a few small tools to help keep things in line: a 9x9 grid, an undo button (for people like me who never get things right the first time), and a little lock button that will keep all of your painting symmetrical.

What have people been making?
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3.1.2020 code generative-art plotter

The best of PlotterTwitter, February 2020.

February has come and gone, and since it’s a leap year, 29 days have gone with it. Twenty-nine wonderful days of my favorite Twitter hashtag, #PlotterTwitter.

As with January, here’s another round-up of amazing artists & pen plottings, alongside any other commentary/algorithm I can spot within the works!

Straversi printed off an elevation map of SF in brilliant detail, using this fantastic open source tool that was built on top of Mapbox.

Joseph Wilk is doing some amazing work, hooking the axidraw up to an airbrush. With liquid ink, the outcome is intricate and super random.

More Please!
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2.23.2020 generative-art plotter code open-source

Create your own art by tinkering with this machine's wacky controls.

A lot of generative artists show off their creations with some clever curation tools that allow you to make small adjustments. This project is a great expansion on that idea.

Tinkersynth is a generative art machine, in the literal sense, modeled after a synth. With the artwork on the left and a set of special tools on the right, you can tweak each slider to change different aspects of the art.

Tinkersynth encourages you to play with it and discover how each of the tools works—just like how you might learn how to use an actual synth for the first time. Each icon means something different, and you’ll need to play with each and every one before you feel ready to leave the page.

In the words of the creator, Joshua Comeau:

Tinkersynth prioritizes being delighted by unexpected effects rather than creating an intuitive, predictable tool.

If the joy of creating artwork isn’t enough, Tinkersynth is full of secrets and easter eggs that will keep you exploring. Each of the sliders and inputs is a delight to use. They all obey the law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

More about the artworks and code
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2.21.2020 art code open-source

This text editor is for the new world.

Are you looking for the next big adventure within the wild world of text editors? Something a little more exciting than your day-to-day, monospaced, “every time you press a key the letter appears” life?

Well, here it is: TEXTREME! The new frontier in text editor functionality. And the recipe is perfect…

  1. A pinch of pixelized 8-bit typography. (With Unicode support.)

  2. A splash of particle explosions, one for every letter you type.

  3. A swirling sensory explosion of thumps and thuds for every keypress — A laser zap for each new line.

  4. For every character you delete, send it flying off the editor like there’s no tomorrow.

  5. To see if you can type to a metronomic beat, a super quirky rhythm mode.

How is it built?
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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?
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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!