Nicholas Rougeux
@rougeux.bsky.social
Data artist and designer https://www.c82.net
It’s taken a while to put into words what I find so distasteful about AI in type design (even — especially — the ‘boring parts’). It’s not the threat of being put out of a job. Some thoughts: mass-driver.com/article/from...
From human hands.
mass-driver.com
New: I spent nine months creating a digital edition of The Naturalist’s Library, William Jardine’s 40-volume 19th-century natural history series. 1,300+ plates restored, 2.4m words, 27 posters, and 1 huge book. Explore: www.c82.net/naturalists-... How it was made: www.c82.net/blog/making-...
There's nothing quite like the feeling of accidentally deleting a bunch of data after collecting it over nine months and not having backups...then realizing you can get it back thanks to AI being able to parse well-structured files. Roller coaster of emotions.
Writing a making-of post is like a weird bonus reward at the end of a project. I never know if I'm going to have enough to say but then the floodgates open and it's so fun going into all the nerdy details while reliving everything.
First test ordered for the new project. Only took about nine months to create. Can’t wait to see it. Hope it turns out well. More to come soon-ish.
Approaching the end of a long-term project is always a conflicting time for me. So much effort is exerted to create something that I can't wait to share but I don't want to stop.
This the best kind of video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL1P.... Excellent contribution to the history of Lorem Ipsum. I’m also excited because I got pinged as part of the research because of my reproduction of Updike’s Printing Types project.
The Unsolved Mystery of Lorem Ipsum
YouTube video by Rabbit Hole
youtube.com
Coming up on 8 months on this project and the end is in sight. Here’s an updated timeline of daily activities. One color per type of activity. Legend is deliberately hidden to avoid giving away too many details. Looking forward to sharing sometime in summer, maybe.
In a world where so much is increasingly immediate, I enjoy taking the time to create something intentionally.
And this is what remained after fixing the most common errors…in one volume…out of many. Spellchecking OCR’d text from hundreds of years ago is a special kind of grind.
*Spends six months organizing a thing* What if I do it differently but better? *Starts reorganizing*
I search through a lot of old text and needed something that showed multiple searches simultaneously so I vibe coded MultiSearch, a small tool to do just that. Figured others might find it useful so it’s available for everyone for free with no restrictions: www.c82.net/work/?id=401
My current project is shaping up to be one of my biggest and most ambitious to date. Nearly five months in and it's still very fun to work on. Aiming for a late summer or early fall release. Still figuring out if what I want to do is possible and won't know until the end. 🤞
@biodivlibrary.bsky.social The BHL site is showing a lot of timeouts and failed secure connection error messages. Sometimes it loads great for a while and suddenly becomes inaccessible (usually right in the middle of research). Any suggestions or insights into what’s happening?
What a beautiful way to explore a fun topic. Well done!
Nadieh Bremer@nadiehbremer.com · 6mo ago📣 NEW! I’ve just released the BIGGEST and perhaps most creative project I’ve ever worked on! “Searching for Birds” searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com 🐤 A project, an article, an exploration that dives into the data that connects humans with birds, by looking at how we search for birds.
Today's side quest was following a 200-year-old reference to another 200-year-old reference to a 300-year-old passage about something that took place 700 years ago. Necessary? Not at all. Complete? Of course.
After making good progress on my project, I found a way to make even more work for myself because…reasons. It’ll be worth it…right?
My personal projects are my escape from reality—each one its own little world that rewards slow, diligent work. I enjoy watching them evolve from nothing or a forgotten something into a brand new thing for others to enjoy. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making something and I love it.
This is sweet and fills a lot of gaps that other tools had. Thank you for making this @obumbratta.com!
Joey Cherdarchuk - Obumbratta@obumbratta.com · 7mo agoNew Year, New Colour Tool for you data visualizers and maybe the odd designer obumbratta.com/colour
Starting off the new year the same as the last three months. Here's a fun look at my timeline of daily activities so far. One color per type of activity. Legend is deliberately hidden to avoid giving away too many details. Making good progress.
~450 images down, ~900 more to go. Definitely not a small project. Progress!
Two months into this new project and I’m seriously entertaining the idea of doing something I've never done before but kind of wanted to do for a while. It’ll be expensive but might be worth it…or not. Either way, I’m looking forward to trying it.
Found a great font led me to redefine the entire feel of a project. Love it when that happens.
New: I went on a months-long treasure hunt for 1,200+ books spanning 450+ years to digitize Daniel Updike’s Printing Types from 1922, detailing the history of printing and typography. Made a nifty poster too. Explore: www.c82.net/printing-types How it was made: www.c82.net/blog/?id=100
The end of my current project is coming up fast. It sneaks up on me for every project. Ordered a test print of the nifty poster and getting things planned. Still a few more things to hunt down and of course a blog post to write. So much to write about…I’m excited.
I've reached the phase of this project where it requires access to the Internet for research but I can't use my mobile hotspot because I chew through data like no one's business and I don't have an unlimited plan. So now I spend my commutes not working on it and that feels weird.
Past me: I should track down all the sources, it shouldn't be too bad. Present me: I identified 400, tracked down more than 300, and I'm only ~50% done. Will I reach 1,000? Future me: That was worth it...right?
