#bbvday is an annual project where I produce unique valentines for friends, family, and sometimes Kickstarter backers. Each year they are produced with a different system and different theme. They often incorporate a pen plotter or other physical production techniques to explore the possibilities of producing work that is both handmade and at scale.

2012

The first year of #bbvday was an exploration of using geolocation and other data about the recipient to generate a unique valentine. These were printed on newly available digital printing presses.

2016

After a few years off I revamped the project. In this iteration participants were asked to complete a series of questions. Their responses led to a number of different algorithm-based designs. These cards were drawn using a vintage pen plotter using custom code I wrote to convert from modern vector applications to this long-forgotten plotter language.

2017

In 2017 I opted to offer the pen plotter valentines on Kickstarter using a new custom algorithm. I produced around 500 drawn cards in three weeks. I further improved my scripts and tools to produce work at scale while still being unique. I created a website to generate your own card for a loved one using the same algorithm. I even created a script to produce 3 dimensional paper scupltures. Vice’s Creators Project was nice enough to write about it.

2018

The most common request in 2017 was to be able to add a custom message to a card, so in 2018 I made that the theme. Kickstarter backers could choose a series of pre-written messages or write their own. These messages were once again plotted on a card using a series of new typographic-based algorithms.