Ditherface

I draw Ditherfaces by hand in Figma. Every pixel is a rectangle I put there myself, and every portrait is unique.

I originally made these for the Basedash team because I needed portraits for the about page on our website. I posted them, people saw them, and then people started reaching out asking for their own Ditherface. So I made a few and started charging for them.

Then, while we were in the middle of the Basedash pivot, we needed feedback on the product. I started offering a Ditherface to people who would spend half an hour to an hour on a call with me. I’d demo the product, get their feedback, and give them their portrait at the end of the call.

This turned out to be the most successful way I’ve ever found to compensate people for user interviews. Better than gift cards, cash, or account credits. I got to connect with some incredible designers, and we got feedback that helped us figure out what Basedash should become. I couldn’t have predicted that when I was drawing our team for the website.

I wrote more about that in my Basedash retrospective.

Every rectangle by hand

They look like pixels, but they’re all vectors. I draw rectangles in Figma, one by one, until I have a portrait. There’s no AI involved. These outline views show the actual shapes that make up the images.

These were actually one of my early tests for whether AI could do this kind of work. I think the latest models might get close to the level of precision I have with them, but I still make every one by hand. Each takes me about an hour.

Here are some timelapses of me making them. I originally posted them on X in November and December 2024: a portrait from November 19, Jonathan Simcoe’s, Jonathan Minori’s, Cole Deroshay’s, Tommy Geoco’s and Thomas Chen’s.

The Ditherfaces

I still make these for people. They’re $150 each, and I limit myself to two a week because of the time each one takes.