A forty-page, large format algorithmic broadsheet publication to mark twenty-five years of brendandawes.com.

Since 2000 brendandawes.com has been my corner of the web where I share my work, code, process and observations to the outside world. It’s a place of 
experimentation and place which I own and control without the external 
interference of corporate algorithms or the pressures of social media.

 This publication is a celebration of that space, hi-lighting some of the work I’ve 
created over the years. 



This forty-page broadsheet publication features algorithmically made “sculptures” which act as visual souvenirs of some of my projects over the years. Rendered over the top in the Warbler typeface are haikus, made by feeding the project text into a locally running large language model. The compositions are created in TouchDesigner.

I use both Warbler and Lab DJR on my site and love them equally. There's something about Warbler which seems to speak of a softer, calmer time.

In what is probably the largest use of my fonts ever (and without a doubt the corniest ?), Mike’s Maze at Warner Farm in Sunderland, Massachusetts has debuted its Fall 2023 corn maze featuring Fit and Lab DJR.

Employing font sizes of up to 151,165pt (that’s a 44-yard / 40-meter cap height), designer Jess Marsh of Hired Hands Signs chose artificial intelligence as the theme of this year’s maze.

In a dense border around the edge of the maze, she asks the question, “In the age of artificial intelligence, what makes us human?”

As visitors wander Fit’s narrow corridors (reminiscent of the circuitry in a computer chip), they ponder this question and encounter tech trivia and decoding challenges along the way.

In the center of the maze, the space opens up and visitors experience the raster grid of the word “ThiNkiNG” set in Lab DJR.

In a field just to the northwest, a companion maze used for beer tastings features the word “DRINKING” set in a chunkier cut of Fit, with bubbles floating around it.

While designing the maze, Marsh used Fit’s variable width axis to subtly adjust the text to align with the rows of corn and fill the length of the field. She worked with Precision Mazes to execute the design with a combination of drones, GPS-guided tractors, and manual labor. Marsh and farmer David Wissemann had to clear out the thin strips of Fit’s counterforms using shovels and hoes, since those interior spaces could not be accessed by tractor. (I helped out a little in the field too, photo evidence below.)

Mike’s Maze was started by farmer Mike Wissemann (David’s father) and artist Will Sillin over twenty years ago, and each year’s maze centers on a different theme. The maze is a popular autumn destination for families in Western Massachusetts, and this year’s maze was front page news in the local paper. In addition to exploring the maze, visitors can eat cider donuts, play on giant slides and ropes, hang out inside a giant computer, and more.

Video by Dan Taibbi

A fisheye panorama showing the maze’s position in Massachusetts’s Pioneer Valley, with the Connecticut River and Sugarloaf Mountain behind it

A close-up drone shot, showing the rows of corn.

The “Drinking” maze set in Fit, used for beer tastings.

The maze as viewed from a biplane.

Designer Jess Marsh and farmer David Wissemann walk through the interior of the maze.

Me, helping out (a little) to define the edge of Fit’s A crossbar

A drone’s view of Jess Marsh, David Wissemann, and me standing inside of a recently-cleared counterform of Fit’s A.

Our view of the drone, hovering over the cornfield. Sugarloaf Mountain is visible in the distance.

The counterform of Fit’s A, shortly after clearing.

Maze founder Mike Wissemann and designer Jess Marsh with their thinking caps on. (Jess’s new one uses Lab DJR)

A giant computer complete with keyboard and mouse stands next to the eastern edge of the maze.