Sheet 03 · Lab
Things I make when nobody asks.
JacobMake is where I build out loud: side ventures, AI-built tools and physical products. It’s how I keep my hands in the work, and how I find out what’s possible before I ask a team to do it.
L-01 · Ongoing
JacobMake
JacobMake started as a blog where I built everything by hand and posted my projects in public. Now it’s the home that brings my personal and professional work together, including the site you’re reading.
Story 01 · Build out loud
Topographic generative illustration.
One New Year’s, I made a public resolution: sell a piece of art to a stranger that year. So I started publishing experimental generative art on JacobMake: topographic animal illustrations that blend code and design.
A few months later a boutique hotel in Lake Tahoe cold-called me. I was sure it was a scam. It wasn’t. Basecamp Hotels commissioned the illustration, another artist installed it in several places around the property, and I visited with friends as the hotel was opening.
The hotel went on to be featured in The New York Times and Travel + Leisure, and Basecamp grew from that one location to three more. My bear is still their main brand visual. Working out loud is how you get found.
L-02 · Physical product
Stadium Graph
Laser-engraved art of baseball ballparks. I designed the pieces, manufactured them, and launched on Kickstarter, where it raised $30K. It ran for several years, and it’s still live at stadiumgraph.com ↗.
L-03 · Venture, pitch stage
STR Cabin Club
A resort cabin-membership business for the short-term-rental market, and an alternative to the fractional vacation-home ownership that Pacaso and others are pursuing: members get the cabin nights without buying a share of a house. I built the prototypes and financial models with AI to test the concept before pitching it.