Hey 👋 I'm Abbey. I'm a software developer from San Francisco based in Berlin, known online sometimes as printer_scanner. Recent projects can be found via my one-person studio, Printer Scanner Studio, and you can also find my open-source work on Github, occasional updates about my life on Instagram, and research for ongoing projects on Are.na.

OPEN SOURCE & TOOLS — Currently, I work at xyflow, where I develop React Flow and Svelte Flow, two open-source libraries for building interactive node-based user interfaces and workflows under the MIT license. We just released Strudel Flow, a visual drum machine and pattern sequencer built with Strudel. I also collaborate with Headless Horse on an applied research initiative called Overbrowsing, investigating sustainable web design methodologies and development frameworks. Together we built Sustainable CSS, a stylelint plugin that optimizes CSS by following the guiding principle that "every byte counts"; CO2 Shield, a TypeScript application that quantifies webpage environmental impact and generates shields.io badges for GitHub repositories; and Pruner.js, a responsive image JavaScript utility that reduces pixel waste. I also built Slightly Better CSS, a minimal stylesheet framework that makes websites look slightly better (for example, this one). And I maintain Sapiens Hate Club, because I really hate that book and think more people should know about that.

TYPE DESIGN — I am building Mother Type, an open-source type foundry and open-development model for digital typefaces. Mother Type is a libre friend of Velvetyne Type Foundry, and our typefaces are shared and distributed via the Unified Font Repository. Fonts I've designed include (my) body sans — you may have seen kitsch body fonts before, but you haven't seen one that's literally my body. I'd recommend it for resumes and corporate use.

WRITING — I write a blog called The Garden of Earthly Delights, about tech, but also about manhood, scams, and California politics. Last year I published a post called The East Solano Plan about a controversial proposed new city development in Northern California. I am also the web designer for Protean Magazine, an independent, ad-free leftist magazine of critical essays, poetry, fiction, and art that you should consider supporting.

PREVIOUSLY — I worked at Fictive Kin, a NYC product design studio building products and web systems including Galaxy, Everlaw, and PJT. Before that, I worked on the Vera Rubin Observatory, an astronomical survey telescope that recently achieved first light. You can read about it in the New York Times.

I'm not currently available for new projects, but if you'd like to get in touch to say hi, email me at itsprinterscanner@gmail.com.

Last Updated: August 2025