---
title: "Stickerise: Proof of Concept"
date: "2026-10-09"
description: "Playing with stickers"
draft: false
---

[Orhun's GitHub profile][orhun] is expertly crafted to showcase his
accomplishments and bring attention to one of his main projects through the use of an
animated [Ratatui logo][ratatui].

I have been playing around with presentation and expression across my digital presence
and wanted to steal/copy his GitHub profile's design, but I was lacking a visual element
that related to something I cared about and that represented my work. The Ratatui logo
spins, which gave me the idea of showcasing something on a rotating table, like a trophy
or an art exhibit.

I didn't have a great idea of what I could use as the item, but the thought of using
the [open source CAD files][valve-cad] for my recently purchased Valve Steam Machine seemed inspired
(what else are you supposed to use them for if you don't have a 3D printer?).
So I did a quick one-shot utilising [Claude][claude][^1] to
explore the possibility of making a render of the Steam Machine. The one-shot worked
with a couple of tweaks, but it produced a Steam Machine with none of the
electronic hardware visible inside... not so great. So I then went about getting
the necessary information to add the IO back into the render along with the missing
backplate grating and fan.

Once the mockup was passable, I wanted to think about how to customise the machine and
settled on digital stickers (Counter-Strike skins being front of mind). I located the
initial test images from around the internet for the logos, characters, and
achievements that I wanted to stickerise onto the Steam Machine. I felt the completed
mockup was a reasonable representation of the things I love about computing and
software that relate to gaming, science, and technology.

![Render of my Stickerised Steam Machine created with Claude](./steam-machine-pixel-dark.gif)

Now I have the unenviable process of creating the actual software that [Claude][claude]
was able to one-shot[^2], but at least I have this neat gif to include on my
[GitHub profile][profile] for the time being!

This project uses 3D modelling and rendering which I'm not that familiar with.
Once I start the slow rewrite process of stickerise the main point is to explore what
additional ideas surface when dredging the depths of the technologies, and making sure that my understanding matches reality!

<details>
<summary><b>Sticker List</b></summary>

**Logos**:
[Bluesky](https://bsky.app), 
[Discord](https://discord.com), 
[GitHub](https://github.com), 
[Helix](https://helix-editor.com/), 
[Matrix](https://matrix.to), 
[NixOS](https://nixos.org), 
[Silver Fern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_fern_flag), 
[Rust Language](https://rust-lang.org), 
[Scixplorer](https://scixplorer.org/), 
[Tailscale](https://tailscale.com), 
[Tangled](https://tangled.org).

**Games**:
[Balatro (Blueprint)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/), 
[Hollow Knight (Grub)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/), 
[Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Brimstone)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/250900/The_Binding_of_Isaac_Rebirth/), 
[TUNIC (Royal Weasel)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/), 
[DREDGE (Jellyfish)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/), 
[Undertale (Heart)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/391540/Undertale/), 
[Risk of Rain 2 (57 Leaf Clover)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/), 
[Pokemon (Sandshrew)](https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/027.shtml), 
[Celeste (Strawberry)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste/), 
[Persona 5 (Logo)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1687950/Persona_5_Royal/).

**Misc**:
[Rust Language (Ferris)](https://rust-lang.org), 
[arXiv (Smiley Bones)](https://arxiv.org)

</details>

[^1]: I have reservations about LLM usage regarding information sovereignty and
ownership.
[^2]: I believe that to own software, you need to know the the underlying techniques
and skills.


[orhun]: https://github.com/orhun
[ratatui]: https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui
[valve-cad]: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamMachine/cad-release
[claude]: https://anthropic.com
[profile]:https://github.com/angus-forrest-uk
