MESHFONT · 2026 · DESIGNER AND BUILDER
months and counting
commits with AI agents
Overview
Role
Timeline
Platforms
01
The problem. Most font tools were built for engineers. A designer who wants a typeface with a fingerprint has to learn a new trade first.
The bet. Treat a letter like a shape. Grab it, bend it and see it change, in the browser, with nothing to install.
The rule. Start from a great open typeface and make it yours. Every path has to end in a real font file.
02
The app
The mesh and the coloured keyboard arrived in the first week. Everything else changed around them. In September I rejected a whole batch of features in one go: trying things with agents had become cheap, and so had saying no.
First version
Mesh Studio
A letter, a lattice and a keyboard. Every key a letter, every colour a tool.
July 2026
Japanese on the same mesh
Kana joined the keyboard: 184 letters. It froze Chrome, so the font code learned to wait its turn.
September 2026
A tool, not a toy
A top bar, saved fonts and metric lines on the canvas. Trace an image under any letter.
November 2026
Kerning to look at again
When a letter changes, the pairs that relied on it come back for review.
November 2026
Measure
Lengths, curves and stems in font units, right on the letter.
Today
A type editor
Pen, shapes and points beside the mesh, Figma’s shortcuts and dark mode. The keyboard stayed.
03
One day, 43 pages. In July I asked an AI agent for a landing page. By the next day it had a whole site, with a font library, pricing and a roadmap that didn’t exist.
A draft is a brief. None of that shipped. I kept the look, rebuilt the site with real accounts, and cut the landing page down to one idea.
8 Jul 2026
Bend type like it’s made of rubber
The agent’s first answer: a scroll demo, a gallery and a FAQ.
8 Jul 2026
Design fonts like you mean it
Hours later: calmer, with a live letter in the hero.
9 Jul 2026
Shape a letter
43 pages by now. This one became my design reference.
Today
Make type your own
Rebuilt with Codex, with real accounts, then cut down to one live letter on a drafting table.
04
I built Meshfont with two agents: 704 commits, mostly Claude Code with some Codex. The interesting part was not the code. It was the written rules that told each agent what it was allowed to do.
01
CLAUDE.md as memory
Every costly mistake became a rule, with its reason. It grew from 57 lines to 548, with 42 memory notes behind it.
02
One plan, no side quests
If a request is not in the plan, it gets named first. I asked the agents to hold me to it.
03
Split the agents
Codex took the website and accounts, Claude Code the app. After 150 commits apart, that rule decided what stayed.
04
Agents that argue back
Research ran as parallel agents: four surveys, three judges, two refuters. The refuters killed the favourite idea.
05
Gates before my eyes
The type check runs on every change and the browser tests before a release, so I review design, not bugs.
06
Approval stays human
Preview first. Nothing goes live until I say so, even when it works.
05
I tried four ways to put AI inside the tool. Only the fourth stayed: it keeps the decision with the designer, and costs Meshfont nothing per letter.
Try 1
Trace an image model
Generic letters with wobbly edges. It scored 1/10 in my own test.
Try 2
Spread the warp
It copied warps, not decisions. Point-edited letters turned to mush.
Try 3
Before and after pairs
Gemini learned from my edits and the drafts were good, but too dear. I set AI aside.
Try 4
Bring your own agent
Claude connects to Meshfont, reads the font and proposes letters with its reasons. I pick. Nothing changes without me.
29 Oct 2026
Draw with your AI
Claude, Claude Code, Cursor or Codex connect with one address, on the plan you already have.
The cost
From $9.50 a font to $0
An estimate for Meshfont’s bill. Letters run on the designer’s own Claude plan, so the cost moves there instead of to me.
In use
Options in real words
Each option set in a real word beside the one before, so I judge it by eye.
1 Nov 2026
Sketch boards
Claude’s options beside my references, with notes, pins and picks.
2 Nov 2026
Specimen sheets
Options set side by side as real letters, with Claude’s in red.
3 Nov 2026
Ask your assistant
A draft button now queues the letter for your own agent.
06
LETTER DRAFTS FROM CLAUDE IN TWO DAYS, ON ONE TYPEFACE
What is done. A live font editor for Latin and Japanese, with accounts, saved fonts, sketch boards, a connection to Claude and font files to download.
What is next. An iPad version.
What I would keep. Letting agents draft and keeping the decision. Every letter still gets my yes or no.
VISITORS
SCULPTED a font
EXPORTED A FONT
