Elliot Jay Stocks
@elliotjaystocks.bsky.social
👋 Designer / author / speaker
📗 Fine Specimens
📗 Universal Principles of Typography
👨💻 Adobe Fonts
⌛️ Google Fonts, 8 Faces, Lagom
⚠️ (Views are my own)
🔗 https://elliotjaystocks.com/links
📗 Fine Specimens
📗 Universal Principles of Typography
👨💻 Adobe Fonts
⌛️ Google Fonts, 8 Faces, Lagom
⚠️ (Views are my own)
🔗 https://elliotjaystocks.com/links
Pinned
My new book, Fine Specimens, comes out next month!
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
The news is out! @beyondtellerrand.com Düsseldorf in April — a conference I love and am very excited to be attending — is also an official stop on the Fine Specimens book tour!
Come and say hi if you’re at the event (or nearby)!
(Thanks for making this happen, @marcthiele.com!)
Come and say hi if you’re at the event (or nearby)!
(Thanks for making this happen, @marcthiele.com!)
Excited to let you know that @elliotjaystocks.bsky.social is going to be in the house at #btconf Düsseldorf. He brings a few of his new books to host a little launch event and is excited to meet you there! Find out more … beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusse...
Fine Specimens – official German launch with Elliot Jay Stocks: Side event at beyond tellerrand in Düsseldorf 2026
beyond tellerrand is the affordable single-track event where creativity and technology meet. Taking place in Düsseldorf and Berlin these days with 500+ attendees each in a renowned, familiar and frien...
beyondtellerrand.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:28 PM
The news is out! @beyondtellerrand.com Düsseldorf in April — a conference I love and am very excited to be attending — is also an official stop on the Fine Specimens book tour!
Come and say hi if you’re at the event (or nearby)!
(Thanks for making this happen, @marcthiele.com!)
Come and say hi if you’re at the event (or nearby)!
(Thanks for making this happen, @marcthiele.com!)
I don’t want to jinx it before I’ve fully migrated, but so far I’m loving Jottacloud.
The biggest hurdle in migrating from Dropbox has been having to download “Selective Sync” Dropbox folders before re-uploading them. Selective Sync is something your future self will *not* thank your past self for.
The biggest hurdle in migrating from Dropbox has been having to download “Selective Sync” Dropbox folders before re-uploading them. Selective Sync is something your future self will *not* thank your past self for.
February 18, 2026 at 11:36 AM
I don’t want to jinx it before I’ve fully migrated, but so far I’m loving Jottacloud.
The biggest hurdle in migrating from Dropbox has been having to download “Selective Sync” Dropbox folders before re-uploading them. Selective Sync is something your future self will *not* thank your past self for.
The biggest hurdle in migrating from Dropbox has been having to download “Selective Sync” Dropbox folders before re-uploading them. Selective Sync is something your future self will *not* thank your past self for.
I’m a huge fan of the pop-up newsletter format popularised by @craigmod.com and I loved running my previous pop-ups.
Now I’m going to be doing it again, this time with a dedicated pop-up for the Fine Specimens book tour, commencing next month.
The signup form’s active if you want to get in early:
Now I’m going to be doing it again, this time with a dedicated pop-up for the Fine Specimens book tour, commencing next month.
The signup form’s active if you want to get in early:
Notes from a different (type)setting
A pop-up newsletter from Elliot Jay Stocks. Unlike Elliot’s main newsletter, Typographic & Sporadic, this one is focussed on short bursts of type-related travel. The next trip is the Fine Specimens Eu...
buttondown.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:14 PM
I’m a huge fan of the pop-up newsletter format popularised by @craigmod.com and I loved running my previous pop-ups.
Now I’m going to be doing it again, this time with a dedicated pop-up for the Fine Specimens book tour, commencing next month.
The signup form’s active if you want to get in early:
Now I’m going to be doing it again, this time with a dedicated pop-up for the Fine Specimens book tour, commencing next month.
The signup form’s active if you want to get in early:
Very excited to announce that I’ll be a) speaking on a panel about publishing at this year’s @typeparis.com Now26 conference, and b) selling copies of Fine Specimens from the bookshop in the breaks! See you in Paris on 30th May?
(Photo by Norman Posselt)
(Photo by Norman Posselt)
TypeParis people: Elliot Jay Stocks
Elliot Jay Stocks is one of TypeParis Speakers, Instructors, Type critics, Facilitators!
typeparis.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Very excited to announce that I’ll be a) speaking on a panel about publishing at this year’s @typeparis.com Now26 conference, and b) selling copies of Fine Specimens from the bookshop in the breaks! See you in Paris on 30th May?
(Photo by Norman Posselt)
(Photo by Norman Posselt)
🇧🇪 Type friends in (or near) Brussels, please put Wednesday 1st April (not a joke) in your diaries — we have our first venue confirmed for the Fine Specimens book tour!!!
More details to follow, but for now, please shout if you’re interested in coming.
More details to follow, but for now, please shout if you’re interested in coming.
February 11, 2026 at 10:03 AM
🇧🇪 Type friends in (or near) Brussels, please put Wednesday 1st April (not a joke) in your diaries — we have our first venue confirmed for the Fine Specimens book tour!!!
More details to follow, but for now, please shout if you’re interested in coming.
More details to follow, but for now, please shout if you’re interested in coming.
This is a fascinating (and terrifying) read by @matthiasott.com, who identifies the sheer scale of LLM scraper bots hitting personal sites — to the point where web hosts are having to limit traffic, preventing actual humans from accessing them.
Webspace Invaders · Matthias Ott
There’s something happening on the Web at the moment that almost feels like watching that old arcade game Space Invaders play out across our servers. Bots and scrapers marching in formation, attacking...
matthiasott.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:06 PM
This is a fascinating (and terrifying) read by @matthiasott.com, who identifies the sheer scale of LLM scraper bots hitting personal sites — to the point where web hosts are having to limit traffic, preventing actual humans from accessing them.
EU friends! I’m trying (with varying degrees of success) to plan some small European launch events for the release of Fine Specimens in late March / early April.
If you know a bookshop owner (actually know them, not just know *of* them) in a major EU city, I’m gratefully accepting recommendations.
If you know a bookshop owner (actually know them, not just know *of* them) in a major EU city, I’m gratefully accepting recommendations.
February 9, 2026 at 11:20 AM
EU friends! I’m trying (with varying degrees of success) to plan some small European launch events for the release of Fine Specimens in late March / early April.
If you know a bookshop owner (actually know them, not just know *of* them) in a major EU city, I’m gratefully accepting recommendations.
If you know a bookshop owner (actually know them, not just know *of* them) in a major EU city, I’m gratefully accepting recommendations.
Is anyone here a happy Jottacloud customer and could recommend the service? More specifically, has anyone here migrated to Jottacloud from Dropbox? Anything you’d wish you’d known before starting the process?
February 5, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Is anyone here a happy Jottacloud customer and could recommend the service? More specifically, has anyone here migrated to Jottacloud from Dropbox? Anything you’d wish you’d known before starting the process?
Over breakfast this morning, I was telling my kids how, when we were kids, you used to get literal toys stuffed inside cereal packets, or collectible holographic cards built into the box, or at the very least some tokens (“post us 5 tokens and we’ll post you a toy” etc.).
Totally blew their minds.
Totally blew their minds.
February 5, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Over breakfast this morning, I was telling my kids how, when we were kids, you used to get literal toys stuffed inside cereal packets, or collectible holographic cards built into the box, or at the very least some tokens (“post us 5 tokens and we’ll post you a toy” etc.).
Totally blew their minds.
Totally blew their minds.
My new book, Fine Specimens, comes out next month!
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
February 2, 2026 at 12:19 PM
My new book, Fine Specimens, comes out next month!
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
My publisher said I should make a video for the book’s Amazon page, so I figured I might as well post it here, too, esp. as it took about 17 takes.
Please feel free to pre-order it from wherever you buy books! Some links: geni.us/FineSpecimens
I love this thoughtful and beautifully presented piece by @terry.social.godier.me.ap.brid.gy (found via @tyfromtheinternet.com’s newsletter), on the anxiety of unread counts and the questionable evolution of app design.
“Phantom obligation — the guilt you feel for something no one asked you to do.”
“Phantom obligation — the guilt you feel for something no one asked you to do.”
Phantom Obligation
Why RSS readers look like email clients, and what that's doing to us.
www.terrygodier.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:46 AM
I love this thoughtful and beautifully presented piece by @terry.social.godier.me.ap.brid.gy (found via @tyfromtheinternet.com’s newsletter), on the anxiety of unread counts and the questionable evolution of app design.
“Phantom obligation — the guilt you feel for something no one asked you to do.”
“Phantom obligation — the guilt you feel for something no one asked you to do.”
This morning, I gave a talk at my daughters’ primary school assembly (ages 4–11) about being a designer (for their ‘careers week’) and, oh boy, I was *not* ready for that level of audience participation. Possibly the most fun and chaotic 10 minutes of my speaking career to-date.
January 29, 2026 at 3:53 PM
This morning, I gave a talk at my daughters’ primary school assembly (ages 4–11) about being a designer (for their ‘careers week’) and, oh boy, I was *not* ready for that level of audience participation. Possibly the most fun and chaotic 10 minutes of my speaking career to-date.
Delphi Tools by @delphi.rmv.fyi — resizers, converters, references, etc.
“A collection of small, low stakes and low effort tools. No logins, no registration, no data collection. [...] Long live the handmade web.”
Wow, what a treasure trove! Thank you for making these, Ruby.
“A collection of small, low stakes and low effort tools. No logins, no registration, no data collection. [...] Long live the handmade web.”
Wow, what a treasure trove! Thank you for making these, Ruby.
delphitools
A collection of small, low stakes and low effort tools. No logins, no registration, no data collection.
tools.rmv.fyi
January 23, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Delphi Tools by @delphi.rmv.fyi — resizers, converters, references, etc.
“A collection of small, low stakes and low effort tools. No logins, no registration, no data collection. [...] Long live the handmade web.”
Wow, what a treasure trove! Thank you for making these, Ruby.
“A collection of small, low stakes and low effort tools. No logins, no registration, no data collection. [...] Long live the handmade web.”
Wow, what a treasure trove! Thank you for making these, Ruby.
Interesting to see that Pencil is now live. I’ve been very curious about this one. Sort of a Cursor-but-for-design.
Pencil – Design on canvas. Land in code.
Pencil fundamentally increases your engineering speed by bringing designing directly into your preferred IDE.
www.pencil.dev
January 22, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Interesting to see that Pencil is now live. I’ve been very curious about this one. Sort of a Cursor-but-for-design.
For the first time ever, I’ve published my “2025 in review” blog post just three weeks into the new year.
I fretted a lot about this one. These posts feel so self-indulgent when the world is on fire. But I’m also using it as a chance to express gratitude for everything.
Thanks for reading!
I fretted a lot about this one. These posts feel so self-indulgent when the world is on fire. But I’m also using it as a chance to express gratitude for everything.
Thanks for reading!
Elliot Jay Stocks | 2025 in review
Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer and author, usually doing something with typography
elliotjaystocks.com
January 20, 2026 at 12:47 PM
For the first time ever, I’ve published my “2025 in review” blog post just three weeks into the new year.
I fretted a lot about this one. These posts feel so self-indulgent when the world is on fire. But I’m also using it as a chance to express gratitude for everything.
Thanks for reading!
I fretted a lot about this one. These posts feel so self-indulgent when the world is on fire. But I’m also using it as a chance to express gratitude for everything.
Thanks for reading!
Continuing some planning for a potentially semi-bonkers near-future idea, so:
Folks in (or near) London, Paris, Berlin, and The Hague, do you know of any nice indie bookshops — ones that stock design books *and* host events — and would you mind sending those recommendations my way, please?
Folks in (or near) London, Paris, Berlin, and The Hague, do you know of any nice indie bookshops — ones that stock design books *and* host events — and would you mind sending those recommendations my way, please?
January 15, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Continuing some planning for a potentially semi-bonkers near-future idea, so:
Folks in (or near) London, Paris, Berlin, and The Hague, do you know of any nice indie bookshops — ones that stock design books *and* host events — and would you mind sending those recommendations my way, please?
Folks in (or near) London, Paris, Berlin, and The Hague, do you know of any nice indie bookshops — ones that stock design books *and* host events — and would you mind sending those recommendations my way, please?
I’ve been using the free trial of GitHub Copilot Pro in VSCode for helping me code personal projects and now it’s time to pay. I was considering that vs. Cursor (which we use at work), but Cursor is 2× the price GHCP — and it still has usage limits (which GHCP does not). Am I missing something?
January 8, 2026 at 12:08 PM
I’ve been using the free trial of GitHub Copilot Pro in VSCode for helping me code personal projects and now it’s time to pay. I was considering that vs. Cursor (which we use at work), but Cursor is 2× the price GHCP — and it still has usage limits (which GHCP does not). Am I missing something?
Finally managed to watch ‘Tripping with Nils Frahm’. What a treat!
Watch Tripping With Nils Frahm (2020) on MUBI
An iconic artist at an iconic location. This concert film captures several mesmerizing live performances from the renowned German composer and producer Nils Frahm at the legendary Funkhaus Berlin. Exp...
mubi.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Finally managed to watch ‘Tripping with Nils Frahm’. What a treat!
If you’re polite to your AI agent...
January 7, 2026 at 3:19 PM
If you’re polite to your AI agent...
Can I take a day off to read all of the email newsletters I’ve got saved in my inbox, please? Got some great ones waiting from:
@documental.ly
@densediscovery.bsky.social
@craigmod.com
@luismendo.com
@fchouquet.bsky.social
Kirsty McLachlan
Matthew Smith
Lizzy Stewart
Receipt from the Bookshop
@documental.ly
@densediscovery.bsky.social
@craigmod.com
@luismendo.com
@fchouquet.bsky.social
Kirsty McLachlan
Matthew Smith
Lizzy Stewart
Receipt from the Bookshop
January 7, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Can I take a day off to read all of the email newsletters I’ve got saved in my inbox, please? Got some great ones waiting from:
@documental.ly
@densediscovery.bsky.social
@craigmod.com
@luismendo.com
@fchouquet.bsky.social
Kirsty McLachlan
Matthew Smith
Lizzy Stewart
Receipt from the Bookshop
@documental.ly
@densediscovery.bsky.social
@craigmod.com
@luismendo.com
@fchouquet.bsky.social
Kirsty McLachlan
Matthew Smith
Lizzy Stewart
Receipt from the Bookshop
“Nobody should have a billion dollars,” writes @tomwhyman.bsky.social. “People don't have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 billion is than 1 million. 1 million seconds is about 11 days. 1 billion seconds is about 31.5 years.”
(Found via this week’s @densediscovery.bsky.social)
(Found via this week’s @densediscovery.bsky.social)
The worship of billionaires has become our shittiest religion
Nobody should have a billion dollars, and those who do are something other than fully human.
theoutline.com
January 6, 2026 at 8:27 PM
“Nobody should have a billion dollars,” writes @tomwhyman.bsky.social. “People don't have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 billion is than 1 million. 1 million seconds is about 11 days. 1 billion seconds is about 31.5 years.”
(Found via this week’s @densediscovery.bsky.social)
(Found via this week’s @densediscovery.bsky.social)
Every single brand on earth doing a “wrapped” at the end of the year is getting a bit tiring... but some folks actually do it right. @raycast.com’s is *excellent*. I love that you can export some of the screens as images, too.
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Every single brand on earth doing a “wrapped” at the end of the year is getting a bit tiring... but some folks actually do it right. @raycast.com’s is *excellent*. I love that you can export some of the screens as images, too.
I’ve reached the “argh, all I want to do is redesign the whole thing” stage of my relationship with my personal site. However, knowing that a full redesign will take a while, I’ve been using the Christmas holidays to make a few small tweaks — like finally getting Fine Specimens on my “books” page!
Elliot Jay Stocks | Books
Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer and author, usually doing something with typography
elliotjaystocks.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I’ve reached the “argh, all I want to do is redesign the whole thing” stage of my relationship with my personal site. However, knowing that a full redesign will take a while, I’ve been using the Christmas holidays to make a few small tweaks — like finally getting Fine Specimens on my “books” page!
Very cool foundry site for Amateur Type. I love those on-hover video specimens.
Amateur Type
Display fonts for mom-and-pop shops, freelancers, and agencies. All made with love. All slightly off – because I think the pros have the go-tos figured out.
amateurtype.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Very cool foundry site for Amateur Type. I love those on-hover video specimens.
Yesterday I published my last newsletter of 2025, feat. @hoodzpahdesign.bsky.social @typeparis.com @ilovetypography.bsky.social @onpaperwings.bsky.social @frerejones.bsky.social @ghostlyint.bsky.social @jakegiltsoff.bsky.social and fonts, books, events, and more you might enjoy if you love type.
Elliot Jay Stocks | The festive escape pod
Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer & author, usually doing something with typography, or making music as Other Form
elliotjaystocks.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Yesterday I published my last newsletter of 2025, feat. @hoodzpahdesign.bsky.social @typeparis.com @ilovetypography.bsky.social @onpaperwings.bsky.social @frerejones.bsky.social @ghostlyint.bsky.social @jakegiltsoff.bsky.social and fonts, books, events, and more you might enjoy if you love type.