I'm Diogo, a product designer in London. I lead design at a crypto exchange and help out on open-source Bitcoin projects. I write code too, and these days a lot of it starts as a prompt. When I'm away from the screen, I'm usually making something.

Plotyx: Open-Source CoreXY Plotter
· 4 min read

I’ve always been interested in CNC machines, 3D printers and plotters, so I decided to build my own drawing plotter based on the CoreXY design. The goal was something that works well and is open source, so others could build it or change it for their own projects. At the time, the alternatives were all quite expensive.
Building a Custom Trading Keypad: Cryptowatch 4k20k
· 3 min read

This project started with a random conversation on our company Slack. Someone mentioned building a custom keyboard for trading with our Cryptowatch Desktop product, like those Bloomberg terminal keypads. I thought it would be a fun side project.
Discovering the Twitter API through a Raspberry Pi Project
· 3 min read

I’d been curious about the Twitter API for a while, so I finally spent a weekend playing with it, on a fun little project that mixes three things I like: programming, photography and Raspberry Pis.
Helias: Generative Art Experiment with p5.js
· 4 min read

I’ve been curious about generative art for a while, but never really got into it until recently, when I started experimenting with p5.js. Helias is my first attempt: a fun little project that uses noise to make a different abstract piece every time it runs.
My Journey with Drones and FPV Flying
· 4 min read

I’ve always been really into drones. I think it started with Charpu’s freestyle videos on YouTube – I was completely amazed by his flying. I didn’t build one until recently, but at one point I was so into it that I designed and 3D printed a drone frame, which I published on Thingiverse back in 2016.
Learning to Fly Airplanes with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
· 10 min read

This summer my fiancé gave me a flight experience for my birthday. It was an amazing surprise and I loved it, but it left me wanting more. I didn’t necessarily want to go through proper flight training and get a licence, but I wanted to know the ins and outs of flying a plane well enough to know what to do if I ever had to fly the real thing.
Building Chappie's Head: My Most Complex 3D Printing Project
· 3 min read

Chappie is another great film from Neill Blomkamp, grown out of his early short, Tetra Vaal. As soon as I watched it, I knew I had to build something from it. Going through the Replica Prop Forum (RPF) threads, I found someone had already designed the files for Chappie’s head, so I had to give them a try.
Creating Officer K's Blaster from Blade Runner 2049
· 3 min read

After the Star Wars lightsabers, I wanted to keep challenging myself with more complex props. So I took on Officer K’s blaster from Blade Runner 2049, which would sit nicely next to the Tomenosuke replica of Deckard’s original blaster I’d recently added to my collection.
Learning Fusion 360 through Star Wars Lightsaber Props
· 3 min read

I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, so I decided to try making some lightsaber replicas with Fusion 360 and my 3D printer. They were the first props I modelled in 3D, and they turned out to be a really fun project!
Adventure Time: Finn's Golden Sword of Battle
· 3 min read

I’ve been watching Adventure Time for a while now, and since I started the show I’ve wanted to make a prop from it. So here it is – my very first handmade prop: Finn’s Golden Sword of Battle!