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BOXTYPE

A random-access text editor for the box model.

CategoryStudio release
Year2025
RoleProduct design, Engineering, Brand
Liveboxtype.boat3000.studio

A text editor that throws out the line-as-a-stack. Instead of appending characters left-to-right, BOXTYPE gives you an infinite page. Place the cursor anywhere and type, like pen on paper.

01 / The problem

Every text editor inherits the same 50-year-old assumption: a document is a stack of lines and you type at the end of one. That's great for prose and terrible for the way people actually sketch with type: laying out, spacing, and composing on a surface. We wanted to see what an editor feels like when the page is a grid you can address directly.

02 / The approach

We modelled the document as a page of cells with true random access: every cell is addressable, the cursor can jump anywhere, and editing is modal in the Vim tradition so power users keep their hands on the keys. The whole thing is keyboard-first, with editable, platform-aware shortcuts for navigation, editing and clipboard work.

03 / What we built

Random access

Jump the cursor to any cell instantly, with no line-by-line navigation. The page is a canvas, not a queue.

Modal editing

Vim-like modes mean the muscle memory transfers. Navigate, edit, yank and paste without leaving the home row.

Editable shortcuts

Every binding is remappable and platform-aware, so the editor bends to your hands instead of the other way round.

04 / Where it stands

Shipped as a studio release and a proof-of-craft: a small, opinionated tool we built because we wanted to use it. Built test-first, it's the kind of thing that shows what we hold client work to.

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