January 15, 2026
Redesigning My Academic Profile as a Receipt
A few months ago, I made an impulse purchase: a thermal receipt printer. I’m not entirely sure why I felt compelled to own one, but here we are. Actually, I know, I wanted to create lofi prints like the one above.
What started as a curiosity turned into an obsession of taking photos everywhere I went, printing them and scanning them. Occasionally even giving away prints. Long story short, that obsession led to a complete redesign of my academic website! Today, I’m reflecting on this strange journey of working with Github Copilot to reshape my online professional presence into something printable and pixelated in an oddly satisfying sort of way.
The Thermal Printer Obsession
I think there’s something wonderful about thermal printers. In an era were we strive for metrics and high quality (hustle! hustle! hustle!), there’s a certain charm to something that is extremely imperfect. Of course, it’s also charming to be holding something in your hands, like a photo, instead of data existing on your phone. On top of that, thermal prints are ephemeral, their images are bound to fade away over time, just like old receipts forgotten in a drawer. Yet, they capture a moment in time through a tangible artifact that will accompany its holder till it is no more. They remind me of life: black and white, tiny, bound to eventually disappear, yet fun as long as it lasts!
And then, I found myself thinking: what if my academic profile were a receipt? What if a CV, or professional profile, were presented as a “transaction receipt”, a document you could print, hold, and share? These are also ever-changing, as I traverse into my academic journey. However, I could also keep copies of past selves, to remind me where I was and where I am at. Don’t worry, I won’t submit them for travel reimbursement.
Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. A receipt: structured, simple, informative, no fancy visuals, just information. And here we are!
Finding the Right Font
The first stop was typography. Thermal printers typically use simple dotted fonts. I discovered a custom font called FakeReceipt. I think it perfectly captures this timeless thermal printer aesthetic.
Then I would describe what I wanted to Copilot providing it my old boring website: a receipt-style layout with the FakeReceipt font as the primary typeface.
The Creative Process
Here’s where it gets interesting. I didn’t come to Copilot with a perfect specification. I only had a vague idea: “make my website look like a receipt that could be printed on a thermal printer”
Copilot responded by:
- Suggesting a fixed 360px width (thermal printer standard)
- Creating perforated edges using CSS (since no actual paper cutting would be needed)
- Structuring my academic information into lines
- Adding shadow effects to mimic the 3D effect of a printed receipt
- Including a QR code placeholder (because receipts have them!)
I was astonished at how Copilot was understanding intent and proposing solutions I hadn’t explicitly asked for. The perforated edges, for instance, I never explicitly requested them, but the AI used them anyway, and I think they work.
Is this a good use case of AI?
Maybe.
I mean I can now print my academic profile on my thermal printer and hand it to someone. Not that I ever will, but… I can. Although I am sure it will be something unusual and memorable. LinkedIn? No thanks, I got a receipt for you. Just make sure to snap a photo of it or else it will disappear! (Use it in networking at your own risk…)
Whas is a way for me to make something creative? Yes. Did I really create it? Ehm, no. I like to think that I had some part to play into it. In any case, I would not have even done it: it would take too much time and effort I would rather spend elsewhere. But the outcome is certainly satisfying. Even if I didn’t entirely code this website myself, there’s something humanizing about having a physical, printable version of it.
Would I recommend this to everyone? Probably not. But I’d say, in general, try something unusual using an AI assistant. Use it and reflect on what did you earn, what did you loose, but most importantly what would you have earned if you had to do the work entirely yourself.
For me, I am content, knowing that I sacrificed my agency, to hold a printout of my academic profile. Told you right from the start, I am obsessed with thermal printing!
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