The AI powered One-Button Oracle. Printed messages created from the exact moment in time. Houracle creates endlessly original fortunes, facts, jokes & riddles. No app. No screen. No distraction - just a physical moment you can hold, share, pin, or recycle (the paper is 100% recyclable!). One press. One glow. One tiny printed wonder. It whirrs softly, lights up like a cinematic cue, and prints something charmingly unpredictable. Kind of like the Genie from Aladdin (the Robin Williams version. Definitely not Will Smith).
Every moment is unique and once you press print. That message will never exist again in quite the same way. Houracle crafts each of its messages based on a unique combination of AI generation and our own team's curation to ensure we have an endless variety of these messages. Houracle generates miniature moments - classic fortunes tuned to the time of day, facts tied to the date, scientific oddities connected to the time, clever riddles, and playful jokes.
Houracle was a sidequest for myself and colleagues Dylan Scott and Jason Palm. Before Houracle, we spent years designing products in the health and medical space. Exploring how to support people’s wellbeing in real, everyday contexts. Across those projects, a consistent insight emerged: while people value self-care, very few have the time or attention for it. Self-care is often quite reactive.
We created something that offered lightweight self-care. A physical “oracle printer” that delivers short, reflective prompts throughout the day, creating microbreaks that feel exciting and easy to return to.
At its core, Houracle is about anticipation and simplicity - the small moment before a print, the curiosity of what it might say, and the space it creates to reset. I worked across the full product experience, shaping the concept from early exploration through to functional prototype and eventual Kickstarter launch.
Due to external factors, we made the decision to cancel the campaign partway through, even though we had reached our campaign goal. No pledges were processed, as we prioritized transparency with the Kickstarter community. Regardless, I remain incredibly proud of the product and the genuine sense of curiosity and delight it created.
Houracle uses the precise moment you press the button (down to the minute) to generate your message. Every press creates its own little time-branch (so delightful that even the TVA wouldn't bother pruning it). You could press Houracle: Once a day. Once an hour. Five times in a row because you're procrastina...making room for inspiration...point is, you'll always get something different.
Houracle's physical design is about delivering surprises throughout the day.
We believe small surprises have power. Not Vecna or Darth Vader level power. But power nonetheless.
Kids get awesome things filled with surprise, mystery and wonder.
And adults? We get…email.
So we wanted to build an object that brings back that feeling for any age. A modern-day oracle that lives in your home or on your desk and dispenses micro-joy on demand.
I designed the Houracle wordmark to carry a sense of personality and meaning within a simple form. The ‘H’ functions as a hybrid symbol - combining the letterform with references to a face and a printed output from the device. A playful character for the product.
The visual system is intentionally playful, allowing the brand to feel tech-y, but approachable. Warm yellow is used as an accent - most notably within the ‘o’ - to reference the device’s single golden button. This creates a direct connection between the physical product and its visual identity, reinforcing recognition across touchpoints.
The original version of Houracle included an e-ink screen and a selector.
Fluctuating component pricing, tariffs and supply-chain challenges made us re-think the design into a screenless version with less complexity, but the same intention.
You can read about the original version of Houracle on Yanko Design.
Houracle was originally designed with an e-ink screen.