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How I Made Dice Portraits for My Nieces

By Jeremy Klammer•November 21, 2023•4 min read

Jeremy Klammer wanted to make something special for his nieces' birthdays. In 2023, he created dice portraits — their faces made out of actual dice, then painted to match their personalities.

Note: Jeremy used an early version of Diceify that was built during COVID. The interface looks different now, but the core idea is the same.

The idea

Jeremy makes custom gifts for his nieces every year. For K's 5th birthday and C's 8th birthday, he decided dice portraits would be memorable and unique.

Each finished piece measures 35 × 47 inches — larger than originally planned, but the bigger size made the portraits really stand out.

The process

Finding the right photo

Jeremy tested 20-30 photos of each girl in Diceify before finding the ones that worked best. Clear, straight-on shots produced the best results. Side angles and busy backgrounds didn't translate as well to the dice pattern.

Once he found the right photos, he adjusted the cropping and zoom until the dice pattern looked right, then saved it as a template for the physical build.

Building the frame

For the physical construction, Jeremy:

Made a plywood base backed with 2×4s to prevent warping
Used frames sized 26×32 inches to fit a 35×47 dice grid
Laid out all the dice on a flat surface first, matching the Diceify template
Transferred them row by row to the frame with Liquid Nails
Painted the backgrounds after everything was glued down

Personal touches

Each portrait was customized to reflect the personality of each girl.

K's portrait

Her favorite colors: pink, purple, and turquoise
A yellow school bus in the background — she had just started riding the bus that year

C's portrait

Sunset colors: red, orange, and yellow
Pink bubble pattern in the background — she'd just learned to blow bubble gum bubbles

The fingerprint tradition

One special touch: at each birthday party, all the guests put their fingerprints on the artwork. Parents, grandparents, cousins, friends — whoever attended. It's a tradition Jeremy started at his oldest niece's first birthday, turning each piece into a memory of who was there.

Time investment

Each piece took over 100 hours to complete. Jeremy notes that now that he knows the process, future pieces would go faster. His tips for anyone trying this:

Test lots of photos before committing to one
Straight-on, well-lit shots work best
Lay everything out before gluing
Add something personal to make the gift meaningful

Want to try it yourself?

Use Diceify to generate the dice pattern, then build it however you like.

Open the editor

Source: This article is based on Jeremy Klammer's original blog post. See more photos and details on his website:

Dice Portraits – Klammer Lab