From ideas brewed in the corner nook of an Appalachian coffee shop in 2008, hull&trail is a tradecraft atelier, operated by me, Justin Troutman, exploring the advancement of education in applied cryptography and its responsibility of service to our communities, as a fishplate for privacy and an amplifier of human rights. I navigate the parallels between cryptography and design, in search of the crux, or cryptography + user experience, of function through form.

My current path is designing springmaus, a bantamweight block cipher built for anyone to learn and teach, based on a shared set of strategic principles bridging encryption algorithms and basketball plays (i.e., cadence, calculus, clutch, finesse, or CCCF). It’s pencil ‘n paper-ready design emulates modern block ciphers, and takes its inspiration from the biomechanic predatory evasion trajectories of Baluchistan pygmy jerboas and the impact attenuation + energy return of cushioning systems in Nike basketball shoes. Got a classroom? Work with students? Ask me about giving it go.

I'm always in motion: researching, developing, collaborating, curating, storytelling, publishing, open-sourcing, and crafting bespoke learning experiences; let me know how I can help you and your community. I'm just outside of San Francisco these days, but international in reach; in fact, we can strike up a conversation most anytime via the blue bird.