Creative Creativity: Inspiration and Tools for Creativity

My Favorite Magazine: Esopus

Esopus is more than a magazine, each issue is a work of art. The "articles" in the magazine are actually pages turned over to a different artist to do whatever they like with. From found beauty to pages from sketch journals to movie scripts and photographs, it's packed full of fantastic stuff. The design of the magazine and presentation is as impressive as the material it contains.

I got latest issue in the mail today and was inspired to write about it because it has a "can't miss" section. 24 scanned pages from a journal a soldier kept in a German POW camp. 2nd Lieut Gerald Limon drew cartoons, recorded the lyrics of songs written in camp and kept a detailed list of what books he read while he was there. Beautiful, heart wrenching and  completely inspirational.

The price for subscribing might seem high ($18) for a magazine that only comes out twice a year, but they actually subsidize with donations and sell it at less than cost because they want to reach a wider audience. It's non-profit, which means no ads and no one to answer to.

Did I mention that it comes with a CD of music? This month it's songs inspired by dreams that readers sent in. Did I mention that there are removable pieces and foldouts? This month, there's a pocket page that holds a reproduction of an old handwriting exercise book that has been subtly modified by an artist.

I love it. This is their site. I give it my complete and unpaid endorsement.

Selling Your Imaginary Friend

 Here's an ebay auction for an imaginary friend, the seller says that at 27 he has outgrown his imaginary friend. As I type this, the going price is £620! Luckily the shipping is free and immediate. He also says that if you are dissatisfied with the friend, he will provide you another free of charge. So really, there is no risk involved.

I know this might seem like a rip off, but isn't he really selling permission for someone else to create a character for themselves? People create and sell fictional characters all the time in Hollywood.

Besides, I love the movie Harvey.

See the auction for more details

Build Your Own Stonehenge Kit

This amazing Build Your Own Stonehenge Kit is only $6.95 and you get the opportunity to construct a smaller and crappier version of everyone's favorite Neolithic monument right on the coffee table in your living room. You get a booklet explaining the history and science of Stonehenge, a green mat and all the tiny tiny stones you need to build your own pagan worship center for tiny tiny druids.

You could even reenact the best scene from Spinal Tap if you were so inclined.

Of course, if you want something that will impress the neighbors you could just follow the directions in Family Education's article on how to build your own Stonehenge. They leave the scale to you, choosing to focus on placement.

Build Your Own Tiny TIny Stonehenge Kit

Parody Yourself, I Did And Ended Up With A Bacon Tuxedo

The company I work for, Archie McPhee, decided that we were going to do an April Fools joke homepage this year. I had the task of coming up with the products and soon realized that I was basically being asked to parody myself. If you aren't familiar with the company, our products are incredibly over the top and exaggerated to begin  with. (Our top sellers include Bacon Mints and Remote Controlled Hopping, Yodeling Lederhosen.)

I recommend trying this exercise to everyone who does anything creative. It's really much harder than you think! Half the ideas I came up with we decided were something we might actually do at some point in the future. (Which makes this exercise useful) The other half were too grotesque or profane to risk affiliation with our company. (Rainbow Flavored Unicorn Poop Candy? No.) I probably went through 15 ideas before settling on the first usable one.

After a few days, I decided to go for products that would be physically impossible, legally impossible or something that no one would want to buy. I came up with the Bacon Scented Bacon Tuxedo, the Baby Parachute, a Beard of Bees Kit and a Surprise Dumpster. You can see them here. Our graphics department did an ace job with the pictures, they sell the whole thing.

The reaction so far has been mixed. Some people, like Seth Godin, get it. Some don't. I have to admit that I did enjoy the fact that proof of the downfall of civilization sprang from my brain.

The most interesting part of the whole experience for me has been the fact that the world is so over the top now, that people believe a product with this description would actually go on sale:

Beard Of Bees Kit
Tired of boring old facial hair? Take it up to the next level with a Beard of Bees! Years in development, we have finally come up with an economical way to take advantage of all the buzz about bee beards. In each box, you'll get a tube of royal jelly, a grooming wand and a coupon for bees. Just send in the coupon or call with your redemption number and the following morning you'll receive a package of 30,000 bees in our patented UPS approved Swarm Sack™ packaging. After they arrive, apply the royal jelly to your chin, neck and chest, shake the bag vigorously and then release the bees. Use included wand to coax bees into beard shape. Fun for birthdays, retirements or bachelorette parties. Not recommended for indoor use.

So, whatever you usually create, try and parody it. See what you come up with, it might surprise you!

April Fools Page

Own Your Own Rocket Belt!

There are a few bits of technology that have represented the future since the 50s. The flying car, a robot maid and the rocket belt. Well, thanks to Tecnologia Aerospcial Mexicana you can now buy your own Rocket Belt!

The price might hold you back, $250,000, but if enough rich people buy them, the price will come down as they go into mass production. Only then will the future we have been promised come into being.

Here's what you get for your money:

1. A fully-tested, custom-made flying rocket belt
2. This belt has been proved to be the most stable design and easier to fly
3. A special machine to make our own unlimited supply of rocket fuel
4. Hands-on training in the process and the equipment
5. Flight training of 10 flights in your own rocket belt
6. Maintenance and setup training
7. 24/7 expert support
8. Housing and food are included during training

They have a warning about using a machine from another company:

Be aware of people that offer plans, parts or a rocket belt that has not flown and tested because you will be killed.
The Rocket Belt is NOT a machine that you can make and fly easily, if someone offers to you plans or parts to make a "cheap" Rocket Belt ask for a demonstration and see an actual flight, don't be the test pilot of a deadly machine.

All I know is that it's pretty and shiny and I could jump over the building where I live with a single bound. Plenty of tempting video and picture galleries on their site.

Rocket Belt Site

Link Via Random Good Stuff

Chalkboard Fabric

Chalkboard Fabric is just what it sounds like, green cloth that you can write on with chalk, erase it and write something else. Draw on it, write a sonnet, takes notes on your ideas all while feeling like you're breaking a childhood taboo. The company that sells this recommends it be used for placemats, but I want someone to tailor me a suit made of it. That way, when I get bored, I can play tic-tac-toe on my lapel.

If you're in Seattle, you can also buy it at Archie McPhee.

Instant Snow Eruption!

Yeah yeah, there's science behind it, but who cares? Instant snow! Just add water, plus once it dries out you can use it again. You get 100 grams which turns into 2 gallons of snow. Do I have any use for this? No. Am I buying some? Of course.

It's for sale on Steve Spangler Science. Their website describes it as a "mysterious white powder" and they sell it by the gram in a vial. You might not want to take this through airport security.

The video on the Insta-Snow page says that he actually used a truckload of it to make a white Christmas for a kid who had never seen snow. Which was very cool, but then it dried out and came back in the spring after the first rain. It's renewable snow.