shopgallerynewsaboutcontact

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

A Fun Project Idea for Generating New Ideas

Several months ago my friend and fellow crafter/sticker collector, Aidan, a.k.a. bubbledog, told me he was in a creative slump and came up with a project for himself to generate some new ideas. Aidan has a knack for making animals, plants, and even inanimate objects into characters, so I couldn't believe he was out of concepts. But we all know what those creative doldrums are like, so I couldn't wait to see what he'd experimented with. After sifting through his sticker collection, he used a sheet of stickers made by Hallmark in the late '70s as a starting point and imagined a whole new set of characters to use in future projects.


Original Hallmark sheet from the 1970s and bubbledog's set of characters

So lo and behold: this past weekend I was browsing through bubbledog's Etsy shop and latest work on Spoonflower and found this new "Summer" collection of prints. The Happy Summer Critters pattern clearly draws from this experiment, and I just love the '80s-inspired hearts, marching ladybugs, and adorable mushrooms (I know there's a gnome hiding behind one somewhere), all in sunny, summery colors.



I can't wait to try this inspirational exercise for myself. Even if you're not a sticker collector, you could find something you've always adored or admired and try to make it better or adapt it into your style and the ideas will just start flowing...

No comments:

Post a Comment

Next Previous Home