Since last week I had an idea crop up, or is it pop up? Regardless, an idea came to mind and I thought it might be fun to show the process I went through and where I’m looking to go with it. (It’s like the song “I’m Just A Bill”, but without the catchy song or the educational bent)
It began where most good ideas start: eating breakfast while hanging with a friend (What up, Rachael!). We were talking about some cool stuff she saw at an art show.
She talked about a few of the artists whose work brought together two things that always catch my eye: wordplay & witty humor. This got me thinking about how humor can be found when things go a different direction than we expect. (It’s called the Incongruity Theory, just in case you were wondering how big of a nerd I am) And of all the things in this world, what contains more unexpected tangents than love & relationships? (uh, possibly parenting…but that’ll be for another time)
By the time I got home I had a rough idea developed to take the way that love is presented in movies and combine it with “real life”.
What has always served me well when creating is to follow what energizes me. Sometimes it is passion around a particular topic or idea, but other times that energy is found in humor.
Fortunately Dean was able to brainstorm with me for a while and we came up a handful of ideas, or at least partial ideas. (Here’s a peek into that particular moment of madness)
I created the first post the next day, and while I understand I’m not doing humanitarian work here, I did feel good about countering the whole idea of someone “completing” another person. (and of course, it’s always good to call out the importance of giving, and more importantly, receiving, chocolate)
After creating a few posts, my graphic design roots asserted themselves and insisted that I create a graphic for these “Real World Valentines”. But as I continued to work with this idea, I saw opportunity for a pun I just couldn’t avoid, which is how “Reel World Valentines” was born (see latest version in the header).
You can be sure that mugs, t-shirts, prints, and cards are being in the process of being put together, so stay tuned for more on that. Plus, I have a wondering about possibly putting together a book as well (yup, girlfriend’s got big dreams).
Speaking of big dreams, I wanted to let you know that our final numbers for You Buy One, I Ship One are in and we will be sending a total of 50 shirts to Washington! Aww yeah!
We are still working out the deets on who & where we are shipping. Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a little thing called a government shut down happening (ugh, don’t get me started) and I want to make sure I’m sending each shirt to the office where they have the best chance of reaching those gals.
Rest assured that I will document the process, but I was excited to have received so much support for this idea. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Jerry Frank
WOW 50 shirts. How cool is that?
Just picture one day 50 congresswomen show up on the House and Senate floor wearing those shirts. And the rest of them ask, “Where did you get that?”
Rebecca Gallagher
Yeah, it will be interesting to see if the shirt pops up at various events that they attend. I’m thinking it’ll be like playing “Where’s Waldo?” as I follow these women on social media.