For you, as promised—Ideation Exercise

if you need help getting started right now

Hi! I’m Kayla Stark, an illustrator working primarily in the children’s publishing world. I write about illustration, process, publishing, and my life in general. Join in! Everyone’s welcome! All posts are free for everyone—upgrading to a paid subscription helps me continue writing these and supports all readers. Thank you!

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Note: This was all typed pre US election results. Currently I am just doing my best to show up for myself and loved ones.

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Oooh baby did ya miss me!? 😆

I missed me. I missed the me that was consistent about sitting and writing; the me that had a semblance of a routine; the pre sunburned, pre bruised, pre stuck-in-Pennsylvania-because-Coach-buses-LIE, pre ball of anxiety me that existed at the beginning of September (when you last heard from me) 🙃.

I traveled a lot. I’m making it sound dramatic. Sometimes it was, but I had a GREAT two weeks in Hawaii, then came home and did a quick turnaround for Pennsylvania (The Highlights Foundation!) and NYC (publisher visits). It was a lot of fun, but knocked me on my ass…just in time for Halloween festivities to take over!

Now back to reality…

I’m keeping this post short and walking you through that ideation exercise I promised in my last post. It’s helpful for when, like me, you are restarting/trying to regain that lost momentum.

It’ll help if you need some direction for a project—AND you’re pretty much guaranteed to ACTUALLY be interested in it since you are pulling from a list of your own interests.

I’ll explain.

You need paper, something to write with, and a way to pick random numbers.

Let’s go!

• Step 1: Set a timer. I suggest 5 min, but choose a time that works for you. Just don’t make it too long.

• Step 2: Make a list of 35 things you like. Go fast; don’t overthink it. (35 is an arbitrary number, it just felt right, and it is also how old I am.)

• Step 3: Combine two random numbers in your list. Pull up a random number generator, pull numbers out of a hat, however you want to do it.

  I did this three different times and got:

  • Animal Facts + Museums

  • Libraries + TV Shows

  • The Zoo + Asking Questions

• Step 4: Think about what type of project you could do that combines both things.

Here’s mine. #23 is supposed to say “trying new things” haha

Some ideas I had for these combinations:

• Redrawing/redesigning the infographics (plaques?) at museums in my own style

• Illustrating book covers for my favorite TV shows.

• “Who am I?/What am I?” matching game with zoo animals

That’s it! Pretty simple, right? —and infinite combinations all specific to you and what you like.

If you do this comment and tell me what combo YOU got. And an idea of what you’d make/do!

Thanks everyone!

💛