Today’s product-of-the-day was an accident. I was thinking originally that I would make a sticker with the explore – learn – build – share mantra on it, which got me thinking about how such stickers might be used. I joked to my friend Ben that maybe I should make a Shepard Fairy-style T-shirt with my FACE on it, which seemed outlandish to me. But then I got to wondering whether the Illustrator “Live Trace” tool had improved in recent years, which is used to convert photographic sources to vector graphics. The discomfort I had with using my own image in a parodying manner was intriguing, too; I’ve started to use discomfort as an indicator that fruitful exploration is just behind it, if I am bold enough to look. However, I thought it I was going to shamelessly rip anyone off, I should start with Andy Warhol, the ur-Fairey!

The Illustrator Live Trace tool is much improved from last I used it (or my current computer is finally fast enough to use it). I had to go back and smooth out some contours, which I did roughly to retain some of the cruftiness. I got to thinking about the idea of copying and repeating itself; it’s not a bad way to get un-stuck creatively, actually. And since there were four images of me, that was an automatic cue to stamp the explore – learn – build – share onto each image.

The images come in two sizes, and are available as 16×20 and 24×36 posters on Zazzle. You can order them on cheap OR nice paper; I haven’t seen the posters myself, as they cost $60 for the archival prints; the cheaper options are around US$20.

Here’s a detailed view of the poster. There’s a pointillized texture on top of everything to help unify color tone…a dirty little trick that makes everything look a little better :)

Here’s where you can see the posters on Zazzle:

• Browse 16×20 Print on Zazzle
• Browse 24×36 Print on Zazzle

You can download two JPEG versions for free if you’d like to print them out at home:

• Download Small JPEGs (ZIP)

Incidentally, the large poster has a “challenge area” at the bottom; I’m thinking of making some creativity merit badges at some point for sticking down there someday, once I find a nice source for textured paper stickers that feel more like old stamps than glossy plastic. Do they even make stickers like that?

Enjoy!