Taking action on cool ideas
If someone has an idea for something, and that idea seems truly cool, then I strongly believe that it’s in that person’s best interests to do something to bring that idea to life.
By doing something I don’t mean much, I just mean take some tangible action, even if it’s small.
Sometimes a small action leads to nothing. Sometimes it leads to larger actions or new opportunities. And sometimes it leads to something real and truly awesome.
When acting on an idea, the final outcome is always an unknown. But there are other things are guaranteed like the development of creative skills and the satisfaction that comes with exploring a curiosity.
Here’s a story about an idea I’ve acted on but haven’t completely brought to life.
While travelling Colombia, I had a photo taken of myself in the Valle de Cocora in a small town called Salento. Looking back on that photo, I came up with a funky design idea based on Salento which I thought would look cool on a sock. (Socks are the best place for funky designs, am I right?).
For context, transport at Salento happens by jeep and the town is in the famous coffee region of Colombia.
So I thought maybe I’ll see if I can edit the photo to look like the design I had in mind. I had heard that AI art was a thing so I played around with some free versions without much success. I then gave in and tried a paid version (DALL.E). Then, behold, I had found the image I was after.
Then I got thinking, what would it take to actually make a sock design? So I Googled “Freelance sock designer” and messaged a sock designer. We corresponded a little, I sent them the image above and it seemed like a good fit. So I took them on and the outcome is what you see below.
At this point, I’m not sure what to do next. Maybe it is worth creating a kickstarter and actually making some socks. (Let me know if you think I should.) Regardless, it’s been fun and very satisfying exploring this creative process so if this is where the idea ends, I’m content.