Creative Grab Bag

August 7, 2008
| Grab Bag

Just wanted to take a moment and provide an update on the book that I have been working on for over a year. The first announcement is that the book will be entitled Creative Grab Bag which is a name that I am very pleased with. This was approved a while ago and I have been trying to get around to telling you all. Before we go any farther here is some background on the book.

It is a visual collaborative book that forces creative people from around the world to explore their creativity. Each artist is randomly assigned a creative task that is not in the area of their expertise or training. The book is due to come out this spring and is being published by F+W Publications’ HOW Books.

At this point in time I am waiting for the final round of work to come in from the amazing people that have agreed to take part in the book, the final count will be one hundred artists. The list of artists has been updated on the book’s website.

Thanks to all so far for everything!

Grab Bag Book and HOW Books

December 12, 2007
| Grab Bag

I am very pleased to announce that F+W Publication’s HOW Books will be publishing Grab Bag Book. They are responsible for bringing us HOW, Print, and I.D. Magazine along with the HOW Design Conference and a range of other wonderful books and magazines. I started this project last spring when I came up with the idea to have a collaborative visual book that challenged artists to explore their creativity.

Each of the participating artists from around the world is randomly assigned a “creative task” which is something they normally don’t do, anything from photography to illustration to design. This random task is drawn from the “Grab Bag” and the artist is also able to submit a piece of their work that comes from their normal field of work.

It is a book about trying something new. It is about exploring your creativity and learning to do new things. It is about opening up to a new idea and gaining respect for it. It’s a book of visual creations by people from around the world that have come together through the exploration of new things to create something beautiful.

The book will feature 100 artists, be around 200 pages long, and will come out in Spring 2009. Each artists will have two images in the book (one of the creative task and one from there current field of work), a biography, and a short paragraph detailing their experience with the creative task.

There are many well know and upcoming artists from around the world who are taking part in the book. And I would like to thank them all! Stay tuned for more news.
And of course I would like to send my thanks and appreciation to HOW Books!

If you are interested in being part of the book please get in touch with me.
Send an email to ethanbodnar@gmail.com For more information and to see what artists are already taken part, please visit www.grabbagbook.com

About the Author
www.ethanbodnar.com
Ethan Bodnar is a creative individual, blogger, and entrepreneur who has connected with a variety of people around the world through his personal projects, collaborations, internships, conferences, and more. At the age of seventeen, he anticipates studying graphic design in college. He resides in the United States with his family.

About F+W Publications
www.fwpublications.com
Founded in the early 1900s, F+W is a publisher of special interest magazines and books in a broad variety of consumer enthusiast categories. The Company also operates book clubs, conferences, trade shows, Web sites and education programs, all focused on the same consumer hobbies and enthusiast subject areas where the magazines and book publishing programs specialize.

Grab Bag. A Collaborative Visual Book.

March 13, 2007
| Grab Bag

Grab Bag

I would like to invite you to take part in a new collaborative visual book called Grab Bag.

It is a book about trying something new. It is about exploring your creativity and learning to do new things. It is about opening up to a new idea and gaining respect for it. It’s a book of visual creations by people from around the world that have come together through the exploration of new things to create something beautiful.

This is how it works…

Each participating artist will have a “creative task” from the Grab Bag chosen at random for them. The result of the creative task will be published in the book. The only rule is that your creative task can’t be from your field of work or your area of expertise because the book is about learning to do new things with your creativity and exploring new ways of expressing yourself. Furthermore, each artist will have the option to also contribute a piece of their work that comes from the area of expertise. It could be something already created or something made specifically for the book. You can see the full list on the website.