Nathan W. Pyle is the genius mind behind Strange Planet comic book and AppleTV+ series, a creative storyteller and the #1 New York Times bestselling author. WebExpo was really lucky to bring him and his family to Prague for the first time ever and had the privilege to invite him on stage as a keynote speaker to unfold his powerful creative habits.
How can you create your own universe?
Do you think Nathan just woke up one day with the brilliant idea of Strange Planet? Of course not. It took him years of observing, creating illustrations and animations and actually making creativity a daily habit. Here are his 4 tips on how to replenish your inspiration cup using just your phone:
1. Observe the unseen
As Nathan said, “Every movement is a story waiting to be told.” You can capture anything that moves, as ordinary as walking pigeons and try to create a story about what is happening. Things that move have the powerful effect of surprising, inspiring, confusing and amusing you which awakens your creativity. It’s not about creating a great story each time, just a story.
2. Create movement
If nothing is moving around you when filming, you can move around with the camera in order to reveal something, create conflict or resolve it. By creating movement you encounter unpredictable situations that might lead to surprising scenarios in your storytelling.
3. Layers
In the case of static pictures, it’s all about adding layers of imagination and depth. As Nathan mentioned, layers tell a story quickly, show your audience how the magic works and inspire them that they can replicate it. Let layers breathe life into your narratives. How to think in layers? Check out Nathan’s easy exercise of drawing a dog using the word GLITTER:
if u can write the word ✨GLITTER✨ you can draw a dog pic.twitter.com/NjGfJHkM2I
— Nathan W Pyle (@nathanwpyle) March 22, 2019
4. Match to create a collection
Matching your ideas and creations into collections allows you to keep your unfinished ideas together in your side pocket and either proceed with them later by expanding them or creating something different to eventually get to where you want to be.
And what’s next?
Experiment with the Internet and spread your work. If you don’t know where to start, Nathan advises you to think of yourself not as one unit but as dozens of ideas and let them naturally magnetise to any social media platform that works. Have your eyes open to recognise a potential universe by what people connect and interact with and just keep building the universe one day at a time.
Through Nathan’s unique approach to universe construction, he inspired us to look for beauty in the ordinary, embrace the unexpected, and unleash the boundless potential of our imagination. If you are hungry to dive more into his work, find him on Instagram, X, Facebook or TikTok.