I sometimes tell people I painted my car because I’m never going to get a tattoo.
I like the self-expression, without the pain, or it being permanently attached to my body.
Other people have taken this to other playful places:
I love the idea of pretending we are in a space ship when we’re in a car. My son has done things like that, pretending we are blasting off into space when we are speeding up to get on the freeway, for example. But to have the whole car painted that way? How awesome!
My nephew, when he was a little boy, narrated car rides like they were horse races. One car was coming up the outside, another was being cut off and falling behind… He kept it up for a long time, using an announcer’s voice. Very entertaining way to get through traffic.
The same day I saw the USS Enterprise Mini Cooper, I saw this vehicle too:
There are so many ways people can express themselves, and I personally enjoy the playful ones. I like the ‘let’s pretend’ and the ‘how does this look?’ I like that people aren’t so concerned with the resale value of the car that they can’t see the playful or expressive value of the vehicle. Life is too short to take it seriously!
I had never thought of painting a house creatively, but over the weekend I saw this house:
I think this is so fun! I totally want to know how they decorated the interior. I bet they have a great style!
Obviously, all of these examples are of playfulness and creativity in people’s non-work lives. I think bringing that creativity into the workplace can 1) make people more excited to be at work, 2) help people bring their whole selves to the job, which 3) lets people come up with more creative solutions to problems, and 4) makes work a more fun place to be. It can even 5) help attract the specific clients you want by 6) letting the world know what you are like to work with. A successful brand lets people know if they are the target market, and also if they are not!
Play Dates with Talia 