How I Made Spookees

It all began with a minimal “X” skull logo concept I designed over 15 years ago. The logo had an alternative, anarchist kinda vibe—which is just my style. Although the design was extremely simple in form, it always remained one of my personal favorite creations. And since I never used the design for a project, I decided to make it my starting point for experimenting with generative art.

I began creating hundreds of design variations for different eyes, nose, mouth, and head shapes. Next, I used the open source Hashlips Art Engine to randomly select designs from the hundreds of variations, creating millions of potential outcomes.

The early tests were extremely minimal in form, and included a variety of bold background colors. As the work progressed, I began experimenting with filters, patterns, colors, and rarity. Some experiments were interesting, but overly complicated the results. I wanted to achieve a minimal, bold, and iconic aesthetic. So, I regularly shifted my focus back towards simplicity.

Ultimately, I decided the skulls should be primarily white, on top of a black background. Additionally, I chose to include 4 other possible colors—gold, red, blue, and green. I felt the minimal color usage would be impactful on a bold black and white design, so I developed every color to be rare. However, the most rare designs within the collection contain all 4 colors, and I ensured that such designs rarely appear when generated.

As the collection evolved, the Spookees were born.

Next, I modified the Hashlips Art Engine to output SVG files. SVGs are vector graphic files that can be infinitely scaled without any loss in quality. Then I added animation using CSS styles embedded within the SVG files. Technical stuff, I know.

Finally, I added the application to this website so others could enjoy the Spookee fun. I designed and developed this website using WordPress and WooCommerce. Then, I integrated the site with the print-on-demand service, Printful, using their API. As a result, customers can generate their own unique characters, save them, then download or order them on merchandise.

Although I never know what Spookee will emerge from the generator, I’m continually adding new shapes and traits to grow and evolve the millions of possible outcomes.

On the surface, Spookees appear simple—even stupid. However, beneath the surface is an ocean of technology, code, animation, and careful planning. Spookees are more than a brand. They are an evolving and growing collection of art generated by a community.