Roughly sixty days ago, the last thing on my mind was launching yet another site or project. Certainly not one involving Star Wars, and definitely not some kind of DIY/crafters call-to-action. Yet, two months later, here I am, announcing the official launch of “Star Wars Remix,” a website inviting fans to remix their world into something from the Star Wars universe.
The genesis for this started innocently enough with a few Skype calls to Emma Beddows, an Australian PhD candidate studying transmedia, pop culture, and fandom.
We talked a lot about value co-creation and fandom, and somewhere along the way (I couldn’t tell you exactly when), we decided we should start a website devoted to Star Wars fans – a site that invited them remix their world into something from the Star Wars universe. Something that puts our mutual passion for Star Wars in a context perfectly suited to our interest in fandom and creativity.
Here’s how it works: just take things in your ordinary world and remix them into the Star Wars world, then send us a picture. The emphasis is on ordinary and remix, so please stay away from digital designs/art, fan art, and using manufactured toys in your remixes.
Why?
Well, there are a ton of sites with great, curated collections of fan art and digital creations. No point in reinventing that wheel. And, we wanted the remixes to be really textural and tactile, where the remix produced both an end “product” but also a true “hands-on” experience.
Finally, we chose to use a Creative Commons license for all of the images. Because, you know, it just seemed right for this kind of project. Right?
Once Emma and I had the overall concept in place, we reached out to Noah Scalin (the creative behind Skull-a-Day) and Mica Scalin to help us get things off the ground with some initial remixes, a header image for the website, and help with spreading the word.
I’m thrilled as much to be working with smart, talented people like Emma, Noah, and Mica as I am to see how the creative community has already responded to our invitation (I’m truly impressed with the submissions – can’t wait to share them!).
And if you’re a Star Wars fan or just a very creative DIY/crafter, please head on over to Star Wars Remix and check out the remixes. You’re probably a lot closer to a galaxy far, far away than you think…