John Baanstra is a friend of mine from junior high who I am getting to know again through Facebook and Instagram. He recently posted this photo of a glass fishing float, with the comment that they were washing up on local shores lately. That's notable, because the Japanese fishing fleet doesn't use these anymore and it's been decades since they've turned up regularly on our beaches (citation required here, certainly). One possibility that John proposed is that a bunch of them were entangled on a submerged wreck and have recently escaped from it for some reason. I can buy that.
In response, I (rather droll-y, I think) said now all he needs is a chunk of ambergris and a severed human foot in a running shoe to complete the set. The idea tickled me, so I threw a graphic together and posted it in the replies. The result was satisfactory, but I soon began thinking about working the graphic some more and turning it into a portfolio piece. It was a great opportunity to mock up a poster such as a potential client might need. A number of changes were made to improve the graphic's text legibility, but one critical conceptual change was made.
I replaced "Ambergris" with "Starfish" for a couple of reasons. One was that a little light Googling revealed that ambergris is more common on the East Coast - curse you, facts! More importantly, using "Starfish" preserved the comedic turn for the last item in the series - much better for the humour.
For all items with this design available at Redbubble, please go here.
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