The Idea for a Coloring Book Celebrating Scientists
This blog post is part of the Super Cool Scientists FAQ Series, where we answer some of the most common questions about the project.
The top frequently asked question we get about the Super Cool Scientists coloring books is:
How did you come up with the idea to create a coloring book celebrating scientists?
Well, I’d been wanting a new project to spark some creativity. I was stuck in a routine loop and needed something to switch things up. And to be honest, I was looking for a project to help me feel like I could regain a bit of control. At the time, work and some other personal issues had me stressed, and I was in search mode to find a solution.
In the process, I discovered coloring as a calming activity that helped me slow things down. I really enjoyed coloring books with lots of geometric patterns and repetitive images like mandalas. I’d use crayons or colored pencils, but found markers were my favorite coloring utensil. It’s just something about how smooth you can make the lines, I think. This all happened right before the adult coloring book craze hit big, so I give a huge thanks to my psychology-major mom for the initial suggestion.
One day, I was thinking about types of coloring books I’d be interested in getting for myself. As a former science major working in research programs, I searched online for “women in science coloring books” and you know what popped up? Nothing! I got ZERO results.
In my entire history of online searches, I don’t think I’d ever had that happen before. Have you? It was at that moment I knew I had found my creative project—I just had to figure out how to actually create a coloring book about scientists.
I listed all kinds of reasons why it wouldn’t work:
I had a full-time leadership position that took a lot of my time and brainpower.
I had never written a book.
I wasn’t an illustrator by any stretch of the imagination.
However, I knew how to make a plan and manage a project. So, the Super Cool Scientists coloring book project began!
You can learn more about the coloring books on the Super Cool Scientists section of our website.