/Interview/ The brains behind: The 700 Hoboes Project
15/01/2007 | Filed under Discover > Interview
When author John Hodgman included a list of 700 hobo names in his satirical almanac The Areas of Expertise, he unwittingly started an internet phenomenon. We asked illustrator Adam Koford to talk us through the project (www.e-hobo.com)
.net: What made you set up a Flickr group to illustrate 700 Hoboes (www.flickr.com/groups/700hoboes/discuss/127629)?
AK: The project started very informally. Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing suggested, after hearing John Hodgman’s reading of the list (www.areasofmyexpertise.com/hoboes.html), that cartoonists start posting their drawings to Flickr and tagging them with ‘700hoboes’. This would enable visitors to search for the tag and see all of the submissions together. However, it turns out that if your photostream only contains drawings, they won’t show up in public search results (also known as NIPSA, or ‘not in public site areas’). So even though more and more artists were submitting drawings, they weren’t showing up when someone searched for ‘700hoboes’. To avoid this, I simply made a group so there would be one common pool to add illustrations to. The group is public, so there’s no restriction on visiting or submitting to it.
.net: What do you like most about this project?
AK: The thing I love most about the list is its density. There are references I picked up immediately and some I’m just figuring out now. For instance, I just learned what and where Metuchen is, and that there was something unique enough about it to put into my interpretation of hobo 121, Metuchen O’Sullivan. There’s also a section of 10 names from the film The Dark Crystal. It took me a couple of months to pick up on that one as well. Not that all of the illustrations or illustrators catch the reference every time. I know I don’t.
.net: What made you contribute a whopping 449 entries yourself?
AK: Is that all? I think I have a few more to scan. I already tended to keep a sketchbook with me before the project started. This was an opportunity to steer my drawings in one direction for a while. Most of my drawings are quite small and I draw very fast. Also, I seldom watch TV or a movie without a pen and paper handy. There are hoboes I’ve spent a bit more time creating, but for every one of those, there are 10 or 11 I simply draw, scan and quickly colour in Photoshop.
.net: How long did it take for the project to reach its goal?
AK: All 700 hoboes had an illustration by 5 September, which coincided with the release of the paperback edition of John Hodgman’s book, The Areas of My Expertise. The paperback edition contains an additional 100 hobo names, so what we thought was a milestone was actually a setback.
.net: Did every submission make it to the master list?
AK: The only restriction on submissions is that they not be photographs of actual homeless people. Anyone who has read Hodgman’s book knows they aren’t really hoboes anyway.
.net: How popular is the Flickr group?
AK: There are around 260 members, about 100 of which have contributed a drawing to the pool. Some of my hoboes have been viewed by several thousand visitors, and I’m sure the same is true for other contributors.
.net: What do you think about the site some project members built?
AK: It’s beautiful and lends a lot of legitimacy to what may otherwise be seen as the semi-incoherent scrawlings of a bunch of weird cartoonists.
.net: What does John Hodgman think of the project?
AK: Who’s he again? Actually, he’s been very kind and encouraging about it since the very beginning. I don’t think any of us ever actually thought it would go this far, so he’s probably a bit surprised as well.
.net: What gave you the inspiration when you drew your hoboes?
AK: I’ve tried to get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, but primarily from the list itself. Some of my creations are manipulated photos, one or two are thrift store art, and there are probably too many comic book characters that make an appearance. Sometimes, I will have a name stuck in the back of my head for a while until a solution comes along. There’s a hobo named ‘Most Agree: It’s Kilpatrick’ which is very funny on its own of course, but how do you illustrate that? I think my solution is pretty good, if not necessarily cartoony. I’ve tried not to limit myself in any way.
.net: Which is your favourite hobo?
AK: Probably my first, number 149: Blackbolt, King of the Inhumans.
.net: Which is the most popular hobo?
AK: My most popular is number 521, Chaim the Squirrel Keeper. One kind person joined Flickr just so he could comment on it.
.net: Can people still contribute now that the goal has been reached?
AK: Yes. I have no plans on stopping, although I may slow down from time to time.
.net: Who are you anyway? What else do you do on the web?
AK: I’m a freelance illustrator. I’ve done mascot designs, safety posters, greetings cards, gag cartoons, and a whole lot of projects not too many people have seen. There has been an increase in online collaborative art projects over the past couple of years, which I enjoy participating in, although to a much smaller degree than the hoboes. I’ve submitted work to Conan vs Bear, Illustration Friday, the Dog Days of Animation, the Big Beautiful Wonder Woman blog, and a few others.
.net: Why is your pseudonym Ape Lad?
AK: My pseudonym is 6/7ths of my phone number. I never used it prior to joining Flickr and didn’t know it would stick like it has, but it seemed easier to recognise and remember than Adam Koford. And it helps that I’m quite tall and hairy.
.net: Are there any plans for the future of the 700 Hoboes Project?
AK: We’ve got the additional 100 names to do, as well as challenges every couple of weeks for members to all draw the same name. It’s quite fun. John Hodgman has indicated that his follow-up book will contain a list of 700 Mole Man names, so we have that to look forward to. Dan and Len and others are also planning some great things with e-zombie.com (which isn’t Hodgman related, but similar to the hobo project). I plan on rambling along through the list of hobo names. It’s never officially been my intention to illustrate them all, but ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ as they say.
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Comments
Steve / 28/03/2008 / 23:40 / http://www.gadgets4nowt.co.uk
I must have been living under a rock for the last year, I really had no idea about this "project" before reading this post.
Twenty minutes browsing images and I am not sure I am any the wiser, only to the extent that I am strangely drawn (no pun intended) to find out more.
I did note that some of the contributors were banned, any reason why?
Jeff / 01/08/2008 / 02:33 / http://www.interstartv.com
Sounds like he's doing something that he loves. That must be the life.
The flickr group has over 400 members now and still going strong.
