In 2019, I discovered this incredible project made by Brian Eno (a musical and artistic legend known for being the godfather of Ambient music, helping Talking Heads, David Bowie, DEVO, U2, Coldplay, etc. to create their most acclaimed releases) and a painter by the name of Peter Schmidt. It was apparently an index card set created to help creative "ruts" by giving you very (at times) abstract prompts to get your mind stirring of ideas with that unique limitation in mind. The name of the set? Oblique Strategies. I thought "wow that sounds so cool, what the fuck!", I used it right away, never looking back. In 2020 I read a book named "Visual Music" about Brian Eno's creative process. Going over how creative fields don't exist in a vacuum, how different disciplines/interests drive others and how generative systems can be made to create art based on patterns (regardless of the medium).
March of 2021, I made a P5.JS + Godot project based around compiling all cards across all editions of Oblique Strategies. Fast forward another year and a half, in 2023, I decided to say "y'know what, let me make my own card set!". That edition still being available at: Velvet Dice
The version you see has my own creative cards + a bunch of other sections! Including Hex color generating, random emoji, textures to drive ideas (things like sturdy, gritty, dented), and the abstract "contrasts interpolate" category which gives you 2 extremes. This also leaning towards music, with a modal chord progression generator & time settings. But, in total, I was never really too happy with it. The cards felt overly self-indulgent in a way that didn't translate to other people, the textures were lame, I never used the contrasts interpolate section, and the name was stupid.
So there were a few things that needed to happen when redoing this project. First off, redo the cards because they should translate more clearly while still maintaining my personality. Add textures that are more evocative & emotional. As well as slimming everything down and really testing to see how it feels to use.
This time, it feels delighting, playful, and actually fun to use. The version I wanted all along.
Affectionately named Quark - meaning smallest unit of matter - it means that from a tiny input and idea, it spawns a rippling tidal change. Whether that's to a freshly started up music project, sound design, writing, or an in-progress painting - really anything you want to apply it to! Also, each section in Quark can be omitted or included as you feel. The point is not that you use all the settings at a given time - although you 100% can - but that you simply get thrown into a different direction than you normally, helping keep your creativity fresh. Pick the pieces you like and that inspire you.
This isn't just noise either, it's a spark that leads you to somewhere very interesting, it quite literally encourages and gives you the space to actively explore, rather than be stuck in your usual patterns and way of doing things. So often when we create, it's the same motions we operate and work off of and we dont even realize it. This shakes that up entirely by making you more intentional, aware, and feeding you new inspiration to create with. Often times I get a card pull that makes me create the most weirdly gorgeous thing that I would have NEVER created otherwise. Giving me a genre like "russian folk rock" or "hyperpop brasileiro" (Brazil mentioned). I mean, look at these cards I pulled and tell me it doesn't make you feel inspired.
- Card => The heart of the application, it gives you an abstract card that you can interpret in anyway you'd like. (122 count)
- Sensory => To get you thinking in terms of the senses (162 count)
- Emoji => Random Emoji! (1500+ of these guys)
- Tone–Genre => MASSIVE genre bank for either direct music genre or as a soundtrack/tone setter while you're creating. (6200+ of these btw, so good luck seeing the same one twice!)
- Chord progression => A modal chord progression generator using all 7 modes of the major scale.
- BPM => The beats per minute of the song (40 - 200 bpm).
- Time signature => Division of time the song is using.
- Rhythm => Beats to hit in the given time signature.
Don't like a certain pull from a section? You can type in the number of that section and have it reroll just that, keeping the rest of your cards intact. Important to add, there's no shame in doing this or wanting a different result or vibe! So please feel free to.
I made this little application because not only did I want to improve my musical adventures - wanting a tailor made version of Oblique Strategies but expanded and personalized - but just as importantly I wanted to give people a fun toy to help them break out of creative ruts & art block. So here's what I'll say:
If you create anything with this tool, feel free to message me anywhere sharing what you made. I'd be delighted to take a look/listen. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read the readme for this silly project.
Happy Quarking!~
Discord: raineeera
Email: raineivyaeera@gmail.com