Article 15: Finding Royalty-Free Artwork for 'A Bright Ass Idea!'
With so many royalty-free image platforms available, choosing the right one for A Bright Ass Idea! came down to a mix of cost, variety, and convenience. While there are plenty of free resources out there, I decided that Freepik was the best fit for this project.
Why Freepik?
Why? At only $9 per month, Freepik offers a massive library of illustrations—and since I only need a handful of images for this book, I can subscribe, download what I need within a month, and cancel before the next billing cycle. Given that I wrote, illustrated, and published Sh*t, I Need a Job! in a month, selecting a few images for A Bright Ass Idea! will be no problem.
With Freepik, I’ll be able to choose from thousands of vector illustrations (which I will ultimately use), cartoons, and design elements to bring the book to life while ensuring visual consistency. Now, it’s time to map out exactly what artwork is needed for each page and explore two different image approaches—one that aligns with my personal style, and one that AI suggests as an alternative perspective.
Image Selection: Page-by-Page Breakdown
Curious to see how my personal choices for illustrations would compare to AI’s selections, I decided to put it to the test. Using the story we developed in Article 13: Drafting the Story, I fed the text into AI to see what it would suggest for each page. The results? Some surprisingly creative ideas I wouldn’t have considered on my own.
Below, I’ve broken down the image selection process into two perspectives:
- What I would likely choose.
- What AI recommends.
Let’s see how they compare!
⚠️ WARNING: Explicit Content – Parental Advisory in Effect ⚠️
Page 1: The Dark Ages of Lighting
Text: “Once upon a time, way back in the olden days, everything was lit by fucking candles and smelly shitty oil lamps. Can you imagine that? It was dark as hell, and people were constantly tripping over crap in the dark.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A cartoon-style illustration of a frustrated person tripping over furniture in a pitch-black room lit only by a flickering candle.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A humorous medieval-style tavern scene, where people are fumbling around in dim candlelight, knocking things over, and struggling to see.
Page 2: Humphry Davy and the Platinum Problem
Text: “One of these dudes, named Humphry Davy, figured out that if you hooked a thin piece of platinum up to a battery, it would glow really bright. But here’s the catch: platinum was fucking expensive, so nobody could afford to light their house with it.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A cartoon portrait of Humphry Davy holding an early electric lamp with an exaggeratedly expensive price tag hanging from it.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A pile of gold bars next to a light bulb, symbolizing how unaffordable platinum was for the average person.
Page 3: Failed Attempts at Light Bulbs
Text: “Some tried using carbon, which was cheaper than platinum, but burned out pretty quickly. Others tried filling the bulbs with different gases, hoping to make the filament last longer. These guys were all pretty damn smart, but none of them could quite crack the code.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A scientist looking frustrated at a pile of burnt-out light bulbs on his desk.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A humorous illustration of a light bulb exploding into smoke, symbolizing repeated failure.
Page 4: Enter Thomas Edison
Text: “Now, let’s talk about this motherfucker named Thomas Edison. You’ve probably heard of him, right? Well, he wasn’t exactly the saint history makes him out to be.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A smug-looking Thomas Edison with his arms crossed, standing next to a glowing light bulb.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A split-image of Edison—one side showing him as a revered inventor, the other as a sneaky businessman, playing into his dual reputation.
Page 5: The Muckers and Their Experiments
Text: “He was a cunning bastard, always trying to screw over his competitors. But, gotta give him credit, he was also a damn good inventor. Edison and his team of misfits, known as the ‘muckers,’ spent years experimenting with different materials for the filament.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A chaotic lab scene with Edison and his team working, surrounded by scattered tools, failed bulbs, and messy notes.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A whiteboard full of filament experiments with different materials listed and crossed out, showing the trial-and-error process.
Page 6: The Global Hunt for Bamboo
Text: “They tried everything from wood shavings to coconut hair before finally settling on bamboo, which turned out to be the shit. To get the best bamboo, Edison sent his guys all over the damn world, from Brazil to China.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A map with a dotted line showing an expedition route from the U.S. to Brazil, China, and Cuba.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A pile of various filaments (wood, coconut hair, bamboo) with Edison pointing to bamboo like it’s the holy grail.
Page 7: The Light Bulb Finally Works
Text: “Edison eventually got his lightbulb to work, but it wasn’t just because he was a genius. He had a kick-ass team of scientists and engineers who helped him figure out the details.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A group of scientists celebrating around a glowing light bulb, cheering and high-fiving.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A side-by-side comparison of a failed light bulb vs. the final working one.
Page 8: Edison’s Self-Promotion
Text: “Edison was constantly hyping up his inventions, even before they were finished, just to fuck with his rivals.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A newspaper with a dramatic headline like “Edison’s Miracle Light!”
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A political-style cartoon of Edison holding a megaphone, promoting his light bulb while competitors watch angrily.
Page 9: Edison & Swan Join Forces
Text: “Swan was lighting up houses and theaters in England while Edison was still fucking around with bamboo. Eventually, these two sons-of-bitches realized they were better off working together than fighting each other.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A cartoon handshake between Edison and Joseph Swan with a “truce” sign.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A split-screen image of Edison and Swan glaring at each other, then shaking hands in the next frame.
Page 10: The Final Thought
Text: “And that, kids, is the fucked-up story of the lightbulb.”
✅ Levi’s Pick:
- A modern city skyline at night, showing the impact of the invention.
🤖 AI’s Pick:
- A pile of broken bulbs leading up to a final working one, symbolizing perseverance.
Next Steps: Downloading and Editing the Images
Now that we have a clear idea of what images we need, the next step is to start searching Freepik for illustrations that match these descriptions. Next week, I’ll break down the process of sourcing, modifying, and integrating these images into A Bright Ass Idea! to create a visually cohesive book.
