Infectious Creativity: The Unusual Mind of Tim Kehoe

by Erik May 4, 2010 • 04:03 pm

As a design firm, the only thing we value as much as creativity is the relationship we form with our clients. We feed off the energy that they bring to their own projects, and, just as we relish the opportunity to help guide a brand as it grows and evolves, we also cherish the opportunity to get to know the people we work with along the way.

Last year, we once again had the pleasure to work with our long-time friend, collaborator and client, Tim Kehoe. Among other things, Tim is a brilliant toy inventor and author, and several of us at Olive and Company have been lucky enough to work closely with Tim for several years as he’s moved from one intriguing project to the next.

Colored Bubbles and Rocket Kites
As anyone who has ever met Tim will attest, his enthusiasm for everything he works on is impossible to resist. If you ever have a chance to eat lunch with Tim, you’ll leave feeling completely, creatively revitalized. If you spend an afternoon with Tim, you’ll go away feeling confident that you’re capable of solving most of the world’s problems and that you’re probably just a few days away from completing a fully-operational time machine(1).

Tim has invented numerous toy products over the years, including Zubbles – the world’s first colored bubbles – which won Popular Science’s “Grand Prize for Innovation” in 2005(2). A couple of years ago, Tim turned his passion for toy invention into a book called The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow. The story follows the adventures of 11-year-old toy inventor extraordinaire Vincent Shadow as he learns to embrace his boundless creativity in order to overcome school bullies, conniving toy companies, and, worst of all, an evil stepmother.   

We were thrilled to be involved with the project in the early stages as we designed and produced promotional materials for Tim and the book, including a massive, one-of-a-kind leather-bound pitchbook. The pitchbook featured several pages of notes and sketches from Vincent Shadow’s Invention Notebook, which plays a significant role in the story. We knew that the Notebook pages needed to reflect Vincent’s genius, but they also needed to show the free-thinking, fun-loving creativity demonstrated by Vincent throughout the story. With toy inventions like a football that attacks its receiver, action figures with interchangeable personalities, a lie-detecting pen, a rocket that turns into a kite, paints that match the artist’s mood, and many, many more, every page of Vincent’s Notebook overflows with inspiration, brought to life in Mike Wohnoutka’s playful and detailed illustrations.





Evangelizing the Power of Invention
These Notebook pages were eventually included in a booklet attached to the back of the book itself, which was published by Little, Brown late last year and has garnered praise for Tim from parents, teachers, and readers everywhere. It’s rewarding to see something we’ve worked on be so well-received, but we take even greater satisfaction from contributing – even if only in a small way – to the success of a client and a project that inherently promotes the value of creative thought.

As one individual reviewer wrote on Amazon.com, “My 5th grader has now started his own notebook of ideas.” A potential future inventor? Author? Designer? I can’t think of any better validation of Tim’s work.

So, what’s next for Tim? We can’t give away all of his secrets, but we can say that Tim’s follow-up Vincent Shadow book will be released later this year. We can also say with some confidence that the only thing more impressive than Vincent’s Notebook is Tim’s own notebook, and, whatever he decides to work on, it’s sure to be amazing and we’re hopeful that we’ll have another chance to contribute and collaborate.