Monetizing our mad fractal skills

[tobiles]

Long ago my father told me to find something I love, and find a way to make a living from it. I tried, but found myself in a 35 year career that I didn't exactly love. I love exploring fractals, and given the chance, I find I spend a lot of time doing it.

So, has anybody managed to make money with fractals, and if so, how? I think a lot of us would like to know just how to turn this hobby into one that can help pay the bills. Even wild ideas could be food for thought.

I have a dream of giving the planetarium "laser Floyd" concept a run for their money. Imagine fractal movies projected on a planetarium dome, with live musicians jamming to the imagery. The trick is convincing the powers that be to take the chance.

I think there are enough of us factolites to get the attention of the world, but we just have to find a way to do it.

[cKleinhuis]

fratcal fridays uses a planetarium, once a month to show fractal films ...

[tobiles]

I know all about Dr. Wolfe's efforts and his Fractal Foundation, and I do wish to see that spread around. Not all of us can get to Albuquerque on the first Friday of the month, though. I recommend that anybody who can do so, make the trip and go to the show.

But, there are other possibilities as well, aren't there? Other ways to spread fractals about, get the general public exposed, and expand the market, so to speak, for what we are so good at doing?

[cKleinhuis]

ehm, to be true, i try to make a living out of fractals as well, right now i try to broaden audience by making the tvshow, basically my idea is to get more buyers for the calendar, it is a far way in front of me to make this a living, but it is the thing I HAVE TO DO and if some day the selling of merchandise could make up for a living it would be great, i would suggest the following to make money out of it:

- simple realtime 3d fractal animation syncronized to music, sellable to party organizers
- high quality fractal art, the stuff bib and kraftwerk are showing at värmlands museum, dunno how much their revenue is
- sell fractal merchandise, buy a 3d printer, paint the stuff by yourself and sell them for a reasonable price ...
-

[lxh]

I guess it would be a hard business. Because some things in life are only great if you are doing them by your own, so with fractals ... researching, exploring, finding and tuning is the real kick .. not consuming. And people aren't spending real money on digital images or posters. They spend money for cinema movies, which are not only an unimaginable effort but an associable content! So .. if there's no breathtaking 1:30h i-max movie with fantastic music ...

But maybe a M3D renderfarm would be a first stage for the aim.

[Apophyster]

I've seen skateboards offered with fractals somehow drawn on them.  They have a very lacquered look, but I don't recall the site or any description of the process.  I think it was a site something like Red Bubble, where the board wouldn't actually be made until it was ordered.

Then I thought, there MUST be some guitars with fractals out there.  A google image search found a very interesting example.  But it was obviously a long shot, insofar as generating income is concerned.  I didn't look for details but I it seems like the contest prize involved would have been considerable.
Check who chose the winning design (a fractal collage):
http://www.ibanez.co.jp/JEMUV/winner.html

Slightly disconcerting was a note I saw on another page which said this:
"Update: We would like to congratulate Alessandro Serrago for winning the Jem 77,777 contest. Although elements were taken from a free art website, much of the design was based on his ingenuity."

http://www.vai.com/category/steves-equipment/

I don't know what to make of that, but IMHO, the fractal arrangement on that guitar is kind of weak compared to what I've seen *consistently* displayed here.

Personally I've never wanted to mix any fractal thing I do with money.  It would spoil it for me.
But that's just me and I don't have any qualms about people earning some bucks selling *their own* material.

Obviously many people are already marketing fractal images whether they're merely taking advantage of a relatively unknown visual form or they're people who put considerable effort into producing meaningful and worthwhile works.
Fred

[Rathinagiri]

Here in India fractals can be used in fashion designing especially in women sarees. And yes u can earn money a lot.

[Rathinagiri]

For example see the abstract designs here.
http://www.anshusdesigns.com/
Search for india women saree design in google. :-)

[msltoe]

Random ideas:

I second the three-dimensional art objects idea, although the key would be to use durable materials, unless we're just looking at museum pieces.

Some people make fractal software and sell it. Although, often 3d software is given away for free.

A fractal exploration video game might attract a following. One where the world is constantly changing and there's some goal in how to occupy it or use it to solve a problem.

A few layman's level books on the subject could sell, if the quality of the pictures and explanations capture's a wide audience. Certainly, the current societal exposure of fractals is very small.

For scientists, I'm sure there's a few problems in physics and biology that could benefit from 3-D fractal analysis.

[lxh]

The real art is the marketing and how you sell yourself. And it doesn't matter what it is. A good example is this ...



Believe it or not, this (hmm .. i think its a toilet door) went away for 65 Million Dollars!!!
So we just should establish a totally rich and stupid clientele.

[lxh]

Sorry ... I couldn't resist. 

[taurus]

Believe it or not, this (hmm .. i think its a toilet door) went away for 65 Million Dollars!!!
So we just should establish a totally rich and stupid clientele.

apt context - as usual!
 

[steinkamp.me]

lol

[Alef]

Looks ar Mark Rotko. (He is almoust of the same place as am I.)

[weavers]

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