A creative force so fundamental to human nature that once you see it, you'll never look at the world the same way again

11 standout examples of 'Batchcraft' (+ a reminder about a call for submissions)

Dear subscribers,

There's a shop in Madrid that sells nothing but rubber ducks.

Not just your standard yellow bathroom companions—we're talking hundreds of distinct personalities in PVC form.

Astronaut ducks. Vampire ducks. Ducks dressed as other animals pretending to be ducks.

And here's the thing: one silly rubber duck is cool. Maybe. But an entire shop full of creatively reimagined ducks? That’s something else.

Ducking around in Madrid.

This is what I call Batchcraft—the art of creating series of things that shine both individually and as a family.

Once you start noticing Batchcraft, you see it everywhere.

I've been collecting examples of beautiful Batchcraft for years, and I'm about to share ten more of my favourites.

But more importantly, I want you to join me in creating some Batchcraft of our own.

By the end of this post, you'll have a chance to be part of something bigger than just another blog post—a collective piece of creative work that celebrates both our individual stories and our shared humanity.

First though, here’s my love letter to the art of Batchcraft.

10 more standout examples of Batchcraft

#1 Tools of mass seduction

We were moving some stuff into storage recently and I was reunited with my tools (I was an electrician for 13 years). I felt an urge to photograph them and stick them in a grid like this because, look, I’ve been digging Batchcraft for donkey’s years and I knew they’d all look sick together. Am I wrong? Look at that aesthetic!!

#2 Emojis: The OG Batch Masters

We take them for granted but emojis are Batchcraft par excellence. Each one of them is a masterpiece of information design, incorporating the most distinctive quality of the object it’s supposed to depict. And yet, they’d be lost without each other. Oh, and the other great Batchcrafty thing about emojis is that they are crowdsourced by the public.

#3 Slice slice baby

If you like to eat pizza in individual slices like this, then you are my friend and comrade without further introduction 🍕

#4 Shelf life

If you’ve ever spent time in bookshops and wondered what it is that makes you feel so warm, fuzzy and inspired, it’s not the mahogany or the smiling staff; it’s the Batchcraftiness of it all. And if you go to The Standard Hotel in London, you’ll see how they batch their books in even more interesting ways like this.

#5 Watch how I batch

Droool. (Unknown artist). Maybe Batchcraft is why people like to collect stuff?

#6 Getting our rocks off (matrimonially speaking)

My wife Corina made personalised hand-painted rocks for each guest at our wedding. They’re one of our favourite elements of the whole day—and people loved them.

#7 Accidental artist: When Bob the Builder goes to batch

No idea where I took this pic, but I love that in any domain, even the most obscure ones, Batchcraft is an unstoppable force. The person who put this document together probably had a shaved head, a couple of missing fingers, and knew as much about art as a brick knows about interpretive dance. But just look at the wonder they stoked without even realising it!

#8 You scream, I scream, we all scream for colour schemes

i promise I’m not being paid by Van Leewen for this post. But if you’re from Van Leewen and you want me to be an ambassador, it would be my honour provided you keep adding more lovely colours to the family.

#9 Let’s face it, I’m obsessed with Batchcraft

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 2013. (Digital print: 38 x 38 inches). In case you haven’t worked this out by now, Batchcraft frees you from society’s expectations and opens up a whole world of thrilling, slightly regrettable yet nonetheless intriguing possibilities, like this Batch of all the different faces I could imagine pulling. This is the sort of shit you get up to at art school. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out.

#10 Blogging: A batch made in heaven

This is a screengrab of my blog. A blog is a standout example of Batchcraft (provided you’ve published enough posts to make a lil group like this!). Seriously tho, each of your posts is an artwork in its own right. You conceive of it, produce it, and enjoy it according to its own special magic. That’s how I see it anyway. And once it’s published, it takes its place among its siblings, cousins, and other weirdos in the family. What a beautiful privilege it is to blog!

OK, time for a quick Batchcraft pep talk

Standing out and fitting in are two of the most basic human needs. Leaving one or both of them unfulfilled will make you miserable.

The trouble is it's practically impossible to fulfill both at the same time. The more you distinguish yourself, the less you’ll belong to the group. And the more you belong to the group, the less distinctive you’ll become.

I'm not being black-or-white about it. I know it’s more complicated than that. I know real life is played out in the messy middle.

What I'm saying is that life doesn't offer you many opportunities to steer an easy path through that messiness.

But the amazing thing is, within the safety of creative work, those same restrictions don't apply!

Batchcraft tells that contradiction to fuck right off. It gives you a way of being defiantly yourself, while still belonging to something bigger.

As a consumer of Batchcraft, you can appreciate the uniqueness of a single emoji as well as the family it belongs to.

And as a creator of Batchcraft, you can relish doing whatever the hell you like, knowing it will still have a place to belong.

You are invited to batch with us

If this makes you feel creative and you want to do some Batchcraft, then I've got just the thing for you!

I'm inviting anybody who's interested to join a group Batchcraft writing exercise on Substack.

The way it works is simple: Tell your life's story in six words using this quick form and I'll publish all qualifying submissions together in a single post here on Substack on 28 Feb 2025 (that’s this Friday!).

20+ people have already submitted 🤗

Here is a graphic I made with a few of their submissions:

And since we're all strangers united by this shared prompt, I'm also going to organise a social zoom call in March for all participants to meet each other. Stay tuned for more on that.

Good things happen when you Batch-craft your creativity. And if you do take part, I'm excited to read your story and get to know you more.

See you soon, happy batching!

Harrison 👨‍🎨

🐥🪲🐢🪼🐠🐊🐒🕷️🦓🦩🦔

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