Having A Playful Mindset - Spilling Coffee On Purpose: Stefan Kuhnigk

You are in a meeting and you spill coffee on your papers. Most people get annoyed or try to clean up the mess. Stefan Kuhnigk, on the other hand, sees something incredible and does something with it. While working as a copy editor at an ad agency, Stefan turned his coffee stain into an adorable coffeemonster, which, years later, after deciding to create them daily to keep his creativity going, drew a massive following and led to his creating an ingenious coffeemonster coffee table book.

What made Stefan see a coffeemonster where others see just a stain? How did he go from a doodle to having a massive following and book? Read my interview with him to find out.

What sparked the idea for coffeemonsters?

I was sitting in a work meeting back in 2011 at my old ad agency. I spilled some coffee by accident and it looked like a monster because it already had eyes. I thought, it looks funny, I’ll let that dry. So I let it dry and after three to four hours I started to draw the outlines of a monster. It was just a little doodledoo. It took only five to ten minutes. Next day I wanted to do another.

At the time what I was missing in my day to day work was creativity. Because of that I took a spoon and coffee and I started to spill coffee on purpose. I remember my colleagues looking at me funny. But coffeemonsters were the perfect way to be creative every day. I always liked comics and well one thing led to the other. Since then I have tried to create one daily.

You’re in a different job now. What is the creative outlet like now at work?

I’m now in an ad agency in Hamburg. I do conceptual work. I’m creating campaigns now. I can’t write my own thoughts or things that come from my heart. I know how to put my creativity in place if I need to. The main part of being creative in my spare time is to do something that’s just for me. In my spare time I create designs for bands or create music. I play in several music projects. That’s a big part of me.

Had you had any drawing experience before?

When I was a little boy I read comic books. Asterix and Obelix, the biggest European comic book. I was reading them like crazy and also drawing since I was four or five. In school I was always doodling in my homework. I drew a comic about flies who have laser canons. They were cool. I also studied communication design and we had four semesters of drawing. There was a lot of experience there because my teacher was a professional illustrator.

Do you think of yourself as an artist?

I would never title myself as an artist. I don’t know why. I know people love these little creatures. Other people call me that now.

How did coffeemonsters catch on? What was that like?

It started as a project and then after one year I was like why not stay with it, it keeps me doing something every day. And then I had a tiny exhibition in my hometown in Germany. It was so fun to see how people react to these little monsters when they are standing in front of a wall. That was the first time I realized, dude, you made really many many of these. The whole wall was filled with them. That was the first time I thought this could probably be something. My mindset is always why should it be of interest to anybody, because it’s just coffee on paper and a few lines I draw there.

But then I had over 600 people following me on Instagram. And then I put up a BoredPanda article just for fun. I got featured on the featured page the next day and I was like, dude, I’m on BoredPanda! And then from there it went through every possible website, BuzzFeed, Mashable, and then 20,000 following me in two weeks. The second website was Art People Gallery and I was like, where did they get that? There are such good people out there. I didn’t consider myself as one of them. When you see your Instagram account rise above people you follow it’s a mind blower.

What or who has helped you become someone who thinks outside of the box?

That’s a hard question. I’ve never thought about that. I never consider myself as someone who is highly influenced by stuff. But I sure am. I cannot tell. My dad always said, “Do the bank job. It gives you good money.” And my mom was like, “Whatever, do what you like.” I think what’s helpful is to be aware of what’s going on around you and put your senses out.

Where does your playful side come from?

I was always the class clown and tried to make people laugh.

What do your current colleagues think of coffeemonsters?

At first they didn’t know about them. I didn’t go out and tell them. They got to know though after all the social media buzz. And they all shoot me emails now like, dude, you’re on such and such website!

What is your dream for Coffeemonsters?

Hmm…I’m an always improvising kind of guy. That’s something that really helps. Every situation I’m in I’m falling into places. I try to say yes to many things. A real dream for this project is that I hit 500 monsters and write a book. I’d love to have a coffee table book. That would be so great. It would mean something of mine is still there. I think it will happen. If I don’t find anyone who wants to publish it I will make a Kickstarter campaign. [Note: Since our interview Stefan did indeed publish a coffeemonster coffee table book through a Kickstarter campaign.]

What have been your greatest challenges in creating coffeemonsters?

To really accept okay now followers stream in and what I am I going to do with that. I was not prepared for that. I’ve got all these accounts now, society6, YouTube and Snapchat, and to get this all in one direction is like a second full-time job. The last two weeks were like don’t sleep, work. Some days I have to pay for that because I’m really tired.

The second big challenge was to fly to Brighton, England to the Reasons to Be Creative conference. It’s a great conference to open your mind. To fly there for $700 and commit some vacation days and I didn’t know many people there. It was a really cool experience because when I talked about these monsters I talked about them in English and I realized I prefer to talk about them in English. In Germany I’m this super shy guy standing behind my booth and I don’t talk to anyone. I googled this and found out that when people talk in different languages they are more confident. I found I could have a totally different mindset in another language.

So really this second challenge is about fear. Networking is not that easy for me. I’m a good networker for other people. I don’t use contacts I have most of the time. Why? I don’t know. The challenge at the conference was to really get there and just do something. I said to myself don’t just sit here in Hamburg at your job. Go for it. You have a chance to promote your work and why don’t you just do it. So I did and presented my work.

What advice do you have for aspiring artists and entrepreneurs?

I don’t know if I have advice for entrepreneurs because I don’t think of myself as one. I try to keep the pace with setting up the shop. To aspiring artists do what you really want to do and try to find something that suits you. Coffeemonsters suits me because it’s like a comic book, a one picture comic and it’s made out of coffee and I love coffee. Other people are trying to copy coffeemonsters and I don’t know why someone would want to copy it and not do their own thing. If you have a great idea, start with it. Don’t wait.

For more information about Stefan’s coffeemonsters check out his website at http://thecoffeemonsters.com/.

Julie Friedberg is an executive, business and personal leadership coach. She works with executives, entrepreneurs, changemakers and creative ambitious people to nurture and express their genius, unleash their creativity, expand their impact, launch and grow their dream venture and create the work and life they want. She also coaches polymaths juggling disparate worlds to find wholeness, success and joy. To learn more about Julie's coaching see www.juliefriedberg.com.