I was asked recently why I changed the business name from Abnormalbrain to Make/Believe.
Generally, I always felt like A/B was too derivative. It had the silly/monstery/fun aspect that I liked, but was too directly derived from the old Mel Brooks film, and it often required explanation.
More importantly, A/B played into this situation that always irritated me: the idea that I was a weirdo because I made stuff. As a kid, any time I'd draw something weird or complex, or even just time-intensive, someone would inevitably ask, 'what kind of drugs were you doing?' That was always so derisive, and usually from a person who had rarely bothered to try and make anything. A person who was lazy, of thought and deed.
In reality, those of us who can’t help but create, we vastly outnumber those who don't.
M/B is a self-assertion. It's positive, hopeful, and forward-looking. It also clearly alludes to the magic of children’s imaginations, which is has become the specialty of my business.
People like all of us, we can think anything, we can make anything.
