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Two years ago Mo Golden and her boyfriend, Ross Cowman, started to joke about making inspirational cat posters. At first, the Olympia couple laughed about creating scenes with cats in human poses and inspirational quotes. But then Mo got serious and told Ross, “September 2016 put it in your calendar. We’re making this a reality.” With a date two years in the future, Ross figured he could agree because what were the chances it would actually happen?

xeroxFast forward to this September. Mo reminds Ross it’s time to get down to business on those inspirational cat posters they had joked about years ago. Although art and creativity are at the root of both their lives, the two never dreamed they’d be starting a business making posters for cats. Mo works full-time as a trip leader taking students on adventures around the world, while also serving as a creative coach. As for Ross, he is a game designer with a publishing background. But put the two together, and they make a great team with a unique idea. And with Ross’s cat Lily to use as a muse, how could they go wrong?

cat posters
Inspurrational Cat Posters are the brainchild of Mo Golden and Ross Cowman. Photo courtesy: Mo Golden.

The couple started out making some mock-ups, but then realized their vision was wrong. “Wait a second, cats don’t like other cats. They don’t want to see cats on their posters. That’s not inspiring for them,” Mo says laughing. She explains to me how cats want something familiar, something they enjoy looking at. Because cats are creatures of habit, the project looks to improve the spaces they already enjoy.

Mo adds, “Before it was this ha ha idea for humans to laugh about, but then we started actually thinking about the cats.” Many times humans blame animals for their behaviors, but actually they are reflections of the environment around them. “Cats are very sensitive. They really just reflect what’s going on. They’re kind of like a mirror for you to see what’s going on,” Ross shares from his own experience.

cat posters
The mini-posters are designed to be the perfect size for cats and feature catchy puns. Photo courtesy: Mo Golden.

Because of a cat’s complex nature, it was only fitting for Mo and Ross to take a scientific approach to the posters. They decided to use rules similar to what galleries do for displaying artwork at the appropriate eye level.

This led them to create a four-step process for putting up their posters.

  • Step 1: Sit with your cat and choose a poster together (maybe they react to a certain one).
  • Step 2: Pick a location where your cat likes to hang out (observe where you see your cat most often).
  • Step 3: Measure paw to jaw (the posters even come with a handy measurement tool).
  • Step 4: Hang the poster. The whole process is quite easy, as I found out after doing it myself with my ten-year-old son and our cat.
cat posters
Each folder of posters comes with eight different designs and a measurement tool. Photo courtesy: Mo Golden.

So, what started as a kind of crazy idea has turned into something much more specific. Ross explains, “The posters themselves are really simple. It’s a simple idea, an inexpensive product. But the beauty of it is the interaction that these posters can facilitate between the cat and owner.” Mo adds, “It’s funny and zany, but it’s also kind of teaching empathy to the cat’s humans and creating that connection so that we’re really noticing the cat’s perspective.”

The professionals agree the couple is on to something. Mo and Ross tell me they recently got the stamp of approval from a feline behaviorist in the Portland area. Ross tells me, “Yes, the posters are silly, but cats are also silly. The behaviorist really loved how the posters captured all of that. They invite the owners to pay attention to their cat’s little special places. Like this one says, ‘Paws and Be Grateful.’ It reminds you that your cat has needs, and you need to pay attention to them.” Mo and Ross also stopped at a cat cafe and a hotel for cats. Everyone went crazy for the posters and shared in their excitement.

cat posters
Mo and Ross have gone into homes and tried out their product and the response is in, cats and people love them. Photo courtesy: Mo Golden.

Mo and Ross have also taken their inspirational cat posters into people’s homes recently, and say it’s interesting to see the shift in the owners as they go through the process. “You can see how much joy it brings to the owners to be doing this with their cats. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, and the cats appreciate the extra attention,” Ross shares. Mo says she was amazed to see the cats paying attention and interacting with the posters. “It definitely matters to them,” she says. “They notice their humans putting the poster there with intent and love, and it seems they pick up on that.”

This project is turning out to be about much more than just cats. It’s about two people coming together creatively and learning to see things a little differently. “You can take the principles of this and apply that to anything else in your life,” Ross says. “This project helped me to realize art can be fun and, when it’s done well, can still be meaningful or political. It can be all of these things.”

cat posters
The posters are designed to be placed in areas the cats frequent and encourages people to pay more attention to their pets. Photo courtesy: Mo Golden.

“What the world needs now is empathy,” he continues. “And these posters in a small way teach you to have empathy with your cat and with other animals and beings in the world.”

The Olympia residents just finished a Kickstarter campaign to raise interest and funds for their project and are taking orders online at inspurration.com. The pack of eight cat-sized posters will sell for $10 and Mo and Ross hope to get them in some Thurston County stores soon. But even if the project doesn’t take off and develop into a cat poster take-over of the world, Ross says they are happy with the outcome. “Even just what we’ve done now, it’s already brought so much joy into people’s lives. When we started these posters I assumed they were meaningless, but now I feel like they’ve already done so much good in the world.”

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