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Anatomy of a severed-thumb USB drive (pictures)

Photographer Justin Poulson promotes his services using a realistic-looking thumb-shaped USB drive made from a mold of his own digit.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
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1 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Thumbdrives look like real thumbs

Photographer Justin Poulsen created a truly memorable promotional mailer package by building a set of USB thumbdrives that look like real severed thumbs.

The process of mold-making, pouring and painting resulted in some disturbingly realistic digits. A working USB drive was embedded in each one. Poulsen was aiming to make an impression on potential clients, and he certainly succeeded with these creepily amusing tech accessories.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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2 of 8 Justin Poulsen

USB drives give you the thumb

A creative promo package from Canadian photographer Justin Poulsen features these handmade thumbdrives. The USB drives were made from a mold of Poulsen's own thumb, with each painted by hand to give it a realistic look.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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3 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Making a thumb mold

Photographer Justin Poulsen enjoys making props for his conceptual photo projects rather than creating everything digitally. These images show him creating a mold of his thumb that was used to create a series of USB drives that look like severed digits.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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4 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Making a thumbdrive

This messy-looking process resulted when creative photographer Justin Poulsen made a mold of his own thumb to build a set of severed-thumb USB drives. He used the mold to produce a series of the drives, each of which was finished and painted by hand.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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5 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Thumb molds all in a row

Photographer Justin Poulsen used these fleshy-looking molds to create a set of icky USB drives that take the nickname "thumbdrives" literally. Each fake "thumb" has a working USB drive embedded. The drives are part of Poulsen's 2015 promotional mailer campaign.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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6 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Painting a "thumbdrive"

No, this isn't a scene from a horror movie. It's photographer Justin Poulsen painting a molded thumb to look like a real one. The thumb model contains a USB drive used as part of Poulsen's promotional mailer campaign for 2015.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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7 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Thumbdrives prior to finishing touches

Photographer Justin Poulsen created a set of severed-thumb USB drives. Known for crafting physical props to use in his surreal images, Poulsen started with a mold of his own thumb and crafted a series of fake thumbs with working USB drives inside.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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8 of 8 Justin Poulsen

Promo mailer with a literal thumb drive

Photographer Justin Poulsen put together this promotional mailer package with an eye toward making a lasting impression. It includes a severed-thumb USB drive and an eye-catching image of a hand missing its thumb. It's designed to attract clients who are looking for a daring photographer. Yeah,  Poulsen definitely gets a thumbs-up for creativity.

Related article: Severed-thumb USB thumbdrive is disgustingly literal

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