Unique interactions between Armendariz and strangers inspired the series of Novios. Armendariz states that he would go up to Barflies and ask if he could take their photograph. "We would start up a conversation and I would end up asking them their astrological sign and based on their astrological sign and the conversation I would determine the color of the print. I also had a prompt where I would ask one of the males to look at me, and then have the woman look away, and then I had another prompt where the woman looked at me, and the man looked away."