What Is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a platform where creative people can go to get their passion, ideas, and ambition funded. It’s currently the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects! Every week, tens of thousands of people pledge millions of dollars to projects to creative fields such as music, film, art, technology, design, food, and publishing.
How does it work?
Before you even think of launching any kind of products, you should take some time to sit down and fully read Kickstarter’s guidelines. Don’t jump into water, without knowing how deep it is. I’ve heard numerous stories of upset people complaining about rejection. Once again, be sure to fully read and comprehend the guidelines.
On Kickstarter, creators and backers make projects happen. First, you create a project on Kickstarter. You want backers for your project, so to create an incentive, you can select items to give your backers depending on the amount they back. These items are typically related to your project. For instance, if you are making a new kind of shoe, you might offer it as incentive to back.
To get a better idea of what I mean, visit Kickstarter.com and click on any project. Scroll down a bit and look for something like “Pledge $5 or more” in the right sidebar. These are the incentives.
Once you set up the Kickstarter page for your project and create incentive for backers, if your project peaks the interest of the Kickstarter community, you will begin to get supporters. If your supporters pledge enough, up to an amount you set, you get the money for your project.
Graphic Design Based Kickstarter Projects
There are several creative projects from all fields on Kickstarter, even graphic design. This may be surprising, since it’s hard to imagine what kinds of graphic design jobs could have been successful on the website. Today we will take a look at some of the most successful graphic design projects from Kickstarter. We hope they’ll serve as inspiration for your to launch your own project in the future. Enjoy!
10. Póstumo – The Deck of the Dead USPC-Printed Playing Cards, $39,392 pledged
The point of this Kickstarter project was to fund a deck of zombie-inspired playing cards. The deck is standard, but the only thing different is the gory artwork. Backers for this project could bid for a poker set of zombie-inspired playing cards, dice, and chips or for other combinations of these same items.
9. Philosophy Posters, $41,167 pledged
The idea behind this project was simple, to create 10 philosophy posters using the best materials. Backers could bid for one of two options, to have a poster signed, numbered, and shipped to them in the U.S. or to anywhere else in the world.
8. Gremolata & Cancellaresca Milanese, $47,382 pledged
This Kickstarter project dealt with typography. The artist wanted to make a new proprietary metal type family, of which he planned to use in his books. There were a lot of items that backers could wage their support for, such as a postcard printed with the letterpress or T-shirts.
7. Intùiti Creative Cards, £38,257 pledged
Intùiti cards are a unique synthesis of several things, including tarots, design, numerology, and Gestalt psychology. It’s also a game. The deck of cards has 78 cards and a booklet that details card specifics. Intùiti creators suggest their cards be used to “break the ice” for professionals. Overall this projects helps young creatives get in touch with their subconscious minds. Backers could show their support in exchange for the cards themselves or for ink drawings of the primary intùitis.
6. Bucketlistmap: Putting the Awesome Back in Maps, $56,332 pledged
This project set out to create a bucketlistmap, which is a map with everyone’s bucket list on it. What this means is that the map they created was really detailed, like the intricate maps from 500 years ago. It had everyone’s favorite places on it, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and the world’s deepest cave. Backers could choose from an array of items, including the bucketlistmap itself or a custom map including a photo of the backer.
5. Philographics: Big Ideas in Simple Shapes, £65,217 pledged
This project aimed to merge graphic design and philosophy. In doing so, the artist seeks to help people understand big ideas in simple shapes through the use of graphic design. Backers could show support to get the designs in many mediums, such as eBook, physical book, and even a postcard box.
4. Screencasting a Complete Redesign, $89,697 pledged
This Kickstarter project involved a redesign of the website CSS-Tricks.com, with the objective to screencast the entire project as an educational experience for backers. The redesign was also intended to make the site better for designers and developers to use. Backers for this project could bid to get many things, such as to get help with code or to get a T-shirt.
3. The ACME Corporation, $105,083 pledged
The objective of this Kickstarter project was to allow an artist to create a huge poster that depicted all of the ACME Corporation’s products. The ACME Corporation is from the cartoon Looney Tunes. The artist watched all of the cartoons with ACME products in them and then drew them all by hand. As far as backers go, there was only one type of backer – those that pledged $30 to get to get a copy of the poster.
2. A Deck of Playing Cards by Pedale Design, $146,596 pledged
This graphic design-based Kickstarter project simply redesigned traditional playing cards. The card designs look classy and minimalist. The project offered more than just a deck of cards, however. Backers could wage higher to get an uncut card sheet or any of six T-shirt designs. Part of what made this project successful was that the redesigned object was a simple deck of cards, which many people could find a use for.
1. The Name of the Wind Playing Cards, $589,660 pledged
The Name of the Wind Playing Cards was based on Patrick Rothfuss’s award winning book. A gaming company from Austin, TX led this Kickstarter project. The artists worked very closely with Patrick Rothfuss to create a deck of cards that would excite fans. The cards feature stunning artwork. This project offers a variety of decks to fans that pledge.
Running a Kickstarter project will kick your ass. You have to dedicate many hours to answer questions, provide support, market your project, and make sure you get it to backers on time. Keeping all of these elements in mind, if you’re a hard worker with big dreams, Kickstarter is your best friend.