Kickstart Your Ideas

May 18, 2011 | Posted by Cam Hoff

A few months ago I did something that I hadn't done before and decided to lend my financial support to a project on Kickstarter.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Kickstarter, it's a website that helps creative projects gain the funding they need to get off the ground. If you have an idea for a project and you need some cash, you simply pitch it to the Kickstarter community who lend their money and encouragement as they see fit.  In exchange for monetary support, project creators offer reward incentives (ie. If you're funding a book, offer your backers copies of the finished book). Being a all-or-nothing funding model, no money changes hands if the project's funding goal isn't met within a timeframe.

The project I supported was a book by Frank Chimero, entitled The Shape of Design. Frank is a designer, illustrator and writer whom I've been following via his blog (currently on hiatus) and twitter feed. He had grown frustrated that he hadn't come across a book that communicated the mental state of a successful designer's journey through the creative process. So he sought out to write a graphic design book that focused on the why instead of the how, as every previous design manual before has. His official description of the book is as follows:

"The Shape of Design is a book about the whys of design. It’s a field guide for makers, a book for the people who believe that the world is not yet done. It’s a handbook for the emerging skillset: improvising, storytelling, embracing paradox, honoring craft, and delighting audiences. More than anything, it’s a book of suggestions to how we can make things that help us to live better."

Chimero brought his project to Kickstarter with a goal to raise $27,000 to cover the publishing of the hard copy book, as well as his time off to write and design the book. He offered the customary Kickstarter rewards, copies of the book, original artwork etc. What happened next was more than he had anticipated. He not only reached his goal but eclipsed it by over 400%. In the end over 2000 people backed his project with the final total raised at $112,159. He's now hard at work on the book, sending out occasional dispatches and progress reports to those 2000 backers. Mission accomplished.

Maybe you've been kicking around an idea in your head, something that you'd like to do if only you had the money to pull it off. Maybe it's time you gave it a shot and just threw it out there, you might just be surprised at the support of like-minded people out there.

Have you backed any projects on Kickstarter? Let us know what project you're backing. Or do you have a great idea that just needs financing? Share your stories and ideas in the comments and maybe your crazy pipe dream can become a reality.