With the new year on the horizon, its time to celebrate the year gone past by sharing some of the best and brightest campaigns on IndieGoGo. These are campaigns that have knocked it out of the park with their GoGoFactor, fundraising goals, or overall idea and execution. For the next three days, we’ll be sharing the best creative, cause related, and entrepreneurial campaigns with you, and we will finish the week with the “Best of the Rest” awards. The diversity and quality of campaigns this year is truly amazing – we are so proud of everyone helping to raise funds through IndieGoGo! Now…enough from us….on to the Best Creative Campaigns of 2011:
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ART:
Glass Wings for Chichester
The Chichester Cathedral has welcomed worshipers and tourists for over 900 years! This year, Carrie Fertig raised over $25,000 on IndieGoGo to make a twenty-five foot pair of flameworked glass dove wings to suspend in the Cathedral’s North Transept. The gleaming wings were made from 300 beautiful flameworked glass feathers and have been on display for three months.
Runners Up:
This reflexive exhibit attempts to challenge its audience about the realities of the Arab street- going beyond the media fervor on this year’s uprisings in the Middle East. Money was raised on IndieGoGo to get the supplies needed to make it as expansive as possible- including collage works, installation art, paintings, photography, calligraphy and workshops. You can see its blog here.
The Temple of Transition, a 120 foot high and 220 foot wide building, is built from scratch, stands for just a week and then in a moment of catharsis is burned down during Burning Man. It’s creators chose to fund the costs of its construction on IndieGoGo this year, helping to ensure that it gets built on target.
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DOCUMENTARY FILM:
Sponsored by our newest partner, Women Make Movies, this film tells about the life of Alice Walker, the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize. It has the firm commitment of the PBS Emmy Award winning series, American Masters, to broadcast across the United States in 2012.
Runners Up:
This television documentary follows four HIV positive youth in four different cities in the cinéma vérité style. It attempts to build a dynamic perspective on what it means to live HIV positive.
This documentary by Anthony Baxter problematizes Donald Trump’s attempts to build a golf course on sacred cultural and environmental land in Scotland’s coastal wilderness. Trump’s wealth has influence and the film shows how that influence pushes the government to compromise the local way of life and environment. Additionally, music for the documentary has been donated by Sigur Ros frontman, jonsi. The director has created multiple IndieGoGo campaigns to help with the various funding needs of the filmmaking process.
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FILM:
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
Running for over 7 years, James Rolfe’s quirky and unique “The Angry Video Game Nerd” series has a huge internet audience. This year he’s using IndieGoGo to raise money for his first feature-length movie. Two months in and the campaign has 3500 contributions- raising over two and a half times his goal of $75,000. Absolutely mind-blowing!
Runners Up:
This dramatic film is based on the true and surprising story of Robert Johnson, an American blues singer who died young, yet left an deep impression on the American musical landscape. They are currently shooting the film and we can’t wait to see it!
In this vampire film, four geeky teenagers defend their friend and beloved sci-fi convention from a group of very real, and very blood-thirsty vampires. These high school actors and director have gained national acclaim and distribution for this film – and they are having a lot of fun!
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DESIGN:
After years of working in the fashion industry the folks at Guilded design studio set out on a mission to promote sustainable design. Guilded is a centralized educational resource that is standardizing the vocabulary for sustainable design.
Runners Up:
IDEO.org is a non-profit that provides innovative design solutions for in-need and poverty stricken communities. In addition to the impactful work they are doing providing clean water and sanitation systems to people who really need them, they are building open, transparent toolkits to keep the information they produce flowing and accessible. They’ve raised over $30,000 on IndieGoGo to help with their fellowships and knowledge sharing programs.
This campaign used IndieGoGo to fundraise the costs of, and guage interest in, producing magnetic words which follow the distinctive lexicon of H.P. Lovecraft. The words, like Lovecraft’s literature, are powerful, bizzare and hold connotations of cosmic horror and wonder.
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FASHION:
This company has been around for five years. For the past three years it has existed as a successful holiday kiosk. This year, thanks to the over $30,000 they’ve raised on IndieGoGo they have their open the doors to their own store- now with over 15 employees. A great example of how funding on IndieGoGo gives local small businesses access to the funds needed to grow.
Runners Up:
Brad Carrick used IndieGoGo to raise money to do the first production run on the comfortable, portable unique shoes he’s designed. His business recently launched, as you can see here.
Teres Kids- Happy Active Clothing
Teres Kids produces children’s clothes made of environmentally-sustainable organic cotton. This small business is distinct because they focus on providing the most comfortable clothing for children with tactile sensitivities- children with autism, sensory processing disorder, and eczema. Their clothes eliminates tags, scratchy seams and rough edges- things that may make kids uncomfortable.
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MUSIC:
Noisy but nuanced, British post-rock outfit 65Daysofstatic used IndieGoGo to fundraise the cost of recording songs inspired by their colossus re-scoring of the 1972 sci-fi film Silent Running. The album is out, and like their campaign, it’s epic and well-orchestrated.
Runners Up:
In Chicago, Chai is a metonym for a mixed-spice tea from the Indian sub-continent. On Indiegogo, Chai-Town is the best America-Indian fusion accapella group around. In order to share their unique music with the rest of the world they’re recording their third studio album thanks to the money they raised on their IndieGoGo campaign.
When he posted the youtube performance of his original song “Jonah,” Viral video star Graham Stookey didn’t expect to end up on Oprah. Yet he didn’t want his musical career to end there. He’s raised over $18,000 on IndieGoGo to help record his EP and music video.
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PHOTOGRAPHY:
When Angelo Merendino’s wife was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, he began to document and communicate their struggle the only way he knew how- photography. By raising money through IndieGoGo, the moving and challenging photographs will be printed and on exhibition all over the world. You can see his blog here.
Runners Up:
This photographic documentary focuses on the stories and histories of Black, Latino, Asian and Indigenous farmers. Sitting at the intersections of race, food, and global politics the project goes beyond the personal exploring agricultural history, farming techniques, and traditional food that is shared amongst each community.
Because of budget shortfalls in public higher-education, these graduating photography students need to rent an outside gallery space in order to present their thesis projects at the end of the year. They undertook this expensive endeavor through an IndieGoGo campaign and exceeded their goal by over $2,000
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THEATRE :
In 2009, to incredible success and impact, Katherine Craft started an initial theatre workshop for incarcerated women. Now, after running as a small non-profit for over two years, Conspire Theatre launched this IndieGoGo campaign to help expand their service to Maximum Security at Travis County Correctional Complex.
Runners Up:
This is a two-person 80-minute play with one set and no intermission. It follows two small town high school seniors, Iris and James, who become estranged after their best friend suddenly commits suicide. Deeply moving and extremely important, this play sheds some light on the youth suicide epidemic.
Demon Dreams- Theatre Fundraiser for Japan
This campaign raised money to produce Tommy Smith’s Demon Dreams as a fundraiser for victims of this year’s tragic earthquake/tsunami victims in Japan. The money is only for the performance space as the cast and crew are working pro-bono.
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GAMING:
This Nintendo 3DS, DSLite, DSi and DSi XL stylus, by multi-campaigner Elton Leung, shows some of the innovative ways people are modifying and improving existing devices on IndieGoGo. His unique and practical stylus expands to the size of a regular pen, yet can still fit in the original stylus holder.
Runners Up:
This game combines cards with creativity and allows players to draw their own maps, create unique cultures, and thread together their own stories. They used IndieGoGo to fund the production and distribution of their unique card deck!
This game allows players to create new and horrific scenarios based off of the eccentric H.P. Lovecraft’s wondrous stories. They raised 13 times their original goal on IndieGoGo!
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COMIC:
Though it’s Steam-Punk style is innately anachronistic, Clockwork Watch definitely utilizes some of the most recent technology. The narrative takes place in a retro-futuristic version of Victorian England and exists across graphic novels, interactive promenade theatre, live action role-play, online adventures, an interactive book and a feature film. This campaign is for their first graphic novel- called The Arrival. We can’t wait to see whats coming next.
Runners Up:
Alterna Comics has managed to suceed as a publisher of graphic novels even as the economy downturned and digital mediums became more popular. Though the product has been in demand, credit companies and banks have slashed their financing making it hard for them to keep doing what they do. They started a funding campaign on IndieGoGo to help them keep their artistic endeavor going.
Beginnings: A comics anthology
Beginnings is a 100-page anthology of Australian Comic writers and artists who met through their monthly ACT Comic meetings. They’ve exceeded their goal on IndieGoGo allowing them to produce and release their book by February 2011.
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DANCE:
Decentralized Dance Party SASKATOON- HALLOWEEN EDITION!
Hundreds of people, carrying hundreds of boomboxes, dancing through the streets of your city make up this mobile, dynamic, spontaneous, ‘decentralized dance party.’ Their campaign raised over $4,000 to help make this happen.
Runners Up:
Parijat Desai Dance Company India Tour
New York based Parijat Desai Dance Company performs a unique blend of Indian classical and Western contemporary dance. This campaign is for their first cross-Indian tour which includes performances, lectures, demos, and workshops.
Completing The Film Tiny Dancer
The film is about legendary dancer Lauren Drake, played by Martha Graham principal Katherine Crockett, who has just become a mother and is struggling to balance her drive for perfection and her journey to dance again.
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VIDEO/WEB:
YouInspire is a 501c3 nonprofit that features videos of survivors and those currently facing serious medical challenges who wish to share their stories of hope, support, and inspiration. They used IndieGoGo to get their website up as soon as possible.
Runners Up:
This unique dark-comedy web-series follows a Zombie struggling through the real world everyday problems. We love the tagline: “Life was hard, being Dead is harder.”
This funny, creative, independent web series features amazing special effects and a exciting crew of normal people with super-powers trying to understand the best way to go about becoming actual super-heros.
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TRANSMEDIA:
Hollabacks I’ve Got Your Back Campaign
Street harrassment is an issue that proliferates in many public spaces, yet is something that isn’t legislated against and impossible to deal with on an individual basis. Hollabacks attempts to target the problem through effective social networking and awareness. This campaign provides a way for people who are harassed in public spaces to communicate through a map, an app, and a movement.
Runners Up:
This interactive documentary follows the struggles of children without legal identification in Iran. Children without legal identification have trouble recieving many social services including public education.
This transmedia project is a combination social media community and video series about the founding fathers. In the series, they are kidnapped to be used as political props during the 2012 elections. The outcomes of transplating these psuedo-mythical characters promises to be hillarious and satirical.
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WRITING:
This campaigner exchanges her capacity for prolifically writing poetry to help raise money for a research center working on degenerative eye conditions. This is just one of the many ways that campaigns use IndieGoGo to creatively help impact social, political, and technological change.
Runners Up:
From a young age Dutty has been expressing himself through writing- chronicling the major changes occurring in his life: from managing a social website, hosting a national radio show, working for the family of Bob Marley, and launching a non-profit organization aimed to empower youth. He used IndieGoGo to print his useful writings into a book and start his own self-promotions/sales campaign.
Thais Barra, wrote a story, illustrated it, and now needs to publish it. By using IndieGoGo she managed to raised over $1,400 for publication, and she pre-sold copies of her book.
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ALSO SEE:
- Year in Review Part II: Best Cause Campaigns
- Year in Review Part III: Best Entrepreneurial Campaigns
- Year in Review Part IV: Best of the Rest
