Crowdfunding: The Electric State

The Electric State is a new narrative art book, created by sci-fi artist Simon Stålenhag, about a girl and her robot in the 1990s traveling west across the USA in an alternate reality. After a successful fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, Simon is now finishing the remaining pieces of art and writing text before he and the team at Free League Publishing get to work on book production. The progress of Simon‘s amazing looking book is available to view on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and his website.

Sculpture: Microscape

"Microscape" by New York-based TO+WN Design and AJSNY

Via: Kickstarter

The Manhattan skyline is one of the most iconic cityscapes in the world, being featured time and time again in films, and forever being photographed by both tourists and professionals alike. From the famous Empire State Building, to the stately Chrysler building, to Grand Central Station, there is undeniably something special about New York’s buildings and skyline, though until now representations of it have been traditionally stuck in 2D. Fortunately, New York based startup Microscape has made it their mission to turn the iconic architecture of Manhattan into a detailed, scaled-down 3D printed model—for the ultimate souvenir.

From the world’s major metropolitan centers to suburban cul-de-sacs, microscape combines highly detailed 3D scan data with manual computer modeling techniques to create completely customizable scale architectural models that are as accurate as they are beautiful.

The first phase, which is currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter, includes a series of two hundred individual tiles that compose the entire borough of Manhattan.  Fully assembled, the tiles form a 3.5ft by 12ft model.  The project retail price of each 6” x 6” tiles is $125 dollars with a total value of $20,000, but early backers can get a tile for roughly half off.

Posters: Minimal Trek

"Minimal Trek" by Mark Gonyea

Prints available for purchase through KickStarter.

This latest work by Mark Gonyea will delight all Star Trek fans.  His latest work is titled Minimal Trek, and it features minimalist poster designs of all three seasons of the original Star Trek series. Gonyea created the posters as a tribute to his childhood, which was spent watching the TV show.

The posters and postcards are available on Kickstarter.

Video: Learn to Write in a Game

"Elegy for a Dead World -- A Game About Writing" by Dejobaan Games

Can a computer game really teach us about becoming a good writer?  Ichiro Lambe and Ziba Scott, the creators of a of a game called Elegy for a Dead World that recently got funded on Kickstarted hope so.  The pair debuted their game at last year's E3 with a brief introductory walkthrough.

The game contains three post-apocalyptic worlds based on a trio of Romantic poems: Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Darkness by Lord Byron, and When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be by John Keats.  In the game,  players explore these worlds like any other platform game, but as they traverse the worlds, they are repeatedly confronted by writing prompts through which they themselves flesh out the backstory of the game.  Players are then encouraged to share their final stories with friends through sites like Blurb and Lulu.

It’s hard to know whether or not Elegy can really improve a person's writing, but KickStarter backers are hoping that the experience may provide more inexperienced writers with the motivation needed to overcome the daunting task of filling those blank page.  After all, the first and often most daunting obstacle faced by a new writer is simply finishing their first story.

Here's the Kickstarter pitch:

You can read other players’ works, browsing through the most-recent, the best-loved, and recently-trending stories. In our gameplay tests so far, players have expressed a variety of thoughts about what happened in each world — the silhouette of what looks like a telescope to one player looks like a rocket ship to another, and a planet-destroying weapon to yet another.

Posters: Star Wars Minimalist Set

Star Wars Minimalist Poster Set by Jon E. Allen

Prints available for purchase from Kickstarter.

Posters: Star Wars

Star Wars Movie Poster Set by Akron, Ohio-based Jon E. Allen

Prints available for purchase from Kickstarter. US$35

Posters: Historic Robotic Spacecraft

"Historic Robotic Spacecraft" by Chop Shop

"Historic Robotic Spacecraft" is a Kickstarter that celebrates the most popular and notable interplanetary NASA robotic space missions - Voyager, Cassini/Huygens, and Curiosity.

Each space mission poster was chosen through an online poll and will be screen-printed in a minimum of three colors by Vahalla Studios, and there are various other perks in this campaign, including T shirts, additional prints and even membership to The Planetary Society, which was founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman.

There's just under a week to go and the campaign is fully funded with the total currently just over $17k. But the more you pledge the more prints that become available through their stretch goals.

If they go over $22K, they will design and print the fourth most popular mission from the Planetary Society poll: The Mars Exploration Rovers; Opportunity and Spirit.

Illustration: Steampunk Goggles Cards

Steampunk Goggles Playing Cards Deck

Decks available for purchase from Steampunk Goggles. US$24.95

Humor: Videogame Kickstarter

"How to Run a Successful Videogame Kickstarter" from Dorkly

Wow.  This is a bit on the nose.  It reminds me of that Neal Stephenson Kickstarter that was so bitterly disappointing, despite the fact that there was never any reason to believe fantasy authors could possibly have the skill set necessary to crank out a video game, much less a video game that would revolutionize game play.

KickStarter: Mars Awaits

"Mars Awaits" by Douglas Shrock

Prints available for purchase from KickStarter. US$20

Mars Awaits is a beautifully illustrated calendar featuring thirteen pieces of art from self-described "space and science fiction artist" Douglas Shrock.  Each illustration imagines a scientifically plausible step towards colonizing the Red Planet.

"Mars Awaits! Each piece of artwork shows one step in the colonization of Mars, and depicts the bravery, excitement and joy there of."

Event: Morbid Anatomy Museum

The Morbid Anatomy Museum, a treasure trove of pathological and funereal curiosities, antique medical models, and anatomical art pledged to "exploring the intersections of death, beauty, and that which falls between the cracks," has opened its doors to the public in Gowanus, Brooklyn thanks to a successful KickStarter campaign.

The Morbid Anatomy Museum is like a carnival sideshow right in the heart of Brooklyn.  I know, I know.  You thought that job was already taken by Williamsburg, but that was before all the punks and goths got repackaged like Apple products into hipsters.  Morbid Anatomy will be home to Joanna Ebenstein's well-curated collection of anatomical, medical, and religious oddities as well as a vast library.

Project: I Am Elemental

IAmElemental Action Figures for Girls were designed to be a positive and fierce re-interpretation of the traditional female action figure.  Their store is currently taking pre-orders.

As a kid, I had dozens, maybe hundreds of action figure, including practically every G.I. Joe and Star Wars figure ever released in the eighties.  Looking back, I'm surprised at just how few of those toys were female characters, and I imagine that, had I been girl, trips to the toy store might have been a good deal more frustrating.

Looking through my own collection (which of course, I am faaar too old to still display in my bedroom), I can't help but reflect that toy manufacturers are even worse at representing the female gender than comic publishers.  Not only are female characters under-represented, those that do make it to shelves are often highly over-sexualized.

New Yorkers Dawn Nadeau and Julie Kerwin set out to address this disparity with a line of super powered action figures specifically designed for young girls and funded through a recently successful Kickstarter campaign.

Fresh Take: Literary Classics Redesigned

"War of the Worlds"

Literary Classics Redesigned by Mike Mahle for RockPaperBooks

Prints available for purchase from Kickstarter.

These along with other classic books will be available through the Rock Paper Books Kickstarter campaign which begins April 4, 2014. There are five classic books to begin with, with a chance to vote for the which one we'll do next.

Posters: Beyond Earth

Beyond Earth Series by Stephen Di Donato

Prints previously available for purchase from Kickstarter.

"These posters will have a final cut size of 18” x 24” and be printed in Montreal. I chose to use thick 80 lb French Paper Speckletone series because of its quality and nostalgic look. Each planet will have its own paper color.

Each poster will have information about the planet that sets one apart from the other, as well as historic discoveries of what would have been known in 1965. All of which is set in beautiful and modern typefaces of that era."

Illustration: Steam in the Willows

"Steam in the Willows" by Krista Brennan

Artist Krista Brennan has set out to re-publish Kenneth Grahame's classic tale The Wind in the Willows re-envisioned with steampunk-infused illustrations, and it turns out that she's stumbled upon a real chocolate in my peanut butter success.  The project is being funded with a Kickstarter campaign.

"Makers, artisans and craftspeople have been around for a very long time, too. They are also brilliant. Aesthetics, craftsmanship and traditional skill are prized among these adroit folk, and their skills are increasingly sought after in the wider community. In the last few years the number of makers seems to be growing, and self-sufficiency, DIY, recycling, skill-sharing and the rejection of wasteful mass-production are also on the rise.

One of the key messages of Wind in the Willows and the modern maker movement is the same: Yes, it is very shiny and new, but do you really have to buy another mass-produced, gas-guzzling SUV, Mr. Toad?

Steam in the Willows is about celebrating and weaving both of these fine things together."

KickStarter: Mini Museum

"Mini Museum" by Hans Fex

Merchandise available for purchase from Kickstarter.  US$239

Hans Fex, a product designer and creator of the Mini Museum, has been collecting specimens for this project for the past thirty-five years. The collection features 33 natural history specimens ranging from a T-Rex tooth to a Meteorite from Mars sealed in clear resin case small enough to display on your desk.

Personally, I would be sold on the piece if only I were certain that the resin wouldn't distort the view through a microscope.

Sculpture: Sugar Metropolis

"Sugar Metropolis" by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels

Prints available for purchase from Etsy. Society6. US$

What would you do with 500,000 sugar cubes? Well, Irish artist Brendan Jamison and his collaborators Mark Revels, Mary McCaffrey, Lydia Holmes, and David Turner built a Sugar Metropolis at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Visitors were even invited to participate in the miniature city's construction as part of the exhibition.

Now, with the help of No Longer Empty, they’re bringing their project to Harlem's Sugar Hill district. The new exhibit aims to celebrate the power of collaboration, with the goal of igniting the imagination of the neighborhood. Brendan Jamison has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project.

KickStarter: She Makes Comics

"She Makes Comics" by Sequart Research & Literacy Organization

Available for purchase from Etsy. US$

Now is your chance to be drawn by Jill Thompson, Colleen Doran, or Julia Baritz and help fund a documentary about the history of women in comics in the process.  Sequart, the organization that produced the comic documentaries Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods and The Image Revolution has teamed with Respect! Films on a Kickstarter to produce a new film, She Makes Comics.

Kickstarter: Hello Ruby

Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas

Linda Liukas is the founder of Rail Girls, a non-profit that teaches computer programming to women in cities around the globe. Her proposed children's book, Hello Ruby, made its debut on Kickstarter on January 23rd.  The adorable book's goal is to teach young girls how to code.  The Kickstarter campaign is going ridiculously well, but who doesn’t want to support something that awesome?  It exceeded its $10,000 funding goal in just 3.5 hours. Four days later, and with 25 days of the campaign to go, she has raised $185k from more than 4,300 backers.

The story follows the adventures of--you guessed it--a girl named Ruby, a "small girl with a huge imagination," who meets penguins, a snow leopard, and green robots (among others) on her adventures.  It's actually two books: an illustrated storybook with Ruby's tale, and an activity book that teaches early programming skills. Both are aimed at 4-7 year-olds.

"Every kid has a magical childhood book that makes world seem full of adventure and possibility. This is my book. You can help me make this book real on Kickstarter."

Kickstarter: 3D Tabletop Miniatures

Customizable 3D Printed Tabletop Miniatures by Hero Forge

This Kickstarter run by three dudes and four ladies is looking to start a company that produces incredibly detailed, versatile custom 3D printed gaming miniatures for your tabletop characters. If you have ever spent hours combing through a bin of Reaper Minis trying to find a statue that even remotely resembles your Player Character, then you'll definitely appreciate this project.

"Hero Forge is a service that lets you design custom tabletop minis, have them 3D printed, and delivered right to your doorstep. By using a sophisticated parts system and web UI, we're bringing the flexibility, ease, and control of a robust video game character creator to the tabletop.

Choose your race, your gender, your build, and your facial expression. Select and swap individual armor pieces, weapons, adventuring equipment, hairstyles, and faces. Choose your pose and watch all of the dynamically rigged parts and attributes conform to fit your selection. Choose the scale of your mini, and even the material it's printed in. We're bringing a high-tech update to a classic analog hobby and giving you the opportunity to breathe your vision and creativity into your miniature."