Comics in Scotland have experienced a remarkable surge in popularity in recent years, captivating both local audiences and international fans alike. Edinburgh Comic Art Fair provides a platform for emerging talent to showcase their work and connect with a passionate audience.
Whether through traditional print or digital platforms, Scotland's comics industry continues to push boundaries, encouraging creativity and fostering a sense of community among fans and creators. This is why Creative Scotland created In The Frame, an annual one-day gathering of comic book and graphic novel creators.
I was very pleased to join in again for a second year, sharing tips for launching a crowdfunding campaign for Comics creators.
Creative Scotland recently released this resource for Comic Creators in Scotland, where I shared our Top Tips for running a crowdfunding campaign.
Crowdfunding Lab with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Rosie Mackley, BA Modern Ballet graduate
We’re kicking off a new project with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as part of their new Innovation Studio project!
We are providing the opportunity for 5 RCS graduates and alumni to learn the skills and knowledge to develop and manage their own successful crowdfunding campaigns.
RCS Innovation Studio is a two-year pilot project which will facilitate new opportunities for knowledge exchange (KE) at the RCS. Through a series of workshops, panels, online discussions, and interdisciplinary collaborations and seed funds, Innovation Studio will support creative experimentation, skills development and collaboration. The project hopes to generate new practices and pave the way for a future Centre for Innovation at the Conservatoire.
How to get press coverage without product ahead of launch
Getting the eyes and ears of journalists can be difficult, and especially when you’re first starting out. You’re not really known and may only have a handful of samples, a rough prototype or in some cases nothing physical to share at all. At Paved With Gold we’ve worked with so many businesses in this position over the years, helping them to understand how best to share about their launch and what they’ll need in order to be successful. Here are a few different ways we’ve reached out to press about a launch and their response.
Eyra - Kitchen Utensils
Only having a single set of 3D printed kitchen utensils to hand meant we weren’t able to send anything out that could be used for cooking. Eyra did however have a compelling mission to make design better for older people, alongside a great collaborator; Sebastian Conran. We made sure to include quotes and details on Sebastian’s experience in this area of design (which spanned 30+ years). We also offered one exclusive interview opportunity to select design publications. This led a wonderful article in Creative Review about the launch and Eyra’s mission.
Flit - Folding e-bike
With Flit, we were lucky that we had a prototype of their innovative foldable e-bike which was already wowing test riders. A few weeks ahead of their Kickstarter campaign we offered a small selection of bike and tech journalists the opportunity to test ride it. We caught the attention of t3’s, Duncan Bell, who had already reviewed many industry leading e-bikes. Impressed, he shared some amazing feedback that we were able to use as part of the campaign, “we rode it up a big hill on the hottest day ever and didn't even break a sweat” and “a real challenger for Brompton's electric bike crown”. Perfect quotes to help prove the bike’s performance to those who hadn’t tried it yet.
Animaro - Solstice Clock
If your product is something that is beautiful or in Animaro’s case - mesmerising. Then having photography and a video to match is not only necessary to get people to buy but also for press to share. The Solstice Clock was shared by product design blogs like Core 77, through to creative publications like Colossal. Mashable liked it so much they edited their own video for it.
Tip: Be sure to create two versions of your video. One superimposed with text for your marketing and another without anything overlayed that you can share with press that want to make their own content.
Foldable.Me - Little Cardboard People
Our first ever crowdfunded business all the way back in 2012 (check out Richard and his cardboard buddy!).
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign we followed up with the press to ask them to share about our official launch. Knowing that they already shared about us, we needed to give them something else to write about so we made personalised Foldables which we sent out ahead of launch. Folks from the likes of Wired and The Next Web loved this and were very happy to write about us again.
Remember, every product will have it’s own angle and pre-launch offering that’s going to work. But here goes to show that even without your final product there are interesting ways to pitch your story. Shoot us an email if this has got you thinking and you want to explore what might work for your project.
Solstice, the Kinetic Clock is fully funded!
As mentors on the Central Research Laboratory’s Accelerator Programme we’ve helped many projects grow a community and launch their crowdfunding campaigns. The latest project to be successfully funded was for Solstice, a kinetic clock that turns passing hours into art.
Alongside our mentorship we also worked on their PR campaign, reaching press and influencers throughout the world of design and tech. Mashable, Colossal, Core77, Mental Floss and Lost At E Minor as well as many others shared their support for the mesmerising Solstice clock, contributing to it being fully funded in just 2 days!
The project is still going strong and excitingly almost 200% funded. If you’re interested in a very unique and beautifully designed timepiece then head over to Kickstarter.