I have a new internet obsession:  Kickstarter.com

Kickstarter is a fundraising website for independant art projects.  I love it because instead of artists having to pander to large studios for the funds to complete their projects, they can pitch their ideas to the general public and receive small donations from many people.  This way, artists can be funded for projects they are truly passionate about instead of changing their vision to encourage deep-pocketed patrons to support them.

Basically, what you do is browse around the hundreds of projects on the site and if you find one you feel passionately about you can pledge any amount you choose (pledges start at $1).  All kinds of art projects are represented.  The main categories are: Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Technology, Theater, and Writing & Publishing

Usually the artist will offer gifts with your donations.  For instance, I pledged to support a fantastic book/movie project called the Cicada Princess and in return the artists will send me  a DVD of the finished film and a set of postcards with art from the film/book. So its a win-win!

In two days I have pledged to support four projects… I can already see this becoming a problem for me…  Which makes the Remind Me button a great invention: if you find a project you really like but are not sure if you want to pledge to support it, you can click the button and be notified by email 48 hours before the pledge window closes.  I see it as a way to make sure I don’t get too click-happy with the pledge button, and regret it later when I am wondering where all my money went.  I just click the Remind Me button and if I am still interested in the project when I get the reminder email then I pledge to support it.

I am so into this website I am actually going to create a new page in my blog just for kickstarter projects I love.  If you are also a fan of kickstarter and find great projects feel free to shout them out!