Published: 12 Feb 2019
Today, Tues 12 Feb 2019, Paper Houses Design launches a new homeware and fashion collection via a worldwide crowdfunding campaign.
The Stonehaven-based company’s debut collection represents the first of six Scottish projects to launch crowdfunding campaigns thanks to a mentoring and match-funding scheme run by Creative Scotland in partnership with Paved With Gold (who specialise in launching and building community-centric brands).
Over the past four months six projects including: an audio picture book; a pocket-sized family board game; a sleepwear brand; a textiles and homeware collection; a new wellie boot brand, and an artist run gallery space - have been building their crowdfunding campaigns.
As new ways emerge to reach your audience and build your community, crowdfunding is becoming a viable way to generate the early-days boost that projects need to get up and running- Clive Gillman, Creative Scotland
The creative businesses behind these ideas have undertaken a bespoke series of workshops and one-to-one sessions delivered by Paved With Gold. Once they have raised the first 75% of their budget via crowdfunding they will then receive match funding of up to 25% for their total project costs from Creative Scotland.
The Crowdfunding Creativity programme supported by Creative Scotland aims to provide people working in the creative industries in Scotland with the skills and knowledge to develop their own successful crowdfunding campaigns.
Clive Gillman, Director of Creative Industries at Creative Scotland commented: “This is an exciting moment for the Crowdfunding projects. These six creative businesses have worked hard over the past four months as part of a group learning and building their crowdfunding campaigns with the expertise of Paved With Gold, and we are very excited to see the results.
“As new ways emerge to reach your audience and build your community, crowdfunding is becoming a viable way to generate the early-days boost that projects need to get up and running. We’re pleased to not only be offering to support these projects financially, but mainly by building knowledge, skills and appetite within the sector through mentoring and training.”
Kaye Symington, Co-Founder, Paved With Gold commented: "We have had the real pleasure over the last four months of working with the Crowdfunding Creativity Cohort. Supporting them to build their ideas into reality, and to work towards the launch of their campaigns.
“We've been incredibly proud of all the hard work they've put in and can't wait for everyone to see the projects when they go live over the next month."
Mhairi McDowall of Paper Houses Design commented: “Paved With Gold have helped so much. I knew I wanted to launch via Kickstarter and I knew a little about the platform but working with them has made me realise that there is so much more that goes in to planning crowdfunding campaigns.
“They’ve also been great help with marketing strategies and have encouraged us to directly contact people that might find the project interesting. It’s also been amazing to see all the other projects develop, discuss common issues and share resources with the other participants. I can’t wait to see everyone’s finished projects launch!”
Find out more about what Mhairi has to say through our online feature.
The remaining five campaigns will launch on 12 March 2019:
Edinburgh based music composer, arranger and sound designer Terry Peng intends to market an audio picture book project titled Lillian. Instead of written words, each illustration is accompanied by a piece of music created by a designated composer. The composition is inspired by the illustration as well as drawing inspiration from the composition of previous page to create the sense of continuity. The project will be presented as a concept album accompanied by a picture book. The project was first conceptualised in early 2014, and started to take its form later that year, when Hina Fujimoto became the project's leading artist. She was then joined by a group of talented composers including Yupo Chen; Shuzhen Chan, Josh Sabin, Luci Holland, Jacob Pernell and Stuart Hosking.
Terry Peng commented: “The project was created in an attempt to explore the relationships between imagery and music; how they translate to each other in order to tell a story. The crowdfunding will predominantly serve as a pre-order system to the finishing product, but there are also rewards for the higher tier backers such as original manuscript for the compositions, concept arts for the characters, tickets to special live performance as well as some limited merchandises like Tote bags and t-shirt. This crowd funding campaign will help me connect like-minded artists, composer and potential buyers”
SÒLAS create sleepwear combining contemporary shapes and custom prints using high-quality fabrics. A collaboration between Glasgow based Ruth Mitchell and Ciorstaidh Monk that merges their complementary aesthetics, skills in fashion design, print and photography. SÒLAS launched on social media in November 2017 and has been building momentum ever since. The crowdfunding campaign will enable the brand to build on their already growing customer base and fund their next collection of samples.
Mitchell and Monk commented: “We began by selling sleep masks via Instagram and have been growing our audience base ever since. We’ve since expanded to pop-up shops Scotland wide and excusive selling events like Scotland Re:Designed and Local Heroes. After a period of sampling and gaining customer feedback, the brand is now ready to expand. Keeping quality high we aim to increase the print run to make our prices more affordable resulting in young Scottish design being more accessible.”
Creative Inverness plan to establish an artist-run gallery space and graduate studio in Inverness. An inclusive space aiming to support emergent artists, as well as the wider rural arts community of the Highlands by providing access to new contemporary visual arts.
Creative Inverness Producer, Kirsten Body commented: “We will offer flexible studio space to new graduates as well as a programme of mentoring, social meet-ups, talks and exhibitions; becoming the central hub for support and dialogue within the studio complex. We want to fundraise to cover rental overheads, along with some programming and set up costs including a website.”
Botann - Creative Entrepreneur David Smith, Creative Marketeer Michael Nicholson and Shoe Designer Robert McCaffery intend to launch a new welly boot brand, a new kind of ethically-made rubber boot that’s styled for the city, engineered for nature and designed for endless adventures. Botann boots are made from a sustainable source of high-grade rubber, which is naturally waterproof and hard wearing. You’ll feel comfortable in them wherever you are!
Glasgow School of Art Graduate, fashion and shoe designer Robert McCaffrey commented: “For the last two years, we’ve been developing the idea for a business to make wellies in Scotland again. Scotland, specifically Dumfries, used to make some of the best wellies in the world and there is still some significant latent rubber expertise in the town. Our research suggests there is a gap in the market for a new rubber footwear product, somewhere between a sneaker and welly, which will fulfil the values and aspiration of our potential customers. Crowdfunding is the ideal platform for launching our product, engaging a supportive community, finding our first customers and beginning to establish our brand.”
Tom Sudall intends to manufacture and distribute a hand-crafted pocket size board game called Squirrel marketed at young audiences and families. Based in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Sudall is an artist and musician who currently operates under the name Format 15. Sudall intends to fundraise to cover the cost of manufacturing a batch of at least 150 copies of Squirrel.
Read more about the pilot Crowdfunding Creativity programme.
Sophie Bambrough, Media Relations & PR Officer, Creative Scotland
Email: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
Tel: (+44) 0 7747 606 146.
