Interesting Idea for Crowdfunding!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

teh_riaz has posted about ceramic glaze selection.  There's a list of glazes she has decided to get, followed by a list of those she likes and is willing to add if enough other people like them also.  (I don't think she's looped into the crowdfunding culture per se yet, but her audience interaction seems to lean in that direction.)  So this is worth a peek.

I really like this idea of an artist picking out a base set of materials and then inviting the audience to expand that if they want something extra.  Most arts and crafts have a point where you have to choose a small subset of materials from a large range of choices, because you can't afford everything and couldn't fit it all into a single project anyhow.  So it helps to know what your audience likes in the way of base materials, as that improves the chances of them liking the finished products.  And it just gets me thinking about what else could be done with this...

"Which colors should I get?" would apply to many other arts and crafts such as painting, beadwork, etc.

"Which materials should I get?" would go farther, into things like sewing, woodcarving, jewelry making, etc. 

A sufficiently-skilled gardener/photographer (which I probably am not, alas) could conceivably do a crowdfunded flower garden, showing people a set of possible options, then letting them fund the purchase of whatever seeds/plants proved the most popular, and showing pictures throughout the growing season.  That would be one heck of an upgrade for vicarious gardening!

I'll have to keep this in mind for possible applications.

Comments

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It depends on your approach.

There's a book I've had on my Amazon wishlist for ages, an upgrade from a beat-up old copy I have now. I'm toying with the idea of making a more direct request from my readership at some point, because it would be directly helpful for my poetry writing.

Another thing I considered was scrapbooking supplies, because I sometimes turn my poetry into art that way. I've made a few sales, not a lot, so it's probably not relevant right now. But if that goes up, it might become relevant.