Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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Ever since I was a child, I’ve always been entranced by the beauty and elegance of Koi as they swim gracefully through the water. I’ve always wanted to capture that wonder in my art, that feeling of magic as if they’re flying.
I held onto that dream, and 6 years ago, I set out to create the paper koi lantern. It took countless prototypes; late nights spent designing, assembling, then redesigning, before I was finally happy with the result.
I didn’t want a lantern that only looked like a koi, I wanted the paper koi to be posable, so that it can swim and move its body like a real fish.
That is why the koi is made up of only interlocking paper, without the use of glue or tape. This allows the scales to extend and contract in all directions. It can hold any pose, and you can change it up at any time to create new looks.
Designing was the fun part, but perfecting was the hard part. After I was happy with the shape of the Koi, I still I had to test countless papers types and LEDs. If the paper is too thin, the Koi will damage easily, if the paper is too thick, the light won’t shine through. It took many more years of redesign to to find the best combination that looks great, both day and night, and can hold up over time.
I’m so excited to finally share my creation. Now you can get your very own DIY koi lantern kit. Each kit will come with all the paper pieces already cut out for you, using precision laser cutting technology. It can handle all the intricate details that traditional die-cutting cannot. The paper is made of 285 GSM metallic card stock, it is both acid free and archival. It is made by one of the best paper makers in Italy, Gruppo Cordenons, founded in 1630. It has a beautiful sheen like the scales of a real koi, and is extremely sturdy.
There are 7 metallic colors to choose from, and you can mix and match them with color changing LEDs for the best combinations to fit your style.
While the Koi already looks great by itself, lights really add that extra bit of magic. You can use any low powered LED light you have at home, or get our custom made color changing RGB LED strips as an Add-on. The lights come with a 2m long cable so you can hang them from the ceiling, and uses universal USB plugs. You can power them from any USB charger or USB hub. You can change colors, brightness or mode with buttons close to the USB plug.
As of November 22nd, this project has raised $542,000 of their $35,000 goal. This project has 23 days left to raise as much as it can. For a pledge of $29. you will get one Koi kit. For a pledge of $75, you will get three Koi kits. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yuumei/paper-koi-lantern-a-diy-kit?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
