Tuesday, May 8, 2012

25 Impressive College Kickstarter Projects You Should Check Out

College is a great time to explore your creativity, and Kickstarter is a great place to find the funds to make your creative dreams a reality. So it’s no wonder that college students, groups, and even faculty members have flocked to the site to get their projects off the ground. Whether they’re short films, art installations, or even school newspapers, these Kickstarter projects deserve a second look.

  1. On Repeat

    Rhode Island School of Design student Marissa Goldman is at the helm of a successfully funded art project called On Repeat. Her goal is to transform warehouse space into a pop-up gallery, and we’re excited to see her idea come to fruition.

  2. Shakespeare Iraq

    This group of Iraqi college students have formed a Shakespearean company, and as part of this project, are going to perform at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Last June, this remarkable group was the first to do an English-language Shakespeare production in a public Iraq theater, and they are wildly celebratory about their upcoming performance in Oregon.

  3. Full Measure’s Newest Album

    This project supports the fifth album from University of Pennsylvania’s a capella group, Full Measure. With the help of generous backers, the group has more than doubled their original goal of $1,000, and will be able to cover the manufacturing costs of their full-length album.

  4. Portals

    Jayne Vidheecharoen’s Art Center College of Design thesis project Portals shares a way to make the virtual world come to life. In these boxes, two people can interact virtually with a definite presence in the real world.

  5. Love Motel for Insects

    School of Visual Arts faculty member and celebrated artist Brandon Ballengée has taken on this project to bring interactive, outdoor artwork to New York City. Using ultraviolet lights, this installation will attract insects, encouraging public interaction with the nocturnal species through not just the art, but related community events including picnics and musical events.

  6. Parecomic

    Recent Minneapolis College of Art and Design graduate Carl Thompson has illustrated this documentary graphic novel, Parecomic, which shares the true story of Michael Albert, a U.S.left-wing activist. Following Albert’s story, the novel takes a look at the system of participatory economics and how it affects us all.

  7. The Neon Project

    Ten college architecture students in New York are coming together to create this art project for the public space. The project is described as a mega-furniture installation, with Neon Pods used to give visitors an intensely relaxing moment to escape the fast pace of NYC.

  8. The Beat

    This publication from Purchase College has been successful online and through social media, but is now expanding into print production. With this Kickstarter project, The Beat hopes to not only raise awareness of their publication, but also find the money to print their first issue.

  9. Bard College Farm

    This project aims to bring a farm to Bard College, creating a space not just for growing, but for learning about food. This one-acre farm has reached its goal, and with Bard College matching funds 2:1, now has the money to make it all happen.

  10. Psy

    Savannah College of Art and Design student Starlia Prichard has created this weekly webcomic about a girl with biokinetic powers. The comic has enjoyed great success, and with this Kickstarter project, will put Volume 1 in print for greater distribution.

  11. Words in Perspective

    Stanford Graduate Design Program student Tom Cohlmia’s sculpture project has found immense success already, currently reaching nearly three times its original goal with several days to go. And it’s clear why Cohlmia has done so well: his design is simply amazing, etching fragments into blocks of crystal that offer a variety of different words and shapes that change depending on your perspective.

  12. Turn

    This Michigan State University student produced web series project is an amazingly low-budget drama full of secret agents and science fiction. It’s completely student-run, with all aspects of production undertaken by Michigan State and Lansing Community College students.

  13. Filming the Replication of a 17th Century Wooden Synagogue

    Massachusetts College of Art and design professors Rick and Laura Brown are working on this project to send a film crew to Poland for a historic opportunity: recording the reconstruction of the Gwozdziec synagogue. Through this documentary, the Professors Brown hope to follow the history and knowledge behind the construction of these iconic wooden synagogues that were obliterated in World War II.

  14. Memory Tricks!

    Eight animation students from the Maryland Institute College of Art are teaming up with eight fifth-grade girls to create this project: a series of animations that help students learn difficult words, times tables, and more. These short films empower young girls to not only learn and share memory tricks, but get an introduction to the principles of animation as well.

  15. Oh! You Pretty Thing

    This project is a short film from Emerson College, sharing the story of a young girl who is a big fan of rock music and suddenly finds fame in the form of a viral dance video. This project has already met its goal for filming, and is pushing forward for post-production support.

  16. Privly

    A group of computer science PhD candidates from Oregon State University has created this online privacy solution that is designed to protect your content anywhere on the Internet.

  17. The Defender

    MIT grad school friends Brad Geswein and Slava Menn have created a theft-resistant bike light that makes biking around the city at night safer and more secure, inspired by a friend who was injured after his bike light was stolen. This light is nearly impossible to remove, and is now in high demand: thus far, they’ve raised nearly $70,000, far past their original goal of $18,000.

  18. The Marvelous Fish Man

    Director Nisan Dag is using The Marvelous Fish Man for her thesis film at Columbia University’s graduate film program, which follows the story of a man with a fish head who has spent his whole life in a freak show, but then decides to escape. This project recently met its goal, and will be successfully produced this summer.

  19. All Mormons Have Multiple Wives

    This group of senior communication and film students at Santa Clara University has a vision to create All Mormons Have Multiple Wives, a film that explores the truth behind the myths that plague the Mormon faith. Created to explore their careers in film, this project has already surpassed its original goal, and is on its way to greatly improving production values.

  20. SparkLab

    Stanford Design Program master’s students are at the helm of the SparkLab project, which they have dubbed as an educational build-mobile. This red truck is filled with maker tools that allow students to learn about the hands-on fun of creating things, visiting school after school to share the joy of building.

  21. Sira the Game

    Interactive design and game development student Christopher Berry is working on Sira, a first-person puzzle game set during a solar apocalypse. This ambitious project has, according to Berry, been running on "nothing but caffeine and sheer willpower" up to this point, but now need contributions for licensing fees, software, marketing, and more. With a successful Kickstarter, this project will be available to play free of charge.

  22. Rapid Type

    California College of the Arts students created a design-and-build studio at the college. They’ve called it a mobile coffee platform, and it allows students to explore the use of Apolic materials.

  23. +Farm

    Pratt Institute professor Gia Wolff is a part of +FARM, a program that allows architecture students to learn through hands-on experience, allowing students to solve real architectural problems that are facing farmers. Thanks to Kickstarter, students have been able to take on this program free of charge, and learn valuable lessons over their summer vacation at the farm.

  24. No Bills: Stories of North Brooklyn

    NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program student Nick Yulman has created this sound installation project that was placed in construction fences within North Brooklyn. Featuring oral histories of residents, leaders, and business owners, the public can use this project to learn the history of the neighborhood as they are within it.

  25. The Cry Project

    Sarah Waldorf’s Cry Project is a part of her senior art exhibition at Chapman University. In this Kickstarter project, Waldorf hopes to be able to print two large scale photographs of herself crying in order to share their powerful message.

Taken From Online Universities

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