99
The project, a book called “99 Shades of Grey”, is exactly what it sounds like: a coffee table book full of 99 different shades of grey, each slightly darker than the one before.
Initially aiming to raise $600 for a small printing, the project has been a runaway success, raising over $7000 in the first 18 days. With 7 days left in the campaign, it’s anyone’s guess how high the total will get.
Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowd-funding platform for creative projects, allows its users to contribute funding to projects in exchange for rewards ranging from the obvious to the obscure. One popular reward for the “99 Shades” project allowed 99 backers to pay $15 each to name one of the shades of grey in the book.
“Honestly, we thought we’d have a hard time selling all 99 names.” said Kyle Scheele, the Ridiculo.us Director of Ridiculousness. “But then Kickstarter featured us on their front page, their tumblr, their blog, their facebook, their twitter...We ended up selling all 99 names in the first 24 hours.”
Fans, it seems, can’t get enough of the project. “This is the absolute best kickstarter I have ever seen!” wrote one of the backers. And she’s not alone. To date, over 350 individuals from over 20 countries have pledged their support to the project, spending as much as $199 apiece.
As the limited rewards quickly sell out, the Ridiculo.us team continues to add new reward levels and updates on a regular basis to satisfy the demand.
“This is just the beginning.” said one Ridiculo.us staff member. “We plan to launch even more ridiculous things in the months to come. Stay tuned. Things are about to get grey-zy.”
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
