About
WonderPHL World - A Philadelphia Coloring Adventure
$13,232
191
I am making a Philadelphia-themed coloring book with 25 hand-illustrated pages and I need your help funding the initial print run! The book will be a platform to encourage residents and visitors to this great city to slow down and appreciate the details all around through a creative escape.
WOW! Fully funded by Day 10!
Your support is so amazing! Thanks to you, this book is now going to become a reality. Since we reached our funding goal, we will be periodically adding new Stretch Goals which will provide some exciting goodies at different milestones. Stretch Goals are a common Kickstarter practice and signify a level of funding beyond our initial goal. These will be rolled out as they are met, and will be ways for us to show some big appreciation to YOU, our dedicated backers.
How the project came together:
I grew up in the Philadelphia area, moved into the city for school, and have always been a huge fan of anything and everything Philly. The rare blend of American history, modern arts & culture, and diverse nature is something truly unique.
Last year while living and working on a farm in Montana, I was asked by my friend Jordan to draw one of the goats we kept on the property. I obliged, and soon handed over my completed black & white drawing. Almost instinctively, he grabbed some colored pencils I had on the table and started coloring in the picture. I soon found him fully immersed in his creation, and came to realize how relaxing of an activity coloring can be.
I began drawing a new animal every evening, and by the end of a week our farm gang had compiled a nice stack of fully colored pages. I quickly realized that a coloring page removed any inhibitions about doing something creative. Additionally, the act of coloring in objects and places we were seeing every day made these moments all the more special.
Learning to draw and dedicating myself to learning this skill over the last three years has really helped me de-stress and focus on the many things to be grateful for in the present moment. I've long wanted to find a way to use my art to share these gifts with others, and this farm experience finally gave me the perfect idea to do so.
I decided I needed to create a local coloring book focusing on my hometown of Philadelphia. I thought the book could be a way to visually show how much I loved this city, rather than just trying to explain it to the many people I was meeting. I knew this kind of book would appeal to residents of Philly, those who have moved away, others who are visiting, and many more. Over the next few months, the idea started keeping me up at night and I knew I had to work on it.
I began working on concept sketches at the start of this year, while dreaming up locations that would highlight our city and be fun to color in. These concept drawings have now matured into finished coloring pages, and now I need your help to make this book a physical reality.
Why Color?
In addition to being a fun creative activity that all of us used to engage in as children, recent research has shown that coloring may be an effective stress-relief tool. Click HERE to read a study that analyzed the effects of coloring mandalas on reducing anxiety.
I believe that the local focus of these illustrations will help you discover gratitude through appreciation of your surroundings, and encourage you to get out and explore, whether that is in Philadelphia or beyond!
Our modern lives are often so busy, and we're constantly running from one task to the next. How often do we just sit in one place and do something fun?
The Book:
Illustrations:
The main feature of the book is the 25 hand-drawn illustrations I have completed in pen over the last few months. Some are street views in perspective, while others transform cultural icons into detailed mandalas. The illustrations feature a wide range of complexities intended to appeal to a variety of age groups and interest levels.
This book will be perfect for longtime Philadelphia residents to reminisce on favorite places, as well as for visitors to learn about the city in a creative way.
Historical Facts and More
Opposite each drawing in the book is useful information about location, history, and cultural relevance of the subject. These fun facts encourage users to get out and explore some of these great places.
There are also original poems I've written spread throughout the book, encouraging the reader to slow down and appreciate everything our city has to offer. These poem pages have plenty of blank space, providing a perfect canvas for making your own patterns and testing out new colors and coloring techniques.
Pledges for a Cause:
You will notice some backer levels where you can purchase books for yourself, and also make donations of books and supplies. These books will be donated to Counseling and Psychological Services programs at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Mental health continues to be an important issue on Penn's campus and others around the country. During my time at Penn, I watched friends and teammates battle depression and struggle to find balance amidst the many stresses they faced.
I am not naive enough to think a coloring book alone can solve this severe mental health crisis, but I believe it can be part of a larger holistic treatment solution. I have spoken with the team that runs Prevention Programs at CAPS and they believe these books could be used at student centers & waiting rooms around campus, as well as be used in student mindfulness and wellness programs. Your donation will get these books into as many hands as possible, and help provide a creative escape and stress relief tool to the many students who Penn CAPS supports.
To learn more about the Outreach and Prevention Programs these donated books will be going towards, please click HERE. And to read a blog post I wrote last year about mental health on campus, please click HERE.
Our Printing Partner:
We are working with a local printer, Paradigm Digital Color Graphics that is ready to print and bind our pages once we have secured funding. The book will be perfect-bound, much like any paperback book you are used to holding.
The book's interior pages are being printed on sturdy 100-lb text stock, which is ideal for colored pencils, markers, crayons, and more. Additionally, each page is perforated for easy removal and display of your colorful creations.
Paradigm has already supplied us with BEAUTIFUL proof samples of the book. These prototypes give us the confidence that the finished product will meet our quality expectations and deliver a book that will look great in your hands and be a joy to color.
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Video:
I owe a huge thank you to the amazingly talented Mike Oberlies for his work on the Kickstarter video shoot and edit. Check out his stellar portfolio at www.obecuatro.com and keep him in mind for any photography or videography needs. Mike was a joy to work with and really helped bring the vision for this video to life better than I could have imaged.
Also a big shoutout to Colin for hooking us up!
Want to add a book? Just pledge an extra $20 and shoot me a message. I'll add another signed book to your package.
Want more info? Feel free to follow us on instagram and facebook @wonderPHLworld
Risks and challenges
This is my first time producing a book, and there are always challenges when manufacturing any product. However, I am very confident in the experienced print shop we have partnered with, and the early proof copies of the book they have produced show great paper and binding quality.
If the campaign is funded, we plan to have the books ready to deliver for the holidays by the end of December. If there are any unforseen issues in production or delays in shipping, you will be the first to know.
I have a few more illustrations to finish over the next month, and am very confident these will be done in time to have the books ready for printing.
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Funding period
- (30 days)