AniFem merchandise is coming! (Patreon)

Anime Feminist is crowdfunding, and we’re in perhaps the most exciting stage: planning out our first merchandise!

Check out my editorial, "The Future of Anime Feminist", for more information on our reasons for the campaign, which will launch on 1st December, or read on for merchandise-specific details...

(Please note: I’ll share more information publicly once I’ve finalised more, but this glimpse of a work-in-progress is exclusively for patrons just now.)

We’re still calculating the exact reward tiers, but I can give you some behind-the-scenes info on the types of merchandise we’re considering, and how we’re going about it. 

First and most important is that we’ve commissioned an artist from the AniFem community to design some exclusive illustrations just for this crowdfunding campaign! 

Teri has been an AniFem supporter since the earliest days, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet her in person several times. She understands our mission and culture, and as soon as I saw her colourful, versatile portfolio I knew she was the perfect person for the job.

You can see her website here: http://www.teriarchibbles.com/ 

I’ve asked Teri for one elaborate, dynamic illustration we can use on postcards (with a thank you message on the back!) and high quality art prints. From that, I’d like to be able to pull out some simpler elements of the illustration to fit on smaller items, such as stickers. 

There will also be a couple of fabric offerings: tote bags and the much-requested and long-awaited T-shirts! These will be part of higher tier rewards, reflecting the significantly higher costs of production. 

We’re still in the earliest briefing stages with Teri, so there’s no way to say yet what the T-shirt design will be like, but I’m hoping we can find a way to screen print the full, elaborate illustration on the front. This will highly restrict the number of colours we can use, so will need to be something we decide in these early stages - updates very soon!

Finally, we will be offering an exclusive, one-off, Anime Feminist zine! This will be small, most likely A6 and just 8 pages, but it will be more personal than any other item on this list. Zines have a strong history in both feminist activism and marginalised nerd spaces, and it feels right that we at least try the medium out for ourselves.

I’m honestly not sure if we’ll ever make one again, this could turn out to be more stress and hassle than it’s worth, so including it in our rewards will really be something special.

For this first round of merchandise, we’ve had to prioritise a few considerations. For example, is it cheap and easy to ship, with little chance of breaking? Will those on the highest tier, receiving one of everything, feel like they have a good mix of item types and aesthetics? Once you add in all costs, does each tier make financial sense in light of our overall target? 

If this campaign goes well and we meet our target, our next big project will be to open an online shop, which will come with very different considerations. This is where you’re more likely to see items like mugs (too breakable), magnets (too similar to stickers), and hoodies (no way to make a good return on a tier with a quality hoodie in it). We'll also be able to debut a range of designs, slogans, maybe even a mascot of our own! 

But that’s the next chapter of our story... and we’ll only get there if this crowdfunding campaign is an indisputable success. 

We only have two weeks to drum up as much support as possible - by which I mean gather email addresses on our Indiegogo pre-launch page from people seriously planning to support us financially. This will give us an idea of how successful our campaigning is, and of how worried we need to be on the 1st December launch...

Most successful campaigns raise at least 30% of their funds in their first 24 hours. Those who raise less in that time struggle more to build the momentum you need to reach 100%. If you’re planning to contribute and can choose when you do so, that first 24-hour period on 1st December will absolutely have the most positive impact for us. 

Honestly though, if you're planning to contribute at any point in the campaign though I can already tell you we're beyond grateful! Please register your support on our pre-launch page now, and let us know we have a little less to worry about: https://www.animefeminist.com/crowdfunding