The Best UK Kickstarter projects (and the worst)

Posted on 16 Nov 2012 at 17:25, by Tom Morgan

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WORST: The UK T-Shirt Project!

Clearly we missed the memo and it turns out the saviour of the world's economic crisis is solely in the hands of T-shirt printers, as this is the second shirt-related Kickstarter to make our list. The creator of this hair-brained project has obviously watched Inception one too many times, and is now stuck in a dream within a dream where he thinks the general public would want to buy a T-Shirt with his personal funding goals emblazoned across it.

How could you not want one? Oh, that's right - it's crap.

We're pretty sure the whole thing is a big joke - just watch the comically amateurish video and listen to the bumbling commentary. Is he drunk? (And will the final designs really use the Comic Sans font?) but the sad thing is there's actually potential beneath the awful pitch. Let customers design their own shirt, choosing the project title, funding amount and backers, rather than some arbitrary numbers for a (almost certainly unsuccessful) project. We'll even give up our future royalty claims if the creator wants to adapt his concept, because we're just that nice.

BEST: OSTRICH PILLOW
It was a tough call working out which category best described the Ostrich pillow, but in the end, how can you not love something that's designed to help you nap? Yes, you'll look a tad silly slipping it over your head and tucking your hands into the pouches, but you're then ready for a power nap, just like a real ostrich.

Bringing new meaning to the term "duck and cover"

Only here you’re not hiding your head in the sand ignoring the world’s problems, but snoozing on a soft bed of bliss to help improve your productivity, which is a much more preferable place to catch a quick power-nap if you ask us. The London-based project surpassed its $70,000 goal, reaching $195,000 by the end of its 30-day Kickstarter run. We're already drafting the petition to get a crate of these delivered to the office - for the increased productivity benefits, naturally.

WORST: PROJECTEO - the tiny instagram projector

This hopelessly pretentious hipster-bait has somehow already earned its $18,000 Kickstarter goal, along with a further $10,000 with which to bring the tiny projector designed for your instagram photos to life. Project creator Benjamin Redford is clearly no fool, having chosen to list Projecteo in dollars rather than pounds to secure the all-important investment from Long Island layabouts and loft-dwelling New Yorkers.

Yes, it really is that small and yes, it really is that pretentious

Using single frames of 35mm film and projecting images up a massive two feet away, each Projecteo projector wheel can show off up to nine of your overly saturated, effects-heavy photos of the sun filtering through trees, close-ups of burgers you bought from that pop-up restaurant you heard about through Twitter, or your cat in delightfully ironic poses.

We're secretly hoping this is a fake project, with the names of buyers being passed on to the Army - who will be in readiness to reinstate national service.