While designing the Hartford Metro Map, I guessed it would be popular enough with local folks to merit a run of about 100 prints. I’d seen Kickstarter and was attracted by a few dimensions of its model:

• It removes the risk from the project.
• It handles the credit card transactions.
• It offers tools for organization and promotion.

Any artist/designer can appreciate the uncertainty in releasing a finished work for public approval. There’s always the possibility that no one else will be as excited about it as you are, making for an expensive flop if the printing is done beforehand. Particularly at my current level of skill and notoriety (little & none), this was a concern. Kickstarter alleviated that concern.

Asking for money is also tough. To get around that, Kickstarter’s system again made that a non-issue. From the perspective of the backers, they are also protected in that no money changes hands if the project fails to get funded.

Lastly, online media provide amazingly easy and cost-effective channels to promote projects to large networks. Twitter, Facebook and blogs have enormous reach, and each medium makes it simple for others to share a meme with their own networks. It’s that snowball effect that proved so powerful and essential in the success of the Hartford Metro Map.

In addition to the product being compelling and my great fortune in having several influential & enthusiastic friends, I trace the success of the project back to a few of its specific qualities and decisions made during its creation. First, giving proceeds to charity made backing the project attractive regardless of its deliverables. Second, it was rooted in the vibrant Hartford community so that it appealed to local pride and sense of place. Third, there was a focus on affordability, so that backers could easily justify a small outlay to support the project. And finally, the addition of the American Apparel T spurred a whole round of increased pledges, resulting in the project being funded after just 17 days. People love t-shirts.

In hindsight, I should have had more faith in the project getting funded. Specifically, the time frame for funding should have been much shorter in order to maintain urgency and get the finished product into the hands of backers as soon as possible. For the Hartford Metro Map, I think I good window would have been four weeks. The price points turned out to be pretty good, despite my initial worries that they were too expensive. After an initial wave of support for the map, adding the t-shirt rewards later helped keep up interest in the project and attract new followers. Whether it would have been better to start with several rewards in place, I can’t say, but I think having legitimate news to share was a plus.

Last week, I volunteered as part of the Homeless Vulnerability Index (PDF), a method of determining which Hartford-area homeless were at the greatest risk. Based on the information gathered, those with the greatest need would be helped first. The project involved searching for the homeless in the early morning hours over two days, and visiting homeless shelters in the city in order to administer a survey. I was part of the latter effort at a shelter called Immaculate Conception, temporary home to about 80 men.

My first reaction was astonishment at the friendless and high spirits of the men I interviewed. While I expected them be guarded and reticent, they were remarkably candid in speaking about their history on the streets, where they typically slept, their medical conditions and how they made money. Since five of us had to survey all of the men over just three hours, I was disappointed that I didn’t have time to ask follow-up questions outside the scope of the study. I wanted to understand more about how they became homeless, what they did during the day and what was most difficult about their situations.

Ultimately, it was a touching and deeply fulfilling experience, particularly the results. An organization called Journey Home is now focusing on the 40 most vulnerable individuals of those surveyed, with the remaining 115 classified as “vulnerable” next in line for help finding housing. I’m already looking to volunteer again doing something similar, hopefully with the same group of men.