Adorable and stylish bat shaped backpacks with foldable wings and convertible straps! Unfold the wings for a hidden ita bag compartment to display 7 - 8 of your favorite enamel pins.
It's time to spread your wings & show off your impeccable style with BATPACKS, a line of adorable bat-shaped convertible ita bags designed by me, ANDPIERRES, with 9 unlockable colorways and exclusive rewards for those who choose to support the project!
Making the batpacks has been a dream of mine for a little over a year now, with the first sketch being slapped together in my car minutes before my work shift in a bat apparel induced fever dream.
The very first batpack sketch from May 2023!
When I shared the cleaned up file to Twitter, I was amazed to see just how many people loved the idea of the batpack too!
The second pass that I posted to Twitter a few months later...
I sat on the idea for nearly a full year before picking it back up again, and now here we are -- ready to make these sweet little guys a reality!
Hi! I'm Nicholas (he/they), but most people call me Nico, and I go by the handle ANDPIERRES. I'm an independent illustrator & merch designer from the Bay Area, and I've been selling my art online & at conventions since 2011!
I've previously hosted two other crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter (My Otter Half & Fangs and Flora) and I'm very excited to be making the switch to crowdfunding on Backerkit for my largest project yet! You can find more of my work on Twitter & Instagram, as well as my online shops on Ko-Fi and Etsy. I also frequently sell at in-person markets and conventions, so if you're local to the Bay Area, hi! You might have seen me around!
Launching this campaign has been an incredibly fulfilling yet very challenging labor of love for me. By backing the campaign, you're supporting a queer artist and ~ small business owner ~ and it truly does mean the world to me!
Each batpack comes in at a hefty 12in tall and 10.25in across at the widest part, with the top and bottom measuring at 5.5in across. Their wings measure 9.75in across and can be folded over in either direction!
The batpacks are made from a soft, water resistant polyurethane leather (or "pleather") with screenprinted details. The print is also scratch resistant!
Inside we have the nylex insert, which measures at 6in wide and 5in tall. Nylex is a tear resistant material meant to resist wear and tear from repeatedly adding and removing pins, so you won't have to worry about it ripping! It is a bit on the thicker side, so please only use butterfly or locking clasps to secure your pins inside.
Keep in mind that due to the coffin shape of the bag, items that fit through the widest part of the bag may not reach fully to the bottom! Despite this, you can still fit quite a fit into these little guys, including a Switch!
Switch, check! Wallet, check! Sketchbook, check! Your hardcover copy of Tales of Suspense by Edgar Allan Poe... check!
The batpacks can comfortably display around 7 to 8 pins depending on the size of your pins!
The straps of the batpack are convertible and come with sturdy hardware, and can attach to any of the four D-rings on the batpack itself!
The straps are also adjustable! The min length is 27 inches and the maximum length is 48 inches for each strap. You can use the straps to style the batpack any way you like -- as a batpack, a cross body bat bag, a bat purse, and more!
** NOTE: Keep in mind that all photos shown here are taken of the sample batpack received from my manufacturer. Small details, such as color variations and design tweaks, may be present once the bags are manufactured en masse. **
Our first design is the first ever batpack designed, this sweet little brown bat! Our main goal is to fund the production of this initial design, with further designs being unlocked over time if/when we reach certain funding milestones!
As of the launch of the campaign, there are currently 8 other planned designs to be unlocked as stretch goals over the course of the month! Take a look at our planned designs below -- which one is your favorite?
** Note: The following designs are still undergoing the sampling/prototype process. Small design & color changes may occur when designs are sent to be manufactured! **
At this time, I don't currently plan on adding any more batpack colorways to the current lineup -- however, there are other additional stretch goals to be unlocked alongside the batpack designs!
If you've been following me on social media already, you may already know that I run monthly merch clubs over on my Ko-Fi page! Tiers start as low as a tip jar for $1 a month, and members of any and all of my Ko-Fi tiers receive exclusive merchandise and access to a special discounted pledge tier! To claim your discounted pledge tier, you must either register for Backerkit with the same email as your Ko-Fi account, or have the same mailing address so I can verify your information between the two!
** If you pledge to this tier without being a Ko-Fi member, your pledge will be canceled. **
Additionally, Ko-Fi members can purchase additional sticker or pin designs via add-ons if they'd like to snag a cheaper early bird tier (or, conversely, opt for a full price tier), or if they want multiple of the exclusive pin & sticker designs.
A Colony Collaboration: Batpacks x Perished Plushes
Just can't get enough bats? We're very excited to announce that we will be collaborating with Perished Plushies for their Fanged Friends campaign! Click here to check out their campaign and pledge to both of our projects to receive exclusive free rewards!
(free enamel pin designed by me when you back both campaigns)
(free enamel pin designed by Elliot when you back both campaigns)
We've had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Gainesville, FL, a non-profit organization dedicated to bat conservation and education.
We were able to send the batpack off to have a fun visit with some of their resident bats, and eventually, you'll be able to find batpacks for sale in the conservancy gift shop!
And that's not all; by supporting our campaign here on Backerkit and purchasing a Lubee donation sticker as an add-on when you check out, all proceeds from the sale of those stickers will be donated directly to Lubee at the end of the campaign!
You get a cute sticker AND you get to support bat conservation at the same time! Sounds like a win-win to me :)
The project timeline provided is a rough estimate of how long the manufacturing and shipping process may take; production time may vary greatly depending on how many iterations of samples we need for the additional batpack colors, if there are any manufacturing delays, etc. I have heard from other artists that ita bag production times can SOMETIMES take as long as six months -- obviously we are hoping that won't be the case here, but that's something to keep in mind when placing your order. Any significant project delays will be announced here on Backerkit!
September 1st, 2024, 10:00AM PST - Campaign launches
September 30th, 11:59PM PST - Campaign ends
October 1st - October 14th - Pledge funds are received & your card is charged for your pledge
October 14th - October 21st - Backerkit surveys will be sent out NO LATER than Oct. 14th; this is how you will pay for your shipping + any additional add-ons, as well as choosing which batpack design(s) you want! ** Paying for your shipping fees is separate from paying for your pledge level. **
October 22nd - end of November - Samples are ordered & iterated upon, bags are ordered as samples come in, add-on items are purchased and begin manufacturing
Late 2024 - Early 2025 - Bags continue to be manufactured
Early 2025 - Late Spring 2025 - Add-on rewards will be shipped separately from the batpacks themselves, and will be sent out as early as possible!
IMPORTANT: Pledge prices do NOT include the cost of shipping. Your shipping fee will be calculated at the end of the campaign & collected when your backer surveys are sent out via pledge manager! Please keep this in mind when choosing your pledge tier.
IMPORTANT NOTES: Shipping prices shown are ROUGH estimates and could be higher or lower depending on the cost of postage at time of shipment/type of packaging/etc. There are some countries we may not be able to ship to (Russia, Ukraine, Israel/occupied Palestine, etc) due to embargo laws and/or mail service disruptions.
We will be partnering with the distribution company White Squirrel for shipping assistance with the batpacks. They will handle shipping & handling for the batpacks only; smaller items like pins, stickers, etc will still be shipped out by me, as well as any remaining batpacks left over after everyone's pledges are packaged and shipped out.
If you're a small business owner or retailer and you're interested in supporting funding for the campaign in the form of a wholesale preorder, please get in touch with me directly on social media (@ANDPIERRES) or email me at [email protected] so we can discuss pricing & further details. Thank you so much!
