This project is inspired by dark and mysterious jellyfish...
Some jellyfish are bioluminescent - they literally glow in the dark - I've designed four fluorescent keychain designs, two of which will be unlocked at the start of the campaign. The Blue Crystal Jelly and Green Fluorescent Protein Keychains are unlocked at the start of the campaign, with the other keychain designs becoming unlocked at stretch goals.
The keychains are based on my watercolour and coloured charcoal pencil drawings, which are scanned and printed onto fluorescent acrylic to make the 65mm (2.6") keychains. Each design will be printed on a different coloured acrylic: blue, green, orange, and pink.
The keychains will glow when placed under UV light (black light). I took the picture on the right under the UV light at our local climbing wall! :)
The Blue Crystal Jelly and Green Fluorescent Protein keychains will be unlocked at the start of the campaign, with the other keychain designs becoming unlocked at stretch goals.
Coming from biotech, I knew Crystal jelly (Aequorea victoria) had to be one of the four keychain designs. This jellyfish is found off the west coast of North America and is where green fluorescent protein (GFP) was originally isolated from, the green glow that you so often see scientists engineering into other organisms - there's glowing green silkworm silk on the cover of last month's issue of National Geographic!
Crystal jelly flashes blue to scare away predators, so this is the blue keychain. GFP gives this blue a greenish tinge apparently, so the ribbon structure of GFP is the green keychain.
Atolla jellyfish (Atolla wyvillei) also flashes blue, but I was looking for an orange candidate. As the colour of this jelly is largely bright orange, Atolla jellyfish takes the orange keychain spot.
Lastly, Mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca) glows a bluey purple (mauve) colour at night - the Mauve stinger is the pink keychain.
I've designed four Tangle Tee t-shirt designs. Giant Siphonophore will be unlocked at the start of the campaign, with the other designs being unlocked at stretch goals.
The t-shirts will be sustainably printed in the UK with Direct To Garment (DTG) inks. These inks aren't glow-in-the-dark or fluorescent. However, for an additional charge I will hand paint glow-in-the-dark fabric paint highlights onto your Tangle Tee t-shirt! Each t-shirt will be unique! This paint comes in different colours and does glow in the dark normally, although it glows even brighter under UV!
Here's me at UV night wearing a top I hand painted with the same UV fabric paints, with a bacteria design - of course!
All of the t-shirts will be 100% organic cotton, unisex, with the same base colour - anthracite (dark grey), picture below left (design shown is Giant Siphonophore). The style is Stanley/Stella Rocker Organic T-shirt, which has a relaxed and contemporary fit (see style below right). It is a tubular 150gsm t-shirt, light weight, single jersey.
This is the size guide from the manufacturer. You will choose your preferred design and size of t-shirt in the backer survey, sent 2 weeks after the end of the campaign.
The Jelly Picks (guitar picks or plectrums!) will unlock at the first stretch goal (£ 900) ARE UNLOCKED!!
This is a set of six guitar picks, each with the same Sea Wasp (Chironex fleckeri) design but a different thickness and colour. The colours and thicknesses are detailed in the illustration below.
All of the picks are 26mm wide and 30mm (pink, purple, blue) or 31mm (white, glow-in-the-dark, black) high. The pink, purple, and blue picks will be made from premium grade acetal polymer with a matte finish, while the white, glow-in-the-dark, and black picks will be made from high quality celluloid.
There are five Pledge Levels, Tickled, Tousled, Tangled, Tumbled, and Twisted. You need to choose one of these in order to back the campaign. Additional items can be added in the Add-ons section.
Tickled: choose one Fluorescent Keychain. Tousled: choose one Fluorescent Keychain, and receive one set of Jelly Picks Tangled: choose one Tangle Tee t-shirt. Tumbled: choose one Fluorescent Keychain and one Tangle Tee t-shirt. Twisted: choose one Fluorescent Keychain, one Tangle Tee t-shirt, and receive one set of Jelly Picks
The Blue Crystal Jelly and Green Fluorescent ProteinKeychains, and the Giant Siphonophore Tangle Tee t-shirt were unlocked when the funding goal was met! (£ 600)
The Sea Wasp guitar picks (Jelly Picks) and Mauve Stinger Tangle Tee t-shirt have been unlocked at the first two Stretch Goals! (£ 900 and £ 1200, respectively)
There are FIVE stickers for this campaign, all of which are freebies! Here's how you can qualify:
If you follow Deadly Tangle before the launch and then go on to back the campaign, you will qualify for a free Pixie Dust Common Irukandji Sticker (fine sparkly sticker). This jellyfish lives off the coast of northern Australia and is one of the smallest (~1 cubic centimetre) and one of the deadliest in the world.
Backing the campaign early, within the first 48 hours, gets you a free Moon Jellyfish Sticker. This jelly is common in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, including the waters around the UK, and isn't dangerous to humans.
The Discosoma coral (great name!) glows red, and is where the original red fluorescent proteins were isolated from to use in biotech research (dsRed, if you know them). Discosoma is going to be a red fluorescent sticker freebie for Returning Backers.
One week into the campaign we reached our Backer Count Achievement: Reach 50 Backers! This means that all backers will receive a free sticker! The Plumed Scorpionfish was chosen in the polls.
I'm excited to be collaborating with Abi Stevens for this campaign! We're both rocking the ocean theme - Abi's project is Warped Oceans 2 - and if you back both of our projects, you'll receive a free sticker from each of us!
This is the sticker you'll receive from me - it's a Holographic Cone Snail Sticker. This deadly textile cone snail (Conus textile) hunts its prey with a harpoon! I've warped its shell with the disulphide bond structures in its lethal toxins.
All items will ship from the UK. The Fluorescent Keychains and Tangle Tee t-shirts are made in the UK.
Shipping fees are charged at the end of the campaign via backer survey. You will have to pay for shipping in order to receive your rewards as the shipping is not included in your pledge amount before the campaign ends.
UK backers: Rewards will be sent out via Royal Mail 48hr Tracked post (approx. 2-3 working days). Estimated UK shipping price will be £ 4.00 for keychains and guitar picks, or £ 5.00 if your rewards include a t-shirt.
International backers (non-UK): Rewards will be sent out via Royal Mail International Standard (without tracking), which is estimated to take 6-7 days. Estimated international shipping price is £ 6.00-12.00 for keychains and guitar picks, or £ 12.00-16.00 if your rewards include a t-shirt.
International backers are responsible for all import and custom duties that may be incurred in their country. US backers will need to pay the new 'Trump Tariff', which is an additional 10% of the cost of the order plus 10% of the shipping cost. Please note, I am unable to ship to backers in the European Union or Northern Ireland due to the GPSR.
Campaign launch: April 23rd, 2026. Campaign end: May 14th.
The pre-order shop will open after the campaign closes, then there is 2 weeks while backers can fix any failed payments. BackerKit will begin processing pledges while I prepare the surveys.
The surveys will be sent at the end of this 2 weeks, May 28th. It is at the survey stage that you will be able to choose which Fluorescent Keychain designs and which Tangle Tee t-shirt designs you would like (as well as the t-shirt size); shipping costs will also be collected through the surveys.
I will place the orders with the manufacturers when the surveys reach ~75% completion.
I hope to be able to ship all rewards by the beginning of July, 2026. Please note, depending on the number of Backers opting to 'Make My Tangle Tee t-shirt Glow!', opting for this Add-on may mean your rewards take longer to be shipped than anticipated.
Returns will be accepted for refunds. I will check all rewards for defects before sending them out, but if you find a flaw or any damage, please send photographic evidence and I will send out a replacement.
Hi, I'm Kathryn, an illustrator and science writer! This is my fourth crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit.
I became fascinated by biology in my first year at art school, and made paintings inspired by the brightly coloured microscopy pictures in the medical books in the library. For my first campaign, Drawn to Cells? Curious Magnets, I printed these Cell Paintings onto fridge magnets.
More recently, I took part in Pintopia 2026 with Attack of the Crenelated Mutants!, creating a pin collection which asked, "What if a bacterium was as big as a house, or bigger - big enough to engulf a castle?"
Deadly Tangle began with my blog, Making With Biology, through which I looked at natural toxins that have been used to make medicines. I began with the creatures that fascinate me, although it turns out not much is known about jellyfish venom. Instead, I wrote about how jellyfish collagen - the material that makes up their bodies - can be used therapeutically. The illustration from that post, of Moon jelly (Aurelia aurita), appears here as the Early Bird sticker. Another illustration from my blog, that of the textile cone snail (Conus textile), features here as the Cross-Collab sticker incentive with Abi Stevens.
Beasts & Botanicals
This project is participating in Beasts & Botanicals, a celebration of life in all its forms, from the world’s largest mammals to its microscopic algae. The group-collab brings together an all-star lineup of creators crowdfunding together from April 23 – May 14, 2026.
Back 2 or more campaigns during the event and get a free digital zine full of fun facts, art and puzzles. Featuring contributions from every campaign taking part in Beasts & Botanicals. (Excludes tip jar only pledges)
