Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
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Paul Hosking
Thursday, 08 February 2007 08:59
Founded by local graphic designer Paul Vanzella with two friends, RedBubble makes it simple for artists, photographers, designers and other creative people to connect with others, raise their profile and earn money from online sales.
RedBubble combines the power of social networking with the rewards of e-commerce. Making use of the latest print-on-demand technology, RedBubble will help artists turn their creativity into high quality products like framed prints, t-shirts and books.
Despite the rapid uptake of online social networks like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook, Vanzella believes that creative people need something different. “ As a designer myself, I believe it’s important to have a beautiful, well-designed site. Artwork needs to be presented in the right way” said Vanzella. “But it’s about function too, not just aesthetics. A major advantage of RedBubble is how easy it is to sell your creative work online.”
A free RedBubble membership allows people to customise their profile, share their thoughts in a journal, and exhibit and sell their portfolio of digital work. Members are in full control of what is for sale and how it is priced. RedBubble handles the customer orders and payment processing, manufactures and delivers the physical products, and pays the artist. “We take away the hassles, so you have more time for creativity” said Vanzella. The potential demand for RedBubble is significant. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2.9 million Australians work in cultural activities, two-thirds as unpaid volunteers1. A further 2.5 million undertake arts and crafts pursuits as a hobby.2
“Everyone has a creative spark. For most it is a labor of love. But wouldn’t it be great if more people earned money doing what they love?” said Vanzella. The RedBubble creative community is already well underway, with a ‘friends and family’ version of the website tested over the past six weeks. “Even trying to keep it under wraps” said Vanzella, “we’ve now got 100 members and over 600 artworks, including photographers, illustrators, poets, painters, and more.”
Vanzella teamed up with his friends Martin Hosking and Peter Styles to start RedBubble in April 2006. They’ve since raised enough money to launch the business in Australia and put together a talented team of twelve people to bring their RedBubble vision to life. Today’s public launch is an important milestone for RedBubble, but Vanzella insists it’s just the start. “We’ve started with framed prints, but soon you will be able to design and sell your own t-shirts, canvas prints, books, and more” he said.
To celebrate its launch, RedBubble has also announced two competitions, with a total prize pool of $9,000. Entry is free, with full details for the RedBubble Digital Image Prize and the RedBubble Short Story Prize available on www.redbubble.com.au"
