Article about Imagekind on TechCrunch Today
We got some coverage from very popular technology and business site TechCrunch today; even a phone call from Mr. Arrington himself. Though the article focuses on some of the buzz and rumors around our investment dealings – it still gives a pretty good view of what we do and where we sit in the online art sales space.
Go read it for yourself and leave a comment about your experience with Imagekind. How do we stack up compared to other services out there?
Hey there!..
I just wanted to say how awesome ImageKind is and that I’m very happy to be included with all the wonderful art/artists here.
Thanks,
Sara
Excellent idea and execution. But, I’ve got a couple areas where I think you guys could really make the Platinum account experience better. Here’s the post I made on my blog at:
http://www.lfstyl.com/blog/2007/1/11/imagekind-of-good.html
Matt,
You make some great points, and I thank you for taking an in depth look at Imagekind. However, I would point out that we are still a new site and service, and many of the shortcomings you point out are issues that we have discussed in detail, though we simply have not yet had the time to really consider, and then perhaps develop some added functionality and options. Much of our resources have been concentrated on creating the base of the service, giving artists some tools that have not previously existed in this arena, creating a really high quality product, as well as marketing to buyers and letting them know about this diverse new marketplace.
With this new year come a flood of new features that we are working on, as well as some tweaks and polish regarding our existing system. For instance, we have been hard at work developing a desktop upload tool, that should take the place of most FTP uploading. However, this isn’t really a simple procedure if you think about it – we are working with very large files (anywhere from 15- 600+mb) in a variety of file types. Even most of today’s video sharing sites aren’t working with files this large and diverse. Moving data like this into our system in a secure and managed way, creating previews, watermarks, and thumbnails on-the-fly, archiving the original files, while accounting for all the other possible hiccups the internet can throw at you – well it’s a complex task. So, as our current upload client works alright for this, many artists have large bodies of work that they want to set to upload and walk away from, knowing that they have some assurance of resuming if the connection gets dropped, etc. FTP seems like the easiest logical option for facilitating this.
We’ve already made significant progress on updating and improving our service since it launched in August, and I can assure you that Imagekind holds as one of it’s highest ideals that the better tools we provide to artist across the board, the more this community is going to revolutionize the online art market. That’s why we take everyone’s comments so seriously, and why we encourage healthy criticism like yours. Give us some time, we’ll make you happy.
Also, just so everyone is aware, Matt originally had his full blog post text included in his comment, but I edited that out for the sake of brevity and left the link to his blog post – which you should check out so my response makes sense!
Speaking of brevity… I think I’ll stop writing now…
Travis,
Thanks for the response! It’s a great start and I look forward to the updates so I can switch my inventory over! Keep it up and here’s to a great 2007.
Largest Art Event Ever…
A new Michelangelo has been born?
A new Rembrandt?
A new Van Gogh?
A new Picasso?
No.
Larger.
The internet revolutionized computer business. By accident.
Art has not been revolutionized by the internet.
Yet.
For the last month I have eagerly tested ImageKind.com.
In the Beta test and after the launch some months ago.
I knew ImageKind.com was right for me.
You create your piece, you load it up, you set price, that’s it.
I have created 500 new peaces in 25 Galleries.
People around me are sure I’m in sane.
I was pleased about ImageKind’s ambitions: To build the largest and best platform for buying, creating, and selling art.
Easy to say.
But.
Very, very hard to accomplice.
This morning, however, I knew the Art world would be revolutionized.
The revolution is around the corner.
Talks are going on between ImageKind and Amazon.com.
Amazon.com has what ImageKind doesn’t have.
And what ImageKind probably never will have.
A brand.
The place you go when you want to buy online.
And a dream comes through.
I create my pieces, I load it up, I set the price and a customer looks at it a few moments after.
No Mr. 25 %, no Mr. 10 %, no Mr. 50 %.
No galleries, no curators, no museums.
No intervention.
Just me, the artist and the customer.
I took a look at Matt’s comments on his blog. As Travis says, they were indepth and based on some thought.
To quote Matt, he sees Imagekind as “cafepress for photography”, and a “customizable photography store site.” From that perspective, I guess it’s missing some features that cafepress offers.
But I think he’s misinterpreting the site altogether. It’s not like cafepress, and not intended to be. It’s an art site, selling art prints. So in my opinion, expecting Imagekind to offer cafepress features is unrealistic.
And frankly, I hope it never goes in that direction. There are different ways to sell our art, and not all of them work for everyone. I prefer Imagekind and personally don’t care for the cafepress type of selling.
Responsive, clean and easy. That’s experience of offering prints at imagekind.com.
The user interface makes uploading images and presenting them in a gallery totally intuitive. The option of choosing the format and framing options for the image is a great bonus. It allows the creator to show the buyer how they would like the image presented and also allows anyone buying only the prints a chance to see what it will look liked framed.
I cannot say enough about the response of the staff to questions and suggestions. In a very short time, imagekind.com has provided a much better forum for buying and selling art than any of their competitors.
Anyone, anywhere can now enjoy owning my work.
I noted CafePress more as a reference for the model of uploading digital content and allowing people to buy / sell physical products. In this case, on-demand art prints / framing. It’s definitely more focussed in that regard but, in essence, that’s the process.
My contrast is more for the professional accounts since ImageKind Platinum is comparably priced to other professional, on-demand print services for photographers. The features that I mentioned are the types of things you find on other on-demand print models aimed at photographers (not cafepress)
The integrated framing is a huge win for ImageKind. I’m thinking more about the process and experience I would like a potential customer to go through. They’re on the right track.
Well, Matt, I sure agree with you on our choice of art sites!
I also agree with you that they are on the right track, and perhaps I misinterpreted your comments comparing them to cafepress.
And I’m sure that they will be considering any and all suggested features for the site’s future, too. That’s one of the best things about Imagekind, is the way they ask for feedback and suggestions.
ImageKind making this kind of news is great for us all!
I know there will be changes along the way, but guys please do not change the way you do business (especially the customer service you now have). However, …when you have a moment clone yourselves so you can get more sleep, when you answer e-mails late into the night I worry.
Best wishes with this little Amazon thing
Savanna
Thank you for sharing. I came to this site to read how things really are