[Note: This message is from Marc Cull, Vice President CafePress and recently appointed GM of ImageKind.]

Imagekind community,

As you’ve noticed, Imagekind.com has been having a bit of a rough ride over the last few weeks.  With regret that I haven’t been communicating clearly throughout the site issues, I’d like to now take the opportunity to share with you what happened, what we’ve been doing about it, and where things stand now.

So what happened?

In April, a critical file server failed irrecoverably. The failed server was the only repository for all of your artwork thumbnails (about 40 million of them), as well as some graphics and css files used on the website and artist galleries.  Note: the failed file server was not the repository for your print-ready original files, just the thumbnails generated from them for display on the web.

What we’ve done about it

As soon as the file server failed, we began trying to revive it–with limited and sporadic success.  We also immediately started regenerating all the thumbnails from the print-ready originals.  We authored custom software and marshaled hundreds of high-capacity servers to grind through seven years of image processing in a matter of days.

Our initial thumbnail re-generating was powerful but imperfect, and although it restored the lion’s share of thumbnails correctly, you may have noticed some funky-looking or dark thumbnails as well.  As we discover those thumbnail generation errors, we are fixing and re-running the thumbnails regenerator, and we will continue to do so until we eliminate all the remaining quirks.  Please continue to contact care@imagekind.com with screenshots if your thumbnails look wrong.

Rest assured, in the course of regenerating the thumbnails, we also upgraded the storage system we keep them on to premium grade, high-availability, multiple-redundancy servers, so this kind of failure absolutely will not happen again.

Similarly, we moved all the graphics and css files needed for properly formatted artist galleries to a new storage back end.

Making progress on both took longer than any of us wanted, but the team dropped everything, working nights and weekends until it was done. I regret not communicating more clearly what was going on at the time. We were just single-mindedly devoting all possible resources to fixing it.

Where we are now?

We believe we are nearly out of the woods in terms of the acute problems caused by the file server failure.  As you help us discover remaining examples of not-quite-right thumbnails, we are able to spot-fix and regenerate.  Uploading new art seems to be consistently working well now, from the desktop as well as from Flickr.  The Bulk Uploader is still not working, and we expect to fix it within days.  Most aspects of artist galleries seem to be working again as well, though there are certain graphics (for frames, etc) that are still missing and we will be following through on replacing as fast as we can.  If your gallery is not formatting on the screen well, please contact care@imagekind.com with a link and screenshot so we can address it as soon as possible.

There is one major remaining issue we need to work through carefully: As we regenerated the thumbnails, we discovered gaps in the archives of original, print-ready art. For some amount of artwork throughout the last seven years, thumbnails had been created although the original never made it to long-term storage. Those presence of the thumbnails on the site masked the fact that, in fact, we couldn’t print some pieces without asking the artist to re-upload the original.  However, in losing the thumbnails and having to regenerate them from the print-ready source art, we also exposed the gaps in source art storage.  That’s why there are still lingering broken thumbnails on the site.  Those represent thumbnails we simply will not be able to regenerate until the original art is re-uploaded to the system.

What’s next?

We’re taking final measure of the missing original art pieces, and rapidly putting together individual communication to those affected, as well as an easy way to identify and re-upload the missing art.  Stay tuned.

Where we go from here

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the artists’ community behind ImageKind, and the hours and energy you’ve all invested.  Where we go from here is up.  I’m enthusiastic as hell about Imagekind and am excited about helping it soar.   For those of you who may read into the behind-the-scenes corporate organization, I want to put your minds at ease if possible: Moving the operations and leadership of Imagekind to Corporate headquarters where it can benefit from more shared resources, and where its growth and daily operations can be the singular focus of the executive with the longest tenure at Cafepress–these all are signs that we’re very much behind Imagekind, and very committed to reinvesting in its growth.

I’ll wrap up by re-iterating that I understand and share your distress, both about the choppy service and the poor communication about it.  Needless to say, we don’t take your investment for granted, and it’s our solemn intention to work our hardest every day to make ImageKind bigger and better for you.

Best,
Marc Cull

As you may have noticed, over the past couple of weeks, we have experienced image hosting issues. We neither expect nor feel entitled to your patience, but we do deeply appreciate it as we have been working to isolate and resolve the issue. We have invested significant time and resources to quickly re-architecting our infrastructure to prevent a repeat of this kind of failure in the future.

We feel confident that our site is going to emerge from this hiccup stronger and faster. At the moment, we are rapidly converging on the finish line and we expect to be back to full stretch in a matter of days. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact care@imagekind.com.

Believe it or not, the holiday shopping season is upon us! We’d like to highlight a few of our artists who have chosen to donate portions of their profits to charities of their choice. We encourage you to consider these artists as you shop and enjoy taking comfort knowing that your purchase will ripple waves of kindness and hope to people in need of it most in this holiday season.

John Nanian is donating 50% of all profit to Hurricaine Sandy relief efforts across the Northeast. Natural disasters can effect any of us at any time; our hearts go out to the families and businesses that have been impacted by this storm. We congratulate John on his generosity and encourage you to browse his unique and powerful images.

Front Yard Color Black and White Cameraless Light by John Nanian

Faye Cummings will dedicate 25% of sales for a select number of her stunning paintings to help homeless children, a noble cause that we can all admire and respect. Thank you for your dedication, Faye!

Little One by Faye Cummings

Joni Gruber donates 30% of the proceeds from the sale of a select number of her images to the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and LIfeCare Center as part of the mission of the Art for Cancer Group. She does this in memory of her father who died from lung cancer. Many of us can think of friends or family that have been impacted by cancer in one way or another, unfortunately. What a wonderful way to honor your loved one, Joni!

Underwater by Joni Gruber

They Draw and Cook and Travel features a unique and fun map by Nate Padavick that highlights the most endangered reptiles of Madagascar. They donate all proceeds from its sale to the Turtle Conservancy. If you love animals, you will love this map! We appreciate your efforts, Nate!

Madagascar by Nate Padavick

Cid Palacio donates 100% of all net sales to the ART for Cancer Foundation. She also experienced the loss of her father and her mother to this horrible disease and has made it her artistic mission to help raise money for this organization that helps to nurture hope in cancer patients. We commend you on your efforts, Cid!

Weeping Tulips by ART for Cancer by Cid Palacio

We know that there are many more artists who donate their art, time, and proceeds to various organizations with the ultimate goal of combining art and compassion for the greater good of our global community. We congratulate all of you and thank you for your philanthropy.

A few years ago, we brought 10 Amazing Artists’ Storefronts to your attention. We’ve decided to do that again! Storefronts are a wonderful way to showcase your artwork and are available to our Pro and Platinum Members. Take a look at these eye-catching designs from your fellow artists. We hope their efforts will inspire you to enhance an existing storefront or to upgrade your membership and create a new one!

Art in all its forms has many therapeutic qualities. Imagine a home without art on the walls… hard to do, isn’t it? Our latest story draws attention to a well known disease known as Postpartum Depression, depression that occurs after childbirth. Katie Todd was bold enough to share her personal experience with this disease that she was able to conquer thanks to her talent with a paint brush.

I started painting a series of landscape paintings as a new mother, suffering with postpartum depression. I found that an hour of painting during my daughter’s nap time did wonders for my mood. Unlike diapers, paintings stayed done. It was an immediate accomplishment, and also provided a time for reconnecting with myself. The paintings gave me a focus, visually, on the walls of my living room. Gazing out on a horizon is calming. There are no vista views from the windows of my home. So I began painting these landscapes to give me a sense of open space that doesn’t exist in, or around my urban homestead. My daughter is now 7, and our family is happy and thriving.

I found that expansive horizons in nature encourage a deep breath, and quieted thoughts. My paintings are intended to offer viewers a space of their own to escape for a moment as well. Several of them are currently displayed in a variety of medical and wellness settings including Oregon Health Science University, Pacific Women’s Health Clinic, Vancouver, WA, Body Mechanics Bodywork and Pilates Studio, Portland, OR. I receive emails from clients and patients affirming that the art on the waiting room walls gave them a sense of calm and serenity despite the medical challenge they or their loved ones were facing. Many mothers have told me that the scenes offer them a sense of peace and respite in the middle of a busy day at home with the kids, or a sense of relief upon returning from a long day of work only to begin their second mothering job. I repeatedly hear that the paintings seem to emit a soothing quality that people just love to be around.

We are sure you’ll agree that her paintings truly do evoke a feeling of peacefulness and calm. We can certainly see why so many have reached out to her to thank her for making their toughest days a little easier. We’d like to thank Katie for ensuring that her paintings are used in medical settings where patients who may be suffering from the same symptoms as she did can take comfort in them.