I thought that I would post this final resource simply to put a finishing touch on our long discussion about Red Bubble and its role in the artistic world. I apologise for the ridiculously painful font that the article is written in, but it isn’t too long so you should survive. The main thing I wanted to draw on is the articles reference to Web 2.0; the ‘hot topic’ of “Introduction to Web Technology” for the past few weeks. The article says that “Red Bubble brings together the best of the web 2.0 world — content and community — while also delivering a strong business model. Hosking said Red Bubble is to the creative arts what YouTube is to online video”. It is the 2.0 aspect of Red Bubble that makes it so appealing. It is a positive community where you can receive encouragement and feedback for your work. The community aspect allows art lovers to see what works are being bought and uploaded, and which pieces are most popular. I think the reference to the Web 2.0 nature of Red Bubble helps us to realise how innovative Red Bubble really is. It isn’t just a site where people can purchase art, but rather a community where artists can create relationship with, and receive both inspiration and feedback from other artists and like-minded enthusiasts. It is a site that is generated by its users. Red Bubble’s marketing manager Xavier Russo (MBA 2004) says “The interesting thing about a community is that it’s got a life of its own. The community is creating all the content. While we’re only 14 employees we actually have 4000-odd people working for us in a broad sense. And that’s great fun”. Red Bubble is modernising the art world and it’s doing it on the frontline of web technology.
Here’s a lovely video to add a bit of steeze.
