At this time of year, many of us pause to reflect on the past twelve months and to think about our goals and dreams for the coming year. Others loathe the concept of New Year’s Resolutions and prefer to just taking things as they come. Regardless of which camp you’re in when it comes to resolutions, acknowledging the things you’ve achieved (by accident or design) can be a positive exercise and one that’s closely linked to our sense of happiness and wellbeing.

All too often we focus on jumping straight into the next project or meeting the next deadline. We can also be very good at playing the critic when it comes to our own achievements but not so great at acknowledging what we’ve accomplished. So we’d like to hear about your resolutions, if you have…

As the large man in the red suit prepares to depart from the North Pole, we’d just like to say a big thanks to each and every one of you for providing us with inspiration throughout the year and for making this community such a wonderful and unique place. We wander around in a permanent state of amazement at the talent we encounter and the endless amounts of kindness, encouragement, entertainment and motivation you offer each other.

This year, our cockles have been warmed by artists who embraced the unknown in an effort to try something new or so willingly offered a helping hand to others. We’ve been inspired by watching people grow creatively and we’ve seen friendships form. We’ve had our faith restored by artists who’ve overcome their differences, a…

2010 Christmas Awards

Hello and welcome to our end of year Buyers’ Booth Extravaganza. It’s so bright and shiny we’ve moved it from its usual home and plonked it here for all to enjoy. Now is it just me or has Buyers’ Booth been getting extra excellent of late? Let me walk you through these tasty morsels….

This wins my personal award of ’Baxter’s Best’. A radio with arms holding a mug with a sticker on it of a radio with arms holding a mug with the sun on it. Serious effort gone into this madness. So I am stepping up & giving Teo Zirinis $50! Fifty Bucks. He’d better give some back to me as a thank you.

This has so much quirky color and character I just feel like dancing naked. I’m sorry I can’t see the lady’s…

The challenge is closed, the votes are in, the winners have been selected. It was tough, tremendously tough, incalculably tough. But you don’t want to hear our troubles, so read on and feast your eyes on the Corel® Champions…..

GRAND PRIZE – In Profile – Helen Chierego

Stunning work Helen, you won the judges adoration as well as the people’s vote.
You’ve also netted yourself a copy of Corel® Painter™ 11 and a Wacom Intuos4® Medium tablet. More fun than a barrel of monkeys in space.

RUNNERS UP – Winter Walk – Chelsea Kerwath and…

Watching Every Move – CarmenHolly

Congratulations Chelsea and Carmen, incredibly delicate and beautiful work. A copy of Corel® Painter™ 11 will shortly be landing on your digital doormats.

HONORABLE…

We love coming across imaginative examples of art made from repurposed and recycled materials. We’re particularly fond of this kind of work as it takes a truly creative and clever eye to look at everyday objects and imagine them as beautiful works of art. It also reminds us that a lack of expensive materials and tools needn’t be a barrier to creating great art. Here are just a few examples which may make you consider another use for the contents of your recycling bin this weekend.

_{Sarah Frost’s keyboard-covered walls via Trendhunter}

_{Cartonlandia cardboard sculpture by Ana Serrano via Bambini Creativi}

_{Lisa Occhipinti’s book sculptures via lostateminor}

_{Futuristic Styrofoam Art by Jason Rogenes via inhabitat}

_{Ralf Schmerberg’s Refrigerator Igloo via the Recycled Art Bl}…

If you’re in the UK right now, chances are you’re looking out your window at a lot of snow. There are widespread warnings only to travel if essential, airports and motorways are at a standstill and countries that cope much better in snowy conditions are looking on in bemusement. For many in the northern hemisphere, snowfall is a regular occurrence and a great excuse to head out with the camera.

The best thing about snow is that it makes everything look beautiful. So while we wait for they skies to clear, we’ve decided to do some swotting up on how to make the most of this wonderful, white landscape. Bubblers in warmer climates are welcome to join us in marvelling at the white stuff but we understand if you’re far too busy soaking up the sunshine! Here’s some…

You may have noticed that here at the RB blog, we like to embark on creative quests to familiarise ourselves with new topics and techniques or learn more about ones we’re already familiar with. We like passing on our discoveries and we get enormous enjoyment out of seeing bubblers take the reins and try their hand at new projects and challenges. We’re keen to nurture that sense of excitement and curiosity about all thing creative and we love the feeling of being energised by learning something new.

There’s a neverending supply of subjects we can choose from but we’re interested in hearing about the things you’d like to learn. What’s on your ‘I must try that’ list? Have you ever wondered how someone achieved a certain effect? Are there a…

-

Confucius should have lived a lot longer and said a lot more things judging from the response from the community to last weekend’s Confucius challenge.

Our three judges tossed the ball around a fair bit. They delved into their collective wisdom and in the great spirit of RedBubble disagreed with each other – why does this not surprise me? After a fair bit of number crunching and review of the collective spirit we were able to extract some runners up. And so in no particular order we have:

1. vampvamp – “Man with beer in hand, incapacitated.”
2. Billee – “Repartee is the answer you thought up on the way home.”
3. Zefira – “Rolling on floor laughing better than yoga”
4. Wendy Brusca – “Don’t try so hard to fit in when you’re born

We’re already feeling guilty about all the mince pies we’re consuming and at the same time, we know those new year’s resolutions about spending more time creating art are looming on the horizon. Artist Joseph L. Griffiths has solved both problems with this ingenious interactive mixed-media installation. We couldn’t resist sharing this wonderful work. Pass the Sharpies and the Shortbread!

_{Images from www.josephlgriffiths.com}

Tweet    Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Got an idea for a blog post? "Let us know.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

We’ve wanted to try photographing ink drops for a while now, so today we’re finally setting aside some time to learn how it’s done. It’s a technique both designers and photographers can make use of. Not only does it inspire some beautiful photography, the images can also be used as elements in design work. All you need for a basic setup is a glass, some food dye or ink, some white paper and a light source. Here are a few examples we’ve spotted around the bubble:

If you’re interested in trying this for yourself, we’ve found the following tutorials to get you started. If you’re an old hand at this technique, we’d love to hear your tips in the comments too.

1. Parmi demonstrates a food dye in water setup
2. How to create abstra

This morning I am having breakfast and my 11 year old daughter pipes up with, ’Grandma is well" referring to a telephone conversation she had had with her the night before. To which I replied “A well grandma is a blessing on the family”. This rapidly lead onto “A happy child should never be reviled” and “Never use a fork when you need a spoon”. And so forth. You get the idea.

So if you have something that you think Confucius should have said (12 words or less) post below. I know we are all busy but what the heck a last tiny writing challenge before Christmas. Original work only.

Some sort of prize will be arrived at for the best entries. If you want to be a judge send me (Pilgrim) a bubblemail. No idea what the prize will be or the winning c…

Designers, fine artists and photographers have always had close ties with the fashion industry and have long been employed to help showcase the latest trends and designs. With an abundance of sumptuous fabrics, striking colours and gorgeous models, it’s little wonder that the fashion industry is also a source of inspiration for non-editorial or creative works. RedBubble is full of stunning examples of artworks inspired by fashion:

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of trying your hand at fashion photography or would like to try recreating the style of classic fashion illustrations, there are a number of resources available online. You can find all sorts of useful information from DIY lighting setups to tips for drawing figures. Here are a few resources to get …

From the world of art and photography news comes this amazing story. Wafaa Bilal, Professor of Photography at New York University, has had a camera mount implanted into the back of his head as part of a project called The 3rd I. Bilal found an accomodating piercing studio who agreed to attach a titanium camera plate to the back of his head. He will attach a small camera to this and from December 15 an image will be taken once every minute, for an entire year, and streamed to The 3rd I website and to the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar. According to the museum, the project aims to be “a comment on the inaccessibility of time and the inability to capture memory and experience.”

_{Images from AP/Tina Fineberg}

There’s a video interview available online, which contains some imag…

In 1843, English civil servant and inventor Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to create what was to be a very important comissioned work – a hand coloured triptych, depicting a family celebration in the centre panel, charitable acts of feeding and clothing the poor on either side, with the inscription “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You”.

And so the first ever printed Christmas card was created and offered for sale as the result of a little laziness and far too big a print run. Cole was too busy to take part in the tradition of creating hand written greetings so saw this as a time saving measure. Having printed too many copies, John Calcott Horsley then offered the extras for sale at one shilling each. The card also caused controversy in some cor…

Many forms of creative expression can’t be broken down into bite sized chunks but Renaissance artists gave us many mathematical and scientific principles that we can use to help us do a better job of drawing the human form. We learnt many things from Renaissance artists that are still relevant today, from facial proportions and muscular and skeletal structure to shading techniques like crosshatching and chiaroscuro, so there’s much to be learned from delving into the history of Renaissance art.

_{Studies by Leonardo Da Vinci}

Many Renaissance artists were also trained physicians and it was a time when the lines between art and science were often blurred. The most famous examples of the Renaissance study of the human form are Leonardo Da Vinci’s anatomical studies, but if yo…

After careful consultation with our production partners, the shipping deadlines for Christmas orders have been locked in. In the past year we’ve taken measures to localize production in a number of countries so deadlines for shipping will vary depending on the products you are ordering and where you are located. To make this easier to follow we’ve prepared a table for each country, so you just need to scroll down to the table that covers your part of the world. To give your orders the best chance of arriving before December 24th, we advise placing your Christmas orders before the following dates.

USA

AUS

UK

Europe

Canada and the Americas (non-US)

The Rest of the World

If you have any questions regarding Christmas shipping deadlines, please check our FAQ as a first measure. If …

We’ve been looking back through our favorites and thinking about whether our tastes change or fluctuate, or if we have a style or type of work we’re usually attracted to. So we’d like to invite you to join us in an experiment. We’d like you to share the first thing you ever favorited on RedBubble, followed by the last work you’ve recently added to your favorites. Here’s a selection of firsts and lasts to get the ball rolling:

And some written works from your favorites:

1. Waterfall of friends by cosimopiro
2. Shadows by T SOUL
3. Moth by uncleblack
4. What I live for by Brianna Muir

Are there particular kinds of work that keep coming up in your favorites? Any mediums or styles you’re drawn to? When you look back through, are there any patterns or themes that you wer…

Troy Davis has spent the last 19 years on death row in the US, despite doubts over his conviction. To raise awareness of this case, Amnesty International have teamed up with German street art collective Mentalgassi to produce a series of works which can currently be seen on railings in central London.

[Video]

The image of Troy’s face has been split into sections and wheatpasted to the side of the railings so it is hidden when viewed from the front, but becomes visible when approached from the side. The work is part of a campaign entitled Making the Invisible Visible and is aimed at increasing awareness of Amnesty’s ongoing work to support those who are badly treated and imprisoned around the world.

The use of the railings in this work makes the message even more powerful. It&…

While not everyone has been privileged enough to carry a press pass at a big gig, many of us have found ourselves in front of a stage, camera in hand, hoping to capture that amazing live music shot. We know that amongst the ranks of talented RedBubble photographers we have some passionate music fans who have done an incredible job of capturing the essence and energy of live music.

by jayessaitch)!:http://www.redbubble.com/people/jayessaitch/art...

If you’d like to see more images like these, there are a number of RedBubble groups celebrating live music, including Almost Famous, Live Music Photography and Let There Be Rock. Live music photography can present a number of obstacles and challenges for photographers so we’ve searched for a little …

In 1972, Charles and Ray Eames produced an eleven minute film explaining the Polaroid SX-70 Camera. The film is a wonderful slice of nostalgia but it also contains some fascinating and detailed information on how these cameras work and the technology contained within them. Combine that with some lovely examples of images captured by the SX-70 and a few inspirational words about the art of photography and you have a film that almost effortlessly fires up your creativity.

[Video]

A quick search reveals that a few bubblers are also fans of both Polaroid and the SX-70. Here are some of the gems we’ve discovered. If you’d like to pore over some more Polaroid perfection, why not check out the Polaroid Lovers group, and if you’ve dabbled with instant film we’d love to see…

We’d like to wish US bubblers a happy and safe Thanksgiving. We hope you have a relaxing break with your nearest and dearest! In the spirit of giving thanks, we’d like to invite bubblers to take a moment to think about artists on RedBubble who have made a difference to you and your creativity.

Have you received a comment that’s made your week, collaborated with someone who was inspiring to work with, or read a tutorial from an artist who has generously shared their knowledge? Have you been involved in a project organised by a supportive and welcoming group host? Perhaps you’ve formed a friendship with someone who has shown you enourmous support, both in your artistic endeavours and in other areas of your life.

The artworks that accompany this post …

With just over two weeks to go in the Corel® New Masters Portrait Challenge, we’ve taken a sneak peek to see how well you’re getting to grips with the challenge and we have to say some of the entries have knocked our socks off! If you haven’t entered yet, there’s still plenty of time to download the free trial software and try your hand at some digital portraiture. Over $1500 worth of prizes including 3 copies of Corel® Painter™ 11 and a Wacom Intuos4® Tablet are being offered so it’s well worth putting some time aside to work on your entry.

Full details of the challenge can be found here, but here’s a quick summary of what’s involved:

1. Your task is to create a digital portrait using Corel® Painter™
2. The portrait can feature a human or an ani

This Thursday marks Thanksgiving for US bubblers and in the spirit of giving thanks, we’d like to celebrate and honour the dedicated teachers who first nurtured our passion for art. Whether they specialised in art, design, photography, woodwork or metalwork, these teachers all gave us a chance to use our right brains and encouraged us to experiment with our creativity.

In primary school they introduced us to papier mache, collage and finger painting and in our senior years they gave us access to an art space, equipment and materials and let us spend hours lost in creativity, until the bell went and we were catapulted back to reality and to our next math or sports class. If we were lucky, they let us find our niche, taught us to embrace our own style and encouraged us to play and…

There’s something a little bit magical about diptychs. They are created using complimentary images that often fit together to tell a story. A diptych is defined as an image that has been divided into two frames, but the style also extends to many other layouts including images shot with superssamplers, triptychs and paintings that are made up of multiple panels.

For this week’s mission (NOW CLOSED) we’d like you to see what kinds of diptychs you can create when collaborating with another artist. We’d like you to grab yourself a partner and create a diptych each. You can choose to work in any medium you like, from photography to illustration, graphic design or mixed media, or you may wish to use a combination of techniques. How you collaborate is largely up …

One of the greatest resources available to us via the wonders of the internet is the wealth of knowledge shared online by galleries and art museums across the world. The Museum of Modern Art in New York is one such gallery that posts fascinating videos and shares insights into past and current exhibitions.

Recently we’ve been diving into the world of Abstract Expressionism, a movement that produced artists as varied as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. This exhibition runs til the 25th of April, 2011 but if you can’t afford the airfare to New York, you can watch videos including profiles of individual artists to practical lessons on the techniques they used to create their work.

The MoMA has also produced a great series called ‘Art Terms in Action’ dem…

The first festive ads have appeared, puddings and mince pies are on supermarket shelves and our thoughts are turning to the holidays. Bubblers who actively promote their work will be thinking less about mince pies and more about how they might get some extra eyeballs on their art and design over the next few weeks. In the online world, things always kick off a little earlier to allow for shipping lead times so the silly season is well and truly upon us. But it’s never to late to plan a few activities that may help get the word out about your art.

Ideas and methods for promoting your work
Many artists may be already knee deep in promotional plans but here are some tips which may help those of us who haven’t started yet and are keen to get organised. Step one is to decide wh…

Today’s inspiration comes from Turkish artist Mehmet Ali Uysal. This giant wooden clip installation appeared in the Chaudfontaine park in Belgium, as part of a contemporary art exhibition and is a great demonstration of how everyday items can make wonderful subjects for artworks, big or small.

:
_{Photo: Mmarsupilami}

There’s something impressive about art on a large scale. Not only do we admire the artists who take on such ambitious projects, we also love they way these projects have the power to transform even the most mundane and everyday surroundings. The scale of such big artworks makes us think differently about the towns, cites and landscapes we inhabit.

_{Guant dog sculptures by Marjolijn Mandersloot and “Free” by Claes Oldenburg.}

_{Giant toy rabbit by Gelitin}

_Gia…

As you know, we package our Greeting Cards in individual cellophane sleeves. This was alright for presentation, but quite dreadful for the environment as most of you immediately removed the cellophane and put in the rubbish. And you are buying a lot of cards. That’s a lot of plastic rubbish. We were conscious of this, and also aware that you were conscious of this.

So from tomorrow we shall no longer package the Greeting Cards in individual sleeves. The whole order will instead be carefully packaged in a single cellophane envelope to protect it during postage. So that’s less plastic, less waste and a better planet for our grandkids.

“But hang on, I like to resell my cards and the sleeve is essential for presentation!”

Don’t worry, we are also aware of this, s…

We have excellent news. Corel® has provided us with two copies of the masterful Painter™ 11 program and a Wacom Intuos4 tablet to bestow on you ’bubblers. Worth over $1500 these prizes can be won through our New Masters Painter Portrait Challenge. We added a bunch of RedBubble vouchers to make it even more attractive.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

We are delighted that Corel has been able to provide us with copies of Corel® Painter™. It really is the ultimate digital art studio for anyone ready to expand their definition of creativity. RedBubble’s very own Reneé Dawson unveils some of the secrets of Painter 11 here.. You will see some great examples in the challenge of what people are managing to do.

The competition is to create a portrait in Painter™ 11, either by modifying a photo (of you…

Any point made with style and humour is going to better made. It takes a certain sort of genius to make that point in a simple image. You browse about RedBubble and this genius is all about you. Here are Ten Tees that speak of our fondness for this little Earth in this oh so big universe. They cause us to pause before sharing a knowing smile with the designer.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Should I switch off the fridge? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

Freebies and giveaways can be an effective method of promotion and a great way to gain exposure. It’s a strategy used by both big businesses and smaller enterprises, with companies offering everything from coffee to makeup samples. Artists and designers often promote their work by giving things away. We’ve spotted all manner of offerings ranging from desktop wallpapers to downloadable recipe cards, gift tags, things to cut out and make or original art.

The act of giving a gift differs greatly from offering something for free. Think back to a situation where a friend or family member gave you something or performed an act that felt like a true gift. A genuine gift usually has the following hallmarks:

1. A genuine gift is often unexpected
2. It is given with no expectation of recei

Like creative magpies, we’re gathering quite a collection of fine stickers and there are only so many laptops, fridges, diaries, skateboards, children and pets* we can stick them to so we were pleased as punch when we spotted Payton Turner’s amazing hand-stickered wallpaper installation. Mr Baxter has already started reproducing a nice bold floral design on the RB HQ toilet walls (at least we think that’s why he’s spending all that time in there). Hats off to you Payton, these look lovely.
_{* some of these surfaces are not recommended}

Payton’s installation has inspired us to have a nosey around RedBubble for some great examples of sticker designs from talented RedBubble artists. Here are just a few we’ve come across in our travels:

If you…

Recently RedBubble has been about as much fun as a picnic at the zoo with lots of pink lemonade. Amongst all the hubbub I wanted to give you a quick update on the main issues we have distilled from the feedback on the new site and what we are doing.

Before doing so I will report that overall the site is performing very well. As measured by conversion rates (the rate at which you sell), page views per visit, visits and overall level of activity the new site is better than the old.

One measure of this is that the number of people using the old site has fallen quicker than we anticipated and is now ~.5% (ie about 1/200 visits) of all visits. Thus, and I hope this is fair warning, we will be turning the old site off this coming Thursday (GMT). Given its low level of usage we would rather dev…

Here’s a wonderful example of how the description on a RedBubble profile can send you on a journey and enable you to discover a world of creativity you previously knew little about. One of our recent homepages featured some breathtaking aerial photography. If you take the time to read the description on this work, you’ll see the aerial image was taken using a kite. Not a hot air ballon or a plane. This artist regularly attaches his camera to a kite and launches it hundreds of metres above the earth.

Click across to KAPgsy’s overview page and a whole world of intriguing information opens up. KAPgsy explains how he discovered KAP (or Kite Aerial Photography) in 2005 and there’s an audible passion in his description. There’s talk of an international KAP comm…

Some of the best book cover designs are works of art, inspiring readers and designers alike. They play an important role in visually communicating the contents of a book and compete with other titles on library and bookstore shelves to catch the eye of potential audiences. Book cover design makes an interesting brief for designers and artists. Many art and design teachers set projects on book cover design to help students practice and refine their visual communication skills.

Beautiful and classic book designs inspire collectors, adorn loungeroom walls and are the subject of exhibtions. Arguably, some of the most celebrated and classic designs come from Penguin Books. A glimpse into Penguin’s history shows a passion for good design that stems from the very beginnings of the company …

We often come across works that artists have created as a tribute to where they live or the places they grew up. These images often capture the nature of a place far better than the subject matter found in guide books or on picture postcards. The descriptions conjure up feelings of nostalgia and show a deep affection for the places that are dear to the artist’s heart. They may be tales of longing for places they visited or lived long ago or great appreciation for what they see when they wake up each morning.

“When I think of home I think of a place where everyone knows my name, and my parents’ name, and my grandparents’ name. A place where it doesn’t matter how long I stay away, I am always welcomed back with open arms.” – diLuisa

“I am an Australian girl living a …

In a quest to create the world’s largest artwork, Jim Denevan travelled to lake Baikal in Siberia in early 2010 to create circular patterned art spanning a distance of nine miles. The spiral of circles, along a fibonacci curve, grow from an origin of 18" to several miles in diameter. With a team of helpers and equipment ranging from tractors to brooms, they created this breathtaking but temporary art. 

Crew member Peter Hinson summed up the experience, reminding us that sometimes the most important part of creating art is the process: “The completed piece itself didn’t mean that much to me. It was beautiful, interesting and so on. But the value to me was in everything that lead up to that moment. Seeing the finished artwork was a long and slightly melancholy exhale.…

Fellow Bubblers

We have now had about 5 days with the new RedBubble. How is it going? Actually I take that back, you have told us very clearly. There have certainly been some rocky moments and we have had to do a bit of shuffling but I think overall there is a great sense of goodwill.

In this (too long) post I want to address some of the big concerns and explain how we are approaching them. Before I do that I do want to explain more fully what the changes were and why we made them. One BIG criticism I have heard was our communication let us down. Paul in a bathtub was not enough.

The reasons why we had to change the old site were:
• New people were not able to understand what RedBubble was about. The community pages had lots of features but not much that was enticing for new members
• The s…

Some art sets a tingle down the spine. It lives in counterpoint to the pastel world of the familiar. It is an uneasy art that is prepared to lift the rock and look what lies beneath. It fascinates us from between our fingers as we share in some greater secret. The artist creates fresh from the darker parts of their imagination. But we know there will be a fine morning after Halloween.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Should I go to the party as Jack Skellington? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

Postcard Poetry continue to arrive from distanct places on our cosmic journey. Last weekend our poets upped the anti with some extraordinary brilliance. The judges could not agree, the umpire was in doubt and the crowd confused. Three winners finally emerged but only after a count-back and use of the video umpire.

Rainbow by Lauren Laumbach

(Image Childhooed Dreams by Dawne Olson)

I knew my philosophy when the Earth sighed by Erika

One day
my philosophy
will show on my face
and make little rivers of life around my eyes:

each line I’ve swam through
each heartbeat I’ve felt

Time will be a life I once lived
and my heart and mind will replace my age

(Image The Earth Sighed by Jordan Busson)

The Sticker by Purplecactus

There’s a sticker on the sole of my shoe
It’s been there since they were bran…

Some of you may recall we used to put out regular inspiration posts on the old Community blog, well as we gear ourselves up for getting your creative neurons firing again we thought we’d dig out, scrub down and update an early post that was a bit hidden and set a fresh new challenge to go with it.

Light painting (otherwise known as light graffiti or light writing) is a photographic technique that involves slow shutter speeds, darkness and a little bit of practice and experimentation. And it’s not just some newfangled thing all the cool kids are doing. Check out this image of Picasso (by Gjon Mili) giving it a go back in 1949.

If you’ve got the urge to scratch that creative itch or to try something new this week, you should really give it a go. All you need is a camera…

They lead us home. Actually they don’t. They tell us where rocks will rip apart our boat. But they are a good metaphor for a light in the darkness. But sort of a one telling us where not to go. So not really a good metaphor. A better one would be a GPS. But not many people do GPS art – lighthouses are much cooler. But let’s not get too much into why as it is making us uncomfortable. Ahh, just enjoy – lighthouse art.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Is there anywhere darker than the foot of a lighthouse? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

-——-CHALLENGE CLOSED PEOPLE————————

The crowd went wild over the first set of postcards from the literary side so we are going to continue with the adventures in postcard poetry.

You will recall, the idea is simple as a stick: you need to write a poem that can fit on a postcard and also nominate an image you would like as a background. Our judges will them select three postcard poems which some design genius at RedBubble will work up into the final product. If your poem is chosen you will receive 25 copies of the postcard to mail off to all your friends (or stick on your fridge).

Just a few guidelines:

1. You have till Wednesday 20 October to get you poem in, just put it in the comments below or post a link to it
2. This is a literary c

While momentarily perusing the internet for records and other such marvellous frivolities, we stumbled across this quite brilliant placement of a pinhole camera by Tim Franco. he has selected The Doors ‘LA Woman’ as the soundtrack to his experiment, and a fine choice it is. We could imagine a whole series of these, perhaps custom made for your aural choosing.

Actually he’s a bit of a pinhole wizard, as you can see from this masterful shot which we reckon looks a lot like accelerating into space. We know this from the occasional team building exercise when we send one of the tech team into space to meditate for an hour or so.

Of course Bubblers are no stranger to this sort of thing. We have a mighty fine pinhole photography group and countless remarkable examples of the…

They may just be the exclamation mark of a passing century, but oh what a century. We went from horse and buggy to 100 miles an hour in 50 years. With this came unparalleled freedom. Cars are the background noise of our lives. We progress from throwing up in the back seat to making out in the front. And some of us fall in love; not with the person beside us on the vinyl, but with the car itself.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Can I borrow someone’s Bugatti Veyron? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

Well last friday we sorted you some Halloween costumes to ensure you look suitably disturbing on the night, and now we’d like to cast your attention to some excellently ghoulish greeting cards. Along with a mini challenge to Dress The Chairman in something suitably bizarre on All Hallows Eve.

So, for your challenge we’d like you to whip up a nightmarish shirt for our fearless leader to don on the 31st. He quite likes cats, no one knows if he likes pumpkins. You’ve got a week. We’ll obviously post the photographic hilarity on the day and do our best to pimp you up. Tag your entry with ‘bubbleen’ or post it below.

HOLD YOUR HEADLESS HORSES WE HAVE A WINNER:

Feel free to add your own Halloween cards below….

Share this….

&nbs…

Aside from epic Calendar Promotions October is also well known for containing Halloween. A marvellous excuse for playing with spiders, brains, and blood, eating too many sweets and watching dreadful films. Celebrated with varying degrees of obsession depending on your home country, at the end of the day it’s really about having a party, and everyone wants to have a party. So in case you haven’t already constructed your replica Jack Skellington costume, we have hand picked some of our favorite Halloween t-shirts for your perusal.

Don’t forgot most of these designs are available as stickers, a quite ideal way to perhaps prepare Limited Edition Halloween BEER for your party. Or just excellent decoration if you happen to not be allowed to drink BEER.

It’s highly …

They wander around our feet, jump onto our laps and delight us when we are down. Sensitive to our illnesses, forgiving of our grumpiness and indifferent to our anxieties, dogs and cats are companions on our journey. They delight us with their foibles and reflect a gentleness of spirit that inspires.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Will the internet ever tire of cats? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

Some say that RedBubble HQ is modelled on an Indian Ashram. Others swear it is actually located in a Russian Gulag. The truth is now out thanks to an interview RedBubble co-founder Pilgrim (aka Martin Hosking) gave to The Next Web on the couch inside the cave behind the RedBubble doors.

In addition to learning some strange facts (eg. the recording industry, contrary to widespread misconceptions, is actually less than a decade old) by watching this video you can also see the many artworks the office is decorated with.

To spice things up a little and to check on your observation skills, see if you can identify any of the works displayed in the office and post a link to it below (this is how to post images).

We will randomly select a couple of people for a $25 voucher for correctly identifyi…

Postcard Poetry tracks the journey of our souls. Last weekend saw some phenomenal initial poems and images. Our judges were twisted in knots of doubt, anxiety and conflict. After administering medication and withholding food they finally released the puffs of smoke.

So here they are, our three inaugural postcard poems. The judges said that what distinguished them in their view was originality and then consistency of execution. Each of them has a slight element of surprise that delights the reader.

It’s Only a Matter of Size by Hilary Robinson

When I looked down today
I nearly stood on a spider.
I don’t like spiders
But I twisted aside just in time.

When I looked up today
I thought, If someone doesn’t like me
I hope he’ll turn aside
If the spider asks him to.

(image Web Drops by Steve Chap…

Somewhere in China there are some people with an inordinate amount of patience and very skilful fingers. They are taking the leaves from the Chinar tree, (some kind of Asian Maple) native to Pakistan, India and of course, China, and meticulously cutting away segments to create incredibly delicate works of art. They even custom carve them to order, so we’re getting one done of the three founders playing cricket together to brighten up RBHQ.

Thanks to Victoria DeMore and Koikoikoi.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

Shove the mp3 revolution to one side, find the brightest bit of lycra in your cupboard and cast your mind back to when sharing music was an imaginative, if slightly illegal artform. When a docking station was only found in a harbor and sound systems were all a bit more DIY. It might not be 1982 outside anymore but it can be in your wardrobe.

Share this….

.    Share.    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Where can I get fat laces for my Adidas? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

We’ve all enjoyed a bit of tilt-shift photography now and again. A cunning technique of using a tilt-shift lens (or PhotoShop) to turn images of reality into mind bending tiny models. But only recently did art student Serena Malyon come up with the idea of using this technique to add a depth of field and give an essence of life to everyone’s favorite Post-Impressionist’s daubings.

It was done for Artcyclopedia for reasons of ‘fun’, which is the best reason for anything. Technically it’s not actually tilt shift, it’s strategic blurring along the same principles. Nonetheless it’s a very fine bit of Neo-Post-Impressionism.

We have our very own Tilt Shift Group and a myriad of tilt shift photography on RedBubble. Or if you fancy having a go y…

………CHALLENGE NOW CLOSED……………

Postcards are the waypoints on our journey. Dispatched from Brighton or Beirut they let people know where we have been. And our poetry marks the travels of our soul.

So we thought, lets bring the two concepts together – postcard poetry.

The idea is simple: you need to write a poem that can fit on a postcard and also nominate an image you would like as a background. Our judges will them select three postcard poems which some design genius at RedBubble will work up into the final product. If your poem is chosen you will receive 25 copies of the postcard to mail off to all your friends (or stick on your fridge).

You could be an inaugural RedBubble Postcard Poet. If the concept seems to work we will continue a…

Hello and Yes. Welcome to Alpaca Friday with me, Mr Baxter. I’ve always been a stalwart fan of the alpaca, they remind me of my in-laws, and I felt it was time to share this love. I rarely am allowed outside of the office and so my contact with these majestic beasts is limited to the very fine Alpaca photos on RedBubble but really that’s no limit at all. There’s even a wondrous Alpaca Group of which I am, of course, a member. Please enjoy these hirsute characters, and feel free to add your own.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

If you’re anything like us, you regularly stumble across work on RedBubble and just think “How on earth did you get to that from a blank page and a pencil?” Or possibly an ‘empty screen and a mouse.’ It turns out some artists can actually hear us, and oblige with cunning high speed videos, step by step tutorials and of course, our old friend the animated gif, skilfully used above by quigonjimg.

Please allow yourself a moment to drink in the skill displayed by olechka painting on her iPad….

[Video]

….before enjoying this animation from Paul McClintock …….

….back to a speed video of Michael Shapcott and his paintbrush wizardry…

[Video]

….over to Matthew Dunn for an excellent and stylish gif….

….a quick stop…

The world creates moments causing us to gasp in awe – a moment quickly passing. Most transient of all when the light conspires with water for a perfect reflection. These reflections will normally dissolve unshared. We simply stare out at that panorama, sublimely at peace. Sometimes by luck or perseverance the artist captures what is seen. The personal becomes universal. And the transient becomes enduring.

Gallery curated by Julie Langford., Commentary is by RedBubble.

Previous galleries in The Curated Series
Micro Monsters
Time’s Winged Chariot

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? ?flesym yrellag a etaruc I naC? "Both these questions will be answered here.}":ht…

When you think of sticky tape, you think of offices, which are unpleasant things to dwell on. However if you hail from Slovenia you’d immediately think of collaborative street art extravaganzas. Which is much healthier, although probably illegal. A collective called Orto have started to decorate parts of Ljubljana with brightly colored tape.

There are some videos at the end, and the rest of them can be found here.

[Video]

[Video]

Now you might be feeling suitably inspired, we’d like anyone sitting in an office to make something excellent out of tape and post it here. It’ll help 5 o’clock appear more quickly you see.

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Got a topic to blog about? How do} …

Own a DSLR? Yup. Own an iPad? Maybe. Right, well you should be able to whip up an animation of faux-holographic-light-painted-insanity sharpish. Ah, actually you’re also going to need a massive collection of geeks to do some programming for you, but then, then you’ll be ready.

Dentsu & Berg have recently collaborated and developed an extraordinarily clever thing to do with lots of quite expensive equipment. Whether you understand exactly what an iPad might be for, you can’t deny that there’s some very clever people trying to work it out on your behalf.

We’d like to explain the exact process, but it might be best if you just watched them do it. It’s not the most gripping thing but the future will be interesting for tech centric filmakers. Here̵…

Enter Wonderland and gasp at the beauty and delicacy of the insect world. Up close and personal through the macro-lens we discover nature’s fine touch in her small creatures. In the everyday they may be despised but seen at scale there’s a depth of tingling menace and of beauty that cannot be ignored. Take a closer look at what’s looking at you.

UPDATE: We have accidentally sent duplicates of the email variation of this post to a few of you, please accept our grandest apologies, this will not happen again. Because we’ll fire someone.

Gallery Curated by CapturedByKylie

Previous galleries in The Curated Series
Time’s Winged Chariot
Hope & Courage

Share this….

   Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote…

^{White Russian}

At first glance you probably think this is a post about 1980s fashion, but in actual fact it’s about everyone’s favorite reality avoiding device, alcohol. Although this alcohol is served crystallized on a slide, magnified over 1000 times and with a polarized light passed through it. As opposed to ‘in a glass with ice’.

A method devised by a scientist from Florida called Michael Davidson, clearly they have better stocked fridges than our office does. Originally he used them as patterns for neckties but ended up flogging the images to Bevshots. We’re sure most things look pretty crazy when magnified 1000 times, but it’s nice to visualize your favorite tipple looking more exciting than gin does.

^Margarita

^Tequila

^Rosé

^Vodka

^Sake

^Whiskey

^Daiqu…

There are many skills to envy in life, from ninjas to Olympic yo-yoers. But the knack some people have of combining colored oil on a bit of canvas with only a brush, is simply staggering. Our oil painting gallery is bursting at the seams with textured goodness – here are just a few that caught our eye:

The Artist by Define Art

Be Still And Know by Melanie Crawford

Barfly by Shanina Conway

The Passion of Dance by Richard Young

Sueño by Jose De la Barra

The Gypsy Skirt by Roz McQuillan

Shoreline In ‘D’ Minor by Karsten Stier

Andrew by Mick Kupresanin

Mongolian Meeting by Chris Baker

Snowy Day by J Anderson

Within White by Michael Shapcott

Stompin by James Shepherd

Never Quit Searching by hatefueled

Tango Passion/Homage to the Masters by Bev Langby

Against the Tide by Cary …

The skull – that most powerful motif of our own mortality – fascinates. In the master’s hands it sits in counterpoint to the beautiful woman. The biker inscribes it on his chest. Emptied of the thought and personality of its former owner, it endures. It appals and fascinates us, stirring some vestigial memory telling us that it is more than merely decorative. But decorative it is, making a statement that is both strong and undefined.

Gallery curated by Pip Gerard

See last week’s gallery ‘Hope & Courage’ here

Share this….

Retweet    Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? How can I see my own skull? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.…

Last week we packed ourselves a lunch and left the office to get a better understanding of Tim Burton’s brain. Unfortunately we only had a couple of hours and so it was a reasonably futile task but it did leave a lasting impression of an imagination that’s not so much ‘out of the box’ as ‘devoured the box’.

Forget his recent fondness for remakes, the real gems are the sketches on hotel stationary, the early animations like ‘Vincent’, the concept drawings for ‘Nightmare before Christmas’, and original illustrations for ‘The Melancholy Death of Oysterboy’. His sketches are nothing short of incredible and the characters are so macabre and demented and yet wonderfully personable.

So for today’s mission we’d …

Images inspire and sometimes we find the words to write about it. Last week we asked you about art that had moved you. Your words led us through your own artistic journey. Among the short works, three particuraly touched us and walk away with the vouchers.

Zeffira’s homage to Rothko and Keats.

oh window to the soul and soulful knowing
broadest fields of silence and slow time
impassioned hue, immortal mortal feelings
what depth; dense, sensitive, sublime

Luminous form and colour wraps around me
draws me in, surrounds me in its glow
“Beauty is truth and truth is beauty”
it really is all ye need to know

DeniseKMitchell’s memories of a childhood in church.

Shafts of coloured light spilled over the congregation,
Marble statues looked softly on,
Intricate engravings adorned the altar,
And B…

Caliente by Zohar – taken in Uptown Manhattan

You will have not forgotten the New York photos we recently posted here, well it was such an inspiring collection we thought we’d try it again. Although before we move to another city we thought we’d take a closer look, through the eyes of our members, at the inhabitants of this sprawling metropolis…

Radio City Music Hall by LasseDamgaard

Times Square by docophoto

The Experience by MKienhuis – taken at the Guggenheim Museum

Survivor by CameraCrack – taken on Madison Avenue

New York Traffic by tlamoreaux

V.J. Day Times Square by Balakov

someone is waiting by awesner

Real People by MichaelArm – taken at MOMA

Fridge Magnets by markross

Vendor by adrian76

Manhattan. Street scene, 1974. Cop on the beat. by…

That man, as we’re sure you already know, is Isfandiyar Jurji Bahadur, Khan of the Russian protectorate of Khorezm. Which may or may not be interesting, what is remarkable is that this portrait of him was taken in 1910. One hundred years ago, before any world wars, before the Russians revolted, it was even 18 years before sliced bread. We’re so used to images from this period being in black and white that these photographs appear almost ‘not quite right’ to the eye, as if staged or heavily manipulated.

^{A group of women in Dagestan, ca. 1910.}

^{A chapel sits on the site where the city of Belozersk was founded in ancient times, photographed in 1909.}

They were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, who spent three years (1909-1912) conducting a photographic sur…

My heroes in life are ordinary. Waking up each day and dealing with the ordinary challenges of life takes extraordinary courage. I celebrate the countless many who show grace and humour while tired and anxious. They leap into the unknown with children, worries and unvoiced problems. They still smile and laugh. They pray and hope. This small collection celebrates these people – us.
Pilgrim

Share this….

Retweet    Share    Subscribe    Bookmark    Vote up

^{Can I curate a gallery myself? Where’s the nearest ATM? "One of these questions will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

We have recently started a program called Curated Series where people get to write inspiring words about art that has caused them to see the world anew.

Ever since Keats wrote about the Grecian Urn great writing has flown from our experience with art. A work in a gallery or perhaps just a drawing our child brings home inspires us to see the world in a different way. And sometimes wonderful writing emerges from this inspiration.

This is your chance to share some words about art that has moved or inspired you. Any short form is fine – from limerick to anecdote. Maybe it was standing beneath the Sistine Chapel or perhaps it is something you have found on RedBubble. Share the words and post a link (or, if your are able, post the image itself – how?).

Keep it short at less than…

Good hello and welcome to my first and probably last tutorial on the age old art of drawing things with pencils. In today’s lesson we’ll be…COLLEEN STOP THAT AND FACE THE FRONT… learning how to draw the most venerable of flying creatures, are you ready? Let’s begin….

Well that was easy. Now here’s a showcase of some of my former students in a one-time-only segment I’d like to call Eight Excellent Owls:

Would you believe we even have an owl art group? In fact we have more than one if I could point you int he direction of these owl pictures also.

Please feel free to show me more owl pictures than I could possibly know what to do with.
Regards Mr Baxter

^{P.S. I can’t find the owner of that piece of owl comedy, please advise me i}…

Under normal circumstances an article about a collection of 216 wooden artists palettes may not spark much interest. However if those palettes had been delivered to 216 Australian artists who had cut, painted, drawn, bent and glued and even dressed them in 216 different, and quite jaw-dropping ways, then suddenly it’s not just an ‘interesting’ article but perhaps, ‘the most interesting article you have read since the invention of peanut butter.’

The window display at the St Luke art supply store is staggering. Enough to distract us from our standard evening pursuit of ‘going home’ and willing us to wander in to harangue Louise Blyton for more information. Apparently they kick started this project 3 years ago as a thank you to their custo…

When it comes to disturbingly impressive macro photography of eyes Suren Manvelyan is a patient fellow, but away from the lens he’s also a busy fellow. He teaches physics, mathematics & astronomy in Yerevan Waldorf School & in 2002 he was given the The President Award of The Republic of Armenia For Investigations In The Field of Quantum Technologies. But then, who hasn’t eh?

If he spent less time in the fields with the quantum technologies he’d definitely be all over some of your excellent macro groups…

THIS EXCITING CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSEDDDDD

There are two things of which we are almost certain, ‘humans will always anthropomorphize everything whenever possible’ and ‘if you’ve used the internet you must have come across Faces In Places at some point in your travels’. (If the latter is not true it’s of the upmost importance you visit immediately.)

It appears so natural for us to find a personable form to connect with even in the most mundane of objects that we even have a group of our own devoted to hidden images, not to mention some excellent captured examples.

So good people, for today (and a fair amount of tomorrow) we’d like you to take a look around your room/office/tardis/car and find a naturally or accidentally occurring face, photog…

Last weekend was our chance to confess somebody else’s secret. Frankly much more fun than owning up to our own.

Our understanding of certain events needs correction with some of these remarkable discoveries:

Excalibur + WD40 = King Arthur
found by "Sharon Ulrich":http://www.redbubble.com/people/kiwibutterfly

“They were all staged. Don’t tell anyone.” Cartier-Bresson
found by "Anthony Evans":http://www.redbubble.com/people/evolve

Santa’s secret confession found in a stocking by accident:

“It’s actually Mrs Claus who delivers the presents. I lost my flying licence 10 years ago after an incident with a sherry trifle.”
found by "Hilary Robinson":http://www.redbubble.com/people/hilaryrobinson

Discovered in the Vatican archives: the last dia…

We’ve been inundated with a letter about some of the more random things hanging on the walls of RedBubble HQ. In particular the frames containing text. Well the thing is, although we come across as modern day Persian warriors we are in fact excessively emotional beings and when we happen upon journal entries from you about your personal artistic journeys we really get quite overcome. So we take 5 to recover & then hang them on the walls to remind us of all the real lives behind the incredible art.

This isn’t about what we have done for you so much as what you’re all doing for each other. It really makes Fridays a lot easier to deal with. We couldn’t possibly mention all of you, but here’s a couple of snippets of the sort of thing that catches our eye:

A…

“Make your mark in New York and you are a made man.” -Mark Twain

It might all be thanks to Mad Men, but we’ve been noticing a serious amount of fine Manhattan photography on RedBubble of late. So we thought we’d compile a list of a few favorites, of course this is by no means a complete list, feel free to add your own or favorite shot below.

Drink in the fluorescence.

Big Apple by Billy Boy

The Lady and the Lights by P Marella

West Side Story by Randy Le’Moine

The Fog! by P Marella

Bright City by Andy Kazie

Wednesday Night Lights by Evelina Kremsdorf

911 Waterfront by Peter Bellamy

New York New York by Dean Symons

Welcome to the Jungle by Mojca Savicki

The City by Wojciech Dabrowski

Verrazano Bridge by Evelina Kremsdorf

Sympathetic Character by Michael Scott

I tried to find one thing that keeps me going in my daily journeys and it’s people. Pure and simple. When I think of people and how to photograph them…. a contemplative force always draws my attention. Now when that force is straight in my face, immediate and boldly shown and cropped to the precise minimum…. I say bravo unto you for being so courageous. The immediacy of each of these draws you in and either keeps you there and makes you smile or it makes you stop and think of someone or something familiar. Emotion we have all had once or twice or daily in our lives. We live in a world in which communication, although so technological, where texting and not even looking at each other, seems to be more the norm. Our need for connecting with one another seems to be greater than ever.

Dalton Ghetti must have a fine combination of excellent eyesight, insane patience and phenomenal talent, either that or he’s some kind of tiny Edward Scissorhands. Either way, when he’s not being a Brazillian born, Connecticut dwelling carpenter, he whittles pencils into disturbingly incredible miniature sculptures and gives them to friends. We wish he was our friend.

You were probably expecting a MissionMonday, but we have a few comps on presently and thought you needed to see this, however if any of you fancy whittling a pencil lead into anything and posting it we will give you stuff, because we will be equally impressed.

We all love PostSecret. That chance to pry into other people’s lives and feel better about our own. You know the sort of thing …

The only problem is that most people’s secrets are as mundane as our own. What we really want to know is the secrets of people who are much more interesting than us.

Well as luck would have it we were rummaging in our the attic and turned up an old parchment on which was written.

“My wife’s a good writer. Did I say “good”, I mean she’s smoking. What she can do with a quill would make Marlowe howl at the moon. Only problem is I have borrowed a few of her plays (well all of them) and now everyone thinks I’m a genius."
Will S. – Stratford

And then, weirdly, a letter came misdirected to us.

Darling…

We haven’t had so much fun since mom left us with the Play Dough near the shag-pile carpet. But all games must come to an evENTual end. And so it is with ENTer the Ent – at least for now.

The brilliance displayed in this competition could blind through a London fog. The overall winner was Tom Godfrey and his remarkable Ancient. If possible he drew it with too much feeling.

The top 10 popular choices all showed enormous immagination and skill.

We called in a group of 5 esteemed judges to select two runners up to Tom. They were unanimous in their disagreements and all have asked that their names and adresses be deleted from all known databases. Before they went into hiding they let us know some of their favourites.

After wrestling the judges for a bit, two runner…

Here is a collection of particularly unusual still-life images. In all of them, bottles, glasses, fruits, chairs, flowers etc. are in very different compositions to how one usually finds them. The one above is in fact upside down, a most abstract still-life. We rarely see flying tomatoes in a still-life composition or a flower between false teeth ( mostly they are in a vase). And I like that type of presentation of daily objects; that is, great creativity. Image #3 below is just the back of two chairs but in a very well balanced, simple, abstract composition. Far beyond the clichés to trigger our creative thinking.

Sibel Sancar, Turkey

(What’s this curation business? Could I curate a gallery myself? Why would you try and clap with one hand? Most of these question will be a…

There’s a fellow in Belgium by the name of Ben Heine who evidently couldn’t decide between photography or illustration as a career and promptly chose both. With a great deal a skill and just the right amount of humor he has combined both his talents to create these mightily impressive images of slightly altered everyday scenes.

We reckon he’s superimposed two images together to avoid focus issues and to ensure such exact placement, but keen to hear if anyone thinks it was all done in one shot. It’s imaginative stuff, but then most things involving pencils are, which is probably why we have so many quite excellent illustration groups. From quick sketches to stylized fashion graphics, here are just a few..

Unless you have been living in your greenhouse for a couple of years you can’t fail to have noticed how pretty much everything that gets built these days comes with an HD camera. Even my toaster can manage 1080p although mainly they have been appearing on things that usually have lenses. Like stills cameras, and this has firstly opened up video work to people who’d generally kept things stationary, and secondly meant one has a cornucopia of accessible lenses and equipment to bring to film.

Which gave Tom Lowe & friends at Timescapes the idea of making incredibly epic and stunningly beautiful timelapsed video just by sticky taping a Canon 5D to a car. Actually it may have been slightly more complex than that. You really must click through and watch this video:

They are…

Our Mission is reduced to the simplest concept – ENT design. The naked ENT appears above. An ENT is the simplest of shapes but it can take on a myriad of characteristics provided “ENT” is in its name (one word only):

1. Start (eg. *ENT*er)
2. Middle (eg. m*ENT*or)
3. End (eg. b*ENT*)

(non-English languages, with translation, accepted)

The Challenge will go for 48 hrs and then there will be 24 hrs of voting. To enter you use the challenge interface – HERE. (If you are new to RedBubble you need to join first and upload your ENT. You can then add it to the challenge.)

ENTER THE CHALLENGE HERE – Items in the thread are great but aren’t eligible for the prize.

As for prizes I have three $US 40 vouchers to be given out. One for first prize and then two curator’s c…

Take the weight of your slingbacks and settle down with a warm computer for a few moments. Journey with us through a few of our favourite images and stories from last weekend.

We found a lot of hope.

In a dark forest planted by man, managed by man – ugly stumps and dead branches litter the ground – yet – at the forest edge, radiant sunlight ripples in though the cracks of the ordered planted rows.
by Finelli

Days like this one are seldom lovely (nor loving). Smiles fade before they manifest as joy. But as I walk among the flowers my heart feels lighter; my sigh escapes between gritted teeth. I gaze upon you – tall and swaying gently in the Summer breeze. It all feels okay again.
by Stephanie M. Wood


Bring to me the challenges of life.
I will embrace them and aspire from them.
Bring to…

You may well have never heard of the photographers Charles Fontayne and William Porter, and that isn’t surprising. Partly because they were doing their thing in the 1800s and partly because it was only recently that some New York based conservators discovered just how talented they were.

In 1848 they photographed 2 miles of the Cincinnati waterfront in Ohio USA, using 8 Daguerreotype plates. A quite modern technology at the time with quite astounding resolution.

However is was only during recent restoration that they found the images could be magnified up to 30 times with no loss of quality. The whole panorama could be blown up to 170′ × 20′. That’s the equivalent of 140,000 megapixels per image. Yes 140,000. In 1848. The detail is immense and reveals a wond…

Somewhere in Germany exists an entity called EVOL who likes to spend his days creating extraordinarily intricate stencils of apartment blocks on mundane objects around the streets, like those ugly grey electricity boxes. He has also branched out to creating scenes on cardboard, cassette tapes and few other mediums besides. We’d like to spend a lot of time in our polo necks discussing this but seriously just drink in these images…

Street Art can be a divisive beast, but it’s usually fascinating, especially with artists of this calibre. Watching the way they see their environment and altering it so is inspiring to say the least. Of course seeing pictures is one thing but actually finding this stuff in the wild is the real win, but then that’s probably why we …

I have a thing for roadtrips. I love to drive and I love to see new sights. Watching the world pass by at 60 miles per hour is a great way to view life sometimes. I’ve driven across the United States in all 4 compass directions in all 4 seasons and enjoyed every second of every drive. There is something to be said about the wind in your hair and the road beneath the tires. Life is too short to sit still for long.
Here are a few fantastic road images from the depths of RedBubble. Drive safely.

“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Stephanie M Wood, USA

(What’s this curation business? Could I curate a gallery myself? How does one hold chopsticks? Most of these question will be answered here.)

Here on the 78th floor of RedBubble Towers we often get impressed by the sheer enormity of the planet, but what impresses the most is the sheer spread of Bubblers around that planet happily making stuff and talking about it here. One can peruse artists as if on the finest holiday ever. From Brazil to Iceland via the south of France and Alaska with perhaps a detour to Poland, a stop over in the USA before skidding through Germany and landing in Guatemala.

Groups are no strangers to geography either, with collectives forming from Louisiana to Moscow without forgetting Latin America or mighty Yorkshire.

So it is with this in mind we’d like you, this very Monday afternoon, to get up and show us what you can see. The view from your window, front door or office. Perhaps the end …

The Sands Have Ran Through the Hourglass – Challenge is Now Closed

Our creative lives have many elements: images, writing, a new t-shirt or even a sticker-clad record player.

And for today’s weekend writing challenge, lets bring a few bits together. In the thread below post an image (or a link to an image is also fine) and include a story about it, around it, related to it. 50 WORDS maximum on the story. Deadline is Monday midnight.

And we will give away 3 t-shirts as prizes. You will win the last t-shirt in your favorites. So make sure you have favorited a t-shirt (if you re-favorite one, it will become the last in your favorites).

We will post the winners and their images next weekend.

And here is the handy hint on putting images in threads.

To kick us off Pilgrim shows how it ma…

We’ve gone and accidentally come to work on a Friday again, so to lighten the mood we thought we’d show you our wondrous High-Fidelity Office Sound-Supplier^TM^. It’s recently been modified thanks to your flash new stickers, a product we get more excited about every day. Bask in the bleeding edge technology.

However this isn’t particularly interesting on its own so to spice up we’d like to giveaway 30 free stickers, of your choosing to the first person to tell us what this track actually is, and yes we appreciate this competition will only last about 8 minutes.

[Video]

Further stickers will be dolled out to anyone who can prove they have a copy on 12"

There’s nothing quite so intriguing as the lengths technology is pushed in order to recreate something where the main attraction was the total lack of technology. The Holga toy camera is a fine example of an almost cult like photographic weapon, where randomness and accident are the main awards. So now some chap has gone and tried to digitise this haphazard process:

There’s no screen to give instant gratification of your shot, the focus is just as primitive as it was, and the aperture and shutter speed, while more adjustable than before still leave a lot to be desired. Apparently it will have random light leaks and vignetting too.

It’s actually quite clever in its complete lack of cleverness.

One of the interesting things about it is he wants to make it all…

Gliding swiftly on with part three in our curated series please welcome to the podium Matthew Dunn..

“Movement, when incorporated into a t-shirt design, can really pack a punch. While I’m just as big a fan of static/posed images as the next person, there’s something special about an artist capturing a genuine sense of energy and movement within the constraints of a t-shirts dimensions. This can be achieved in a number of ways, such as an exaggerated perspective or unique composition, but it’s not something that’s easy to nail. I chose 10 t-shirt designs that pop in a big way. The type of work that, if a person was wearing it on a shirt and passed you on the street, would instantly grab your eye.”

Matthew Dunn

(What’s this new curation business? What̵…

It’s generally well known that Mondays are good days for psychoanalysing oneself using blots of ink. So with that in mind we thought a good old fashioned Rorschach would be a fine way to start the week. This will of course be old hat to a lot of ’Bubblers:

But for this mission we want to see real live ones. So get yourself some ink, ketchup or otherwise and some paper and make something random. And no excuses, we made these by destroying a red biro and only partially ruining our clothes.

This one looks like a very happy cow, we think it means the office is out of milk again:

Pilgrim thinks this looks like him winning the Tour De France, he’s gone for a lie down:

Your turn, real live inkblots and accompanying self analysis, here, now, please, free t-shirt for the ma…

It’s Friday, and so thinking is completely out of the window as we prepare ourselves for a weekend of creative excess, chocolate biscuits and Lego. And so we’ve invented a wonderful new award that probably won’t happen twice. It’s called Avatar Of The Week and that pretty much covers the details. It’s about avatars, they’re funny things, yet another opportunity to express something about yourself to an audience who have very little to go on.

Most people just like to show themselves, normally at their relaxed best:

A lot of people like to show off their equipment, if you’ve got it, flaunt it, as they say:

Then of course there are those who really show something about themselves by selecting excellently absurd or more personable images:

…

Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz have been sculpting again, this time with the contents of your wardrobe. Well probably not your wardrobe, but someone’s. There’s always something quite impressive about sculpture made from very pedestrian items. Items that pretty much all of us have kicking around and yet never quite thought to do ‘that’ with them. Inspiring, if not sobering.

From chicken wire to bottles, via milk crates and pebbles you’ve been finding or creating your own every day sculptures here for some time, we’d be keen to see more…

YouWorkForThem recently took a break from showing off lovely fonts and decided to mix five of their favorites with water and see what happened. Well what happened is they look completely brilliant. They have even made them into iWallpapers

Typography is a peculiar beast, right now you’re probably not paying much attention to the time someone spent crafting these very letters, this is a good thing too, it kind of means they did their job properly. But of course, those who do notice, really notice, and can get quite passionate about it all, which we love to see. And there’s no shortage of typographical passion on RedBubble

There are even a few quite excellent groups to join dedicated to all things wordy…

After the success of Mr Vanzella’s selection last week, we’re moving swiftly forward with a fine curation from Melanie Dooley.

“I am drawn to all shades of blue and the ocean/oceanic things. Looking at my favourites as a group of images, rather than lone pictures, I can see links and themes which have manifested themselves subconsciously. I’d love to know what it means, why the colours and why the theme. What is it saying about me? Dreaming, escape, wonder, infinity. Here are 10 of my fave faves.”

Melanie Dooley

P.S. What’s this new curation business? What’s happening with the RedBubble journal? Could I curate a gallery myself? What would a sesame seed grow into? Most of these question will be answered here.

CHALLENGE NOW CLOSED AND SHAVED OFF – THANKS FOR PLAYING

The discovery of an entirely unseen Charlie Chaplin film from 1914 has served to remind us of a very important point. There are just not enough moustaches on things. So slap the weekend from your face, find a pen, pencil, lipstick or otherwise and draw a moustache. Perhaps with something behind it, like a face. If your boss is watching and time is short then feel free to just add a moustache to something real in an amusing fashion.

Here is the RedBubble HQ effort, because we’re short of time we have had to utilise the office banana:

Impress us and we’ll give you things, like t-shirts, if we really like your work we might even stick it up in the office. You have 24hrs. Get doodling.

100 Characters, the wonderful writing of last weekend makes great reading for this weekend. Do check out all the entries and there is a fun post-challenge discussion.

The entries were simply remarkable and brought tears, smiles and sometimes bemusement to us. Our judging was personal (we are not sure it can be otherwise) and different judges may have had different preferences.

Anyway here are some of the entries that touched us with their beauty – or something else.

Her eyes have dimmed,
Once raven hair, so white
I hold her close now,
As she held me so long ago
Dearest Mother, goodnight.
(by Judith Hayes)

I have looked at those eyes for 24 years. Still they delight with every glance, every line and wrinkle; intimacy and joy.
(by Duncan Waldron)

Beauty has no name, but lies
in the secr…

We’ve all been there, one person on the bus yawns, then their neighbour yawns, soon all the passengers are yawning, the driver yawns, misses the next stop, makes a lady late for work, she happens to be in control of Earth rotation, world stops spinning, everyone falls off. Nightmare.

In celebration of these amusing moments onetonshadow has compiled eleven excellent yawns:

Feel free to whip out your best face stretch.

^{What’s happening with the RedBubble journal? Could I submit content myself? Why have I just started yawning?
“Most of these question will be answered here.}":http://support.redbubble.com/faqs/advanced/redb...

Buildings, most of us live in them, some of us work in them. We look in, we look out, we climb up and we knock down. We regularly visit places to see quite old or very new ones. We imaginatively photograph and sometimes draw (on) them.

What we don’t often do is get incredibly large projectors and turn them into mad abstract canvases…

[Video]

…probably because incredibly large projectors are hard to come by. But cameras and healthy imaginations aren’t, which is why there are so many fine abstract architectural pixels right here on RedBubble:

Got a building that doesn’t look like one?

Hello, Paul Vanzella here, one of the co-founders of RedBubble. I’ve been asked to kick off a new concept on the RB journal and curate a gallery of images. Now, where does one begin with such a privileged assignment as this! I began searching my favorites (over 77 pages…), and a constant theme seemed to raise it head.. LIFE, EMOTION & MYSTERY. It seems I am fascinacted by these three words, whether it is the relationship between sky and trees/structures or people and their immediate surroundings, there is always some link of emotion and yes, even mystery… I love what you cannot see in an image as well, that always appeals to my senses. I hope you enjoy this collection as much as I did carefully selecting these pieces… it’s so wonderful, by selecting these piec…

ATTENTION – CHALLENGED NOW CLOSED

As the whole of Spain wakes with a well deserved hangover we thought a 24hr flash challenge would give a nod to the Netherlands for a worthy battle, and help slide the creative parts of your brain into gear even if the rest still wishes it was Sunday. Oh and you can win a t-shirt.

Stand up right now, get your camera, find something orange. Capture it, upload it to RedBubble, post it here in the comment thread. Sit back and await prizes (and Dutch approval).

Most imaginative/awesome/hilarious orange ‘thing’ will get a free RB shirt of your choice, and we’ll dig out a few bits and pieces for the top ten.

Also here’s a handy page on linking images in comment threads.

There aren’t really any rules, except it needs to …

The written word is an important part of the RedBubble experience. I participate principally in the site through writing and while it has no financial aspect I get enormous satisfaction seeing my short works completed and commented upon.

As a quick way for some of the writers to show their stuff – you have 100 characters or less (that is characters, not words and excluding spaces) to write on the theme “Touched by Beauty”.

100 characters is not many but you can say a bit. This would be my entry:

Meditating quietly on a warm day
My daughter creeps up behind me
Kisses me gently on my head
She doesn’t want to disturb me

So polish those pencils and share something beautiful. You can post it in the thread below or tag it 100characters. Don’t forget to tweet it if you are that sort of person…

Well the Inner Animal Challenge has flapped, growled and chirped to a halt with Mukesh Srivastava’s Thirst on the top of the podium. As he has explained to us, the quite intense and unusual behaviour of the hummingbird represents his inner dynamism as a photographer, and he has a bird conservation society in mind for the $200 donation.

Good work Mukesh and indeed good work to all of you who entered.

Also, since we know there’s nothing quite as much fun as an informative graph, Georg skipped breakfast to study your 600 entries and discovered they break down as follows:

It’s useful to know that some people’s inner animals aren’t actually animals.

And in case you missed the challenge altogether you’ll be chuffed to learn The Challenge Café have s…

There’s really something quite brilliant about inadvertently stumbling across one of your creations in the great outdoors. You can never tell when it might occur and it markedly improves your day when it does.

So to continue Mr Baxter’s fine work with the Buyers’ Booth we’d like to launch a challenge. We want you to combine your sharpest RedBubble t-shirt, by another ‘bubbler, a camera, and *’outside’* to create a most excellent photograph.

Then upload your image to our Buyers’ Booth with ‘In The Wild’ in the description and this time next week Mr Baxter will pick a deserving winner, the more public, the higher the points, celebrity stalking might max out your points.

Why do you want to do this? Because whoever the artist wa…

From anti-BP guerilla installation art on the steps of the Tate Gallery, to Greenpeace’s ‘BP logo’ rebranding competition it’s hard to ignore the power of artistic protest. And this is exactly the point, as we’re increasingly bombarded with information it’s possible to quickly forget when detached (often geographically) from a situation. Thought provoking, sometimes controversial, art is an extremely effective way of keeping current events, well, current.

It’s stirring to see art come out fighting, and RedBubblers are no exception, with groups focused on everything from Environmental Awareness, to the crisis in Haiti, via animal activism and even politically motivated t-shirts. Of course this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, let’s see …

Every so often we stumble across something that makes us feel inspired to just get out and
make stuff, this simply epic animation from Blu is one such something:

[Video]

Indeed we’re not adverse to some excellent animation and video round these parts:

Firerabbit put together a spectacular animated showreel;
Paul McClintock skilfully animated the construction of his 3.14159 illustration and
Olechka has recorded the process of her intricate sketches.
We even did one of our own.

Have you been impressively inspired of late?

As you all know, somebody lost a memo once, and Friday became part of the working week instead of the start of the weekend as it so obviously should be. In celebration of this fact we at RBHQ decided to spend last Friday outside photographing our inner animal instead of working.

Here are the results, now you can almost imagine what the office looks like:

Then we thought, why not let you all join in, so instead of an office challenge it became a global challenge. However it’s only on for two days, so don’t hang about, find an animal that best represents you, write about why in the description and post it. Also think of an animal related charity to benefit from the US$200 prize money you might possibly win.

Of course if you don’t have time to hunt down an ant-e…

At regular intervals the RedBubble team gather together to take stock, refocus and to look at our goals for the next short while. Last Monday was one of these occasions. We started the day by reading through journals, comments, forum posts and bubblemails where you have spoken about the difference RedBubble has made to you.

Your words are constant reminders of the huge importance creativity plays in our lives and how closely it’s linked to our confidence, the way we see ourselves and how the world sees us. We recognise the importance of encouraging and nurturing that passion for being creative and of our role in providing a place where this can happen.

When I read about people who have rediscovered their passion for creativity, have been inspired to learn or collaborate, where uniq…

Each week we post a weekly wrap up from the Community account, celebrating some of the big news and the little wins we’ve spotted around RedBubble that week. If you’d like to get these delivered straight to your activity feed, just add Community to your watchlist. This week was so jam packed we thought we’d post from the RedBubble account for a change. You might need to put the kettle on before settling down to read this one. It’s been quite a week! Here’s a peek at just some of the action:

This week we admired artworks from these talented new artists:

And we enjoyed works from writers who have recently joined the RedBubble community:

1. awdigitaldreams shared some pictures from her first ever RedBubble meet up
2. Astrid Strahm visited the ArtBasel 41 Art Fair in Switzerland
3. Jay

A little while back we shared our thoughts on groups. The post had a great response from artists who were keen to tell us about their favourite groups, group projects and initiatives. We’ve spotted more examples since then so we thought we’d showcase these and pay tribute again to the hard work hosts put into running groups on RedBubble. While some groups feature a collection or gallery of work based on a theme, others are hubs of activity where group members participate in discussions, activities and challenges, share information or advice, collaborate or organise to meet up in real life. Here are some great examples of group activities that have caught our eye:

Meet Ups: From The Gold Coast, Perth and Geelong, to Florida and London, many Bubblers use their groups to connect …

As I have continued my journey with RedBubble I have been inspired to create and share unexpected art. I don’t pretend, in my case, that the art is of global significance but it is important to me. I feel like a child who in drawing my home begins to find it.

Most of what I have created has been little poems or stories about the significance of life. But there has also been a series of self-portraits. The most telling for me is posted above (alongside some of my favorites from my co-founders). I am sitting in a lobby waiting for a business meeting. I seem to be at ease but alone in company. This one image resonates for me with the realities of my life.

So please share with us all something you have created (one image, story) that resonates for you. A piece of art that others may (or …

Sticker Update. What do you mean Sticker Update this journal is about kids? Yes, yes it is, but first I want to tell you all you can now turn stickers off, or indeed keep stickers and turn t-shirts off. You see, I knew you’d be interested. There’s also updated information about stickers on the buy page

Now on with the show…

You can now make small people look as smart and sophisticated as you’ve been able to make yourself appear. Yes, we’ve finally stopped watching repeats of Top Gear and launched Kids T-Shirts.

Check the smallness:

^{BigFatRobot – R,G and B, ZAAAAP – The Strange Places.. and Jordan Clarke – El Dia…}

^{Vian – Love Trees, ZAAAAP – The Strange Places.. Jordan Clarke – El Dia… and Lucan Industries –}…

Are you ready for a double-barrelled, full-frontal attack of new product goodness on this bright cheery Thursday. Can you handle it? Of course you can. If you’ve had your cornflakes.

First up, we’ve reworked our Calendars so buyers can now pick their own starting month (for those of us who don’t really get going until mid-year). And you can even order right up to 2012, for those of us, like me, who are well ahead of ourselves. In fact I’ve already retired.

For the intrigued artists, it works like this. Your image will be linked to the month, so if you’ve selected your grand photo ‘Father Christmas Smoking Pipe’ for December, then no matter what month your buyer decides to start their calendar from, Santa will remain in his rightful place.

And (y…

Apparently it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, normally I try and make sure I am ‘away on business’ at this time of year, but it’s too late. My mother lives in our kitchen and won’t let me eat any food next week unless I sort something out sharpish.

Because I bet I’m not alone in this situation I have conjured up a marvellous challenge to help you all out, I have subtly called it:

As you know we have a line of text on our front page that often changes, well we’re giving you the chance to write a short, sharp but poignant message to your mother to be displayed on our homepage this all important Sunday.

Please add your suggestions to the comment thread below, in crafting your words (max. 80 characters incl. spaces) remember this is our homepage, co…

Hold onto your hats, we’ve added some new colors! We’ve also changed a few of their names because they used to be called daft things like ‘Cranberry’, and I’ve never met a cranberry, but I do know what ‘Dark Red’ is. We think it’s going to help lots.

Now these additions are only to the ‘unisex’ and ‘girly cut’ short sleeve tees and are as follows:

A dandy Orange:

An exceptionally versatile Grey:

The return of (Royal) Blue:

And a highly requested Purple:

However this does mean we’re removing a few, it wasn’t an easy choice, we based it on poor sales, disgruntled buyers and whether they made us feel uneasy close up.

They are as follows: Raspberry, Aqua, Teal, Kelly and Pink (the bright lurid one not the love…

If you had happened to pass the RedBubble office in the last couple of weeks, you might have heard the sound of jackhammers, albeit virtual ones. That’s right, we’ve been deep in the bowels of the codebase again, and while the majority of the changes might be invisible to you there are a few which you might be interested in.

After we bombarded you with Hoodies, Greeting Cards, Backprints and Postcards we found that we had a few spare bolts left over and we needed to do a clean up. So we spent a little time throwing out what we didn’t need and tidying things up to make it easy to do all the cool stuff we’ve got coming up. For example, Kids Tees are just around the corner, which we’re pretty thrilled about. This has meant that we’ve had to simplif…

We just slipped into 2nd gear……

Grrrrr & The Strange Places…

Skull & Skate Routine

Dreams

And for your information, it’s an extraordinarily soft and cosy American Apparel unisex hoodie, we preview it only on a guy so buyers don’t think there are two different cuts.
All designs will be available on all clothing styles. So it’s just an additional default preview on your edit work screen.

Stay Warm.

Hello Postcards!

That’s right – yesterday back printing on t-shirts, today postcards, later this week hoodies. There’s a bit going on at the moment!

Postcards have been the most requested new product and I’m pleased to announced that they’ve arrived. RedBubble postcards are 4×6 inches and printed on a thick card stock. Just as with the greeting cards they’re available with pricing breaks at 4, 8 and 16 (40% off if you buy 16). So if you buy 16 or more postcards the base price per card is AUD1.01 (inc GST), USD0.96, GBP0.59 (inc VAT), EUR0.78 (inc 19% VAT) and CAD0.96 (exc GST).

Stay tuned for the next instalment …

Peter

P.S. The new postcards can be found under the ‘card’ icon during the checkout process, and on the back of th…

A few weeks back we updated the tee previews, consider that a metaphorical engine start on the 18 wheeled truck that is clothing design. Now fasten your seat belts people, today we slip into 1st gear with the launch of back prints.

^{Guns Are Drawn – Raae}

There’s not much to explain, it’s the same canvas, but on the back of the shirts and slightly higher. You can select it to preview on the back or let the buyer decide when they’re choosing colours and sizes. And it’s available on all the same styles.

^{Haida With Respect – onetonshadow}

One thing you may notice is you can’t yet have a shirt with a front and back design. There’s a few reasons for this, which aren’t very interesting, but suffice to say we know you want it and we haven’…

You might remember quite some time ago we here at RBHQ started working on a new homepage. We did some nerdy A/B testing to figure out whether it was awesome or not and, after chatting with you, we crawled back into our Baxter-shaped boxes to keep working. Well, it’s back, it’s done and we’re excited to finally see it live.

We know the majority of your buyers land deeply in the site directly on your work and may never even see the homepage, so we feel the homepage is primarily about setting a tone for new members of the site and getting them to join our community. You’ll notice, that tone is your art. Big, bright, front and center to welcome new visitors and ask them to join in. For other visitors who are here to purchase, we’ve got the two big clear links…

The new greeting cards have landed.

Hats off to our very talented development team, Paul, Georg, Rick and Russell who perform all sorts of technical wizardry each week – mostly behind the scenes and without recognition. Take a bow gentlemen.

Mr Baxter is never shy of publicity – and below is his take on the new greeting cards:

[Video]

We’ve made a few changes to the new cards (since we pre-announced them last week). Most importantly we’ve changed the discounts to kick in at 4, 8 and 16 cards.

So if you order any four cards of the same size you’ll obtain a 20% discount, any eight cards 30% and any 16 cards 40% discount. Win, win, win!

In order to obtain the discounts all the cards need to be the same size – but they can be from any number of artis…

Hello,

As foreshadowed in the roadmap we’re introducing paper greeting cards. Next week in fact. These new cards will be replacing the current photo greeting card. For those who would still like to buy the photo greeting card it will still be available via a private order process (I’ll post about the private order process when we release the new cards).

The reasons for not offering photo greeting cards and paper greeting cards are that we think it would be confusing to have such similar products and the manufacturing process we’re using can’t be localised (we’re in the process of localising all production to reduce our environmental foot print and reduce the delivery time).

The new paper greeting card is digitally printed using the best darn printers we co…

Groups are the little villages within the RedBubble universe, organised around a subject, genre, style or geographic location. Theyʼre places where like minded artists can gather to learn, encourage, teach, take part in challenges, share information, organise meet ups and discuss the topics that are close to their hearts. These activities play a huge part in life on RedBubble and play a vital role in creating safe, friendly environments where people feel welcomed, supported and encouraged.

While some bubblers consider themselves professional artists, many others are still learning their craft, practicing, finding their niche and producing some amazing work in the process. Some are taking their first tentative steps. Back in the old days, finding support, encouragement and advice meant…

Holy Guacamole, last week Sarge said we’d have New T-Shirt Previews quite soon, and now we have New T-Shirt Previews. How efficient is that? Should have got him a better Christmas present. Oh actually I don’t think I got him a present at all. Moving on.

While our old previews were very accurate for a shirt laid flat, that’s not so useful for someone who actually wants to imagine wearing it. So we locked Baxter in a box with a pencil, a t-shirt and a banana with a mission to create a more realistic version to show off just how excellent your designs will look in the wild. And look what he came back with:

We reckon it’s quite excellent, so we’ve let him out of his box.

You’ll notice there’s a background detail enlargement, this is not a replacement…

RedBubble is three. That is right, three years ago today RedBubble was born.

As Christoper Robin might say “when we were three we were almost me”. Feels sought of right. We have flexed our two-year-old muscles and learnt to walk, talk and run. We are insatiably curious but clearly the foundation of who we are has been laid. Most importantly we have learnt that it is not really about us. RedBubble only exists for and because of all of you. We are an unusual three year old who has developed a Zen like recognition of what we really are.

Three years old is far too young to write our memoirs. But just a few reflections on the last few years:

1. we have been surprised and delighted by the passion of the community. We are never left wondering what you think and yet (in general) you

I’m pretty excited. In 2009 we had limited ability to build new things. We spent our time re-stumping the house. Well that process has finished (for now) … so the tech team has started on brand new improvements!

Now before we all get too excited the list is long and things always take longer than you think … but here’s a list of the things we’re working on the next little while (100 days):

- Paper greeting cards with different sizes and different paper. These are wonderful quality and because we’re using a different printing technology we’ll be able to make them available at a lower price.
- Post cards (initially just one size – but if they’re well received then we’ll introduce more options).
- Back printing on t-shirts. …

_{Credits: Matthew Dawkins, Photo57, ldeiter78, and Amaya Solozabal}

This is not a post about moving servers (that’s history), it’s about RedBubble challenges.

Any group can launch a challenge and occasionally we will have major RedBubble challenges. For many artists it’s a leap to put your work into a challenge. You are sharing something important and it will be voted on – or not. This is hard.

But challenges can be an important part of our growth as artists:

1. we get to see work by similar artists on similar themes
2. we are encouraged to think about how our work appears to others
3. we may get to enjoy the knowledge that our work is popular.

But this is also the rub – popular does not equal good. Should you change your work or your approach to your art because of ho…

Over the last few months, we’ve been preparing a new home for RedBubble, and we’re just about to complete the move. So, on Wednesday, 13 January at 9pm GMT the site will be offline while we move house. We expect the outage to take approximately two hours, but we’ll try to keep it as short as possible.

What’s moving? Where?

Firstly, our old servers are heading towards that time of their lives where they’re a little more forgetful and they’re never quite sure where they’ve put the keys. The vendor no longer manufactures spare parts and the hardware is now over three years old and a little unreliable. As much as we’ve grown to love their funny smell, the time has come to kiss their wrinkly old faces goodbye. Instead of working hard for us, they…