The Wrap

Earlier this week, RedBubble co-founder Martin Hosking attended the Open Universities Fast Thinking Inaugural Innovation Awards, held at Sydney’s PowerHouse Museum, together with artists Rose Moxon and Sarah Moore. Red Bubble was awarded the runner-up prize in the Digital Innovation category. While most retail outlets in Australia are seeing flat growth, RedBubble sales are up over three times from last year.

The site has previously won a handful of other awards including the NetGuide People’s Choice Award in March, 2008 and was the 3rd Ranked Australian 2.0 Website in June of that same year. A full list of the honors the site has been awarded can be seen here.

Martin said about the appeal and success of the website. “I think the Australian and international committees that have recognised RedBubble this year have been attracted by the global appeal of the website. We have artists from Iran, outback NSW and New York and everywhere in between. When members post work they participate in the global community which is RedBubble. With over 130,000 items sold to over 70 countries, this means our purchasers are equally global.”

“RedBubble is benefiting from customers shying away the big mass-produced brands in favour of things that are more personal and reflect their unique interests. With over 1 million image works on the site, RedBubble has art on everything from acupuncture to Zulus.”

Martin further added, “Our most important immediate objective is, I am afraid, a little practical. We need to get RedBubble cash-flow positive. This is a bit boring but in the current environment we cannot be at all sure that any more investment funds will be available and unless we are cash-flow positive there will be no Bubble. Outside of that I am looking forward to expanding the product range (books I think will be particularly exciting) to building our operations in Europe and the US and adding better community functionality so it is easier for people to get around.”

These awards clearly show that RedBubble is emerging as one of the premier sites for online art and digital media. In fact, it is the third largest and fastest growing art site in the world. Martin feels that RedBubble has the potential to be a “top echelon site”.

When asked what this award meant to him, Martin replied “I am happy with the various awards although they mean less to me than what the site delivers for its members on a day-to-day basis. I get more of a kick, to be frank, out of the wonderful bubblemails I receive and reading the forums (at least when people are being nice!) and knowing that RedBubble is making a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

Congratulations to the team and the community of RedBubble for making it what it is today.

Faizan