Redbubble is an online marketplace/community for creatively inclined people to sell their art to the general public. Originally based in Australia, the site has been running since early 2007. It started out as an idea to bring on-demand printing to Australians - originally focussed on custom t-shirt printing, and eventually moving into calendars, cards, stickers and more.
The process
Landing on the Redbubble home page - www.redbubble.com - it's obvious that the site values the artwork of it's thousands of members. A large, changing main image of selected artwork takes centre stage, with links to the main categories underneath. There are links to Explore, Shop, Community, Login, Signup etc to help navigate to specific parts of the environment.
New members can sign up with a simple form to get them started. Unlike many other sign up forms, the RB form has only 5 fields to complete, plus a security image/text box. After that, users can set up their accounts as buyers or sellers (or both). Adding an avatar, basic details and a brief description about yourself, connecting to facebook and inputting tax details for sellers is all relatively straightforward. Every step is explained in language easy to understand for the average person - not too technical, but not over simplified either.
Once an designer/artist has set up their account the steps to upload artwork is very straightforward. A bright red button saying "ADD YOUR WORK" appears on the main screen of their RB account. From there, they select what type of work they want to upload - art & photography; t-shirts, hoodies & stickers; calendars; writing; or journals. On selecting t-shirts, a new screen reveals 2 link buttons - a template with instructions on setting up the artwork, and the "fancy uploader" link to select the file.
The next screen allows the user to put in the details of their work - title, description, tags (for organising), privacy options, what kind of products the art is for (t-shirts, kids clothes, or stickers), colour options, default style & colour (for display), print location and markup. Then, all the artist has to do it click 'save & publish' and the t-shirt/sticker is ready on the RB website for purchasing!
The feel
Overall, the whole Redbubble site is very 'basic' and easy to use. The processes for signing up and submitting artwork is very straightforward, and explained along the way with easy to follow instructions and links to further information when available. The language is easy to understand - not overly technical - and maintains a friendly tone of voice that relates to the individual user like a one-on-one conversation, informal 'peer' style.
The design of the site is uncluttered, leaving the artwork to speak for itself. The amount of information on each page is kept to a minimum, making it easy to find specific links or sections on a page, yet the pages never seem bare or lacking. Navigation between pages is simple and easy to follow. The process of uploading artwork for sale is so easy, no wonder there are thousands of artists using the site to sell their work.
The experience
Using Redbubble is relatively similar to other social network/sharing websites. The process of uploading artwork is very much like uploading photos to Flickr or Facebook, just with different information added onto the image. Instead of tagging people or putting in camera data, there is product options, pricing markups, colour variations etc. The options when uploading images doesn't overwhelm or overload.
Because there are similarities in data uploading & management between Redbubble and image sharing sites, users are likely to be familiar with the process of uploading images, and therefore not intimidated by it. The straightforward, instructional language gives all the details without overloading.
Overall, Redbubble is a successful, functional application/website making it easy for artists and designers to have their work seen and bought by people the world over.
Fantastic post, Sonja. You've described and illustrated the process of using the site well.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could take the experience aspect one step further, and try uploading an artwork or participating in the community. I'm very interested as to what this experience would be like.
This may give you an opportunity to find places that need a design revision, or opportunities for new additions to the site to innovate or enhance the site.
I think you're well positioned for your first assessment task.
Hi Michael
ReplyDeleteI didn't actually upload artwork as I wrote the blog, but I do so on a semi-regular basis (when I have the time to create new designs!). I find the site to be well planned and geared towards both experienced and inexperienced users. The process is very easy and does not create a feeling of dread - any mistakes can be easily corrected by uploading new artwork or editing the descriptions and properties after the initial upload. There is also a link between Facebook and Redbubble to automatically share any new artwork to your Facebook account. Which I think is pretty neat!
The only improvement that comes to mind is that perhaps there could be a link between their uploading system and a graphics editing program to help users without access to Photoshop to set up their artwork correctly. Redbubble requires all artwork to be in PNG format, with transparent backgrounds, and users that aren't familiar with graphics editing software would be at a disadvantage. The general population might expect to be able to upload a photo of their cat taken on the phone for t-shirts and cards and stickers. But without converting the image to a PNG file (requiring Photoshop or Fireworks etc) they can't make use of the services offered by Redbubble. If Redbubble linked to an online image conversion service, or incorporated it into the uploading process they would open open up the way for more customers and more profit!
I will have to look into what options for online image conversion there are available - or does anyone know of any?
Thanks :)