Our new project is up and running!

Well, better late than never ... I've been so busy getting the new project up and running AND creating the new blog at wowlookwhatigot that I haven't actually has time to announce the whole thing here! So... without further ado, I give you .....

Click here to go to indiegogo.com/wowlookwhatigot

The wowlookwhatigot.com crowd-funding campaign at indiegogo.com/wowlookwhatigot is now up and running, from 1st March to 15th April 2013.  That's the important bit - PLEASE go there and find out all about it!  Most of all, please share this post with your friends, colleagues and professional networks - we need as many people as possible to pass on the news.  For those who would like some more background though, here goes ...

I'll start with a heartfelt plea - we HAVE to raise our first funds within a few days to even appear on the indiegogo website campaign browser so people can actually find us, so to all our friends & family, please visit the funding page right now and make a contribution - the minimum is just $1, about 70p, so it's not going to break the bank!  Also the more visits we get, and the more comments, the higher the campaign's rating is, and the more it is likely to be featured on the site.  Read on for details of the competition for the first 50 contributors - Thanks!!

From initial concept through talking over the idea, to outline sketches, to planning the details. From deciding on the crazy colour of the logo to putting together the website, then this blog, shooting and editing the video, setting up the crowd-funding site, drafting newsletters, press releases, social media updates, and finally ... pressing the (virtual) big red Go!button ... it's taken 4 months to get this far.

To recap, the basic idea was simple - for artists, there is a basic flaw in the art market - not enough customers! Why? Because art is expensive - original art often has to be expensive - it can take weeks or months to create something, and it has to be sold for enough money to feed, house and clothe the artist for the weeks or months it takes to make the next thing.  How many people are willing and able to pay that kind of money? Hardly any, and they are spending their money on artists who are well-established. Collectors, understandably, have an eye on the resale value.

So who makes all the money in this world? Generally the people who can sell a lot of something cheap (look at the pound shops!).  Why not apply the same principle to art, so that those people who love art but aren't rolling in money actually have something real, attractive and engaging to buy?

Hence wowlookwhatigot.com - a simple deal - you pay us £5 a month, we send you a fine-art print every month. Our problem - no money to start up the business. Solution - should we go borrow £10k from a bank at a punitive interest rate that guarantees we're going to fail before we even start? Er, nope. Should we ask our friends, acquaintances  former co-workers, previous customers and collectors and complete strangers who we can inspire, each to invest just a few pounds each in our future? Sounds like a plan!

Invest in wowlookwhatigot.com for a chance to win a dragon!

Oh, and to make it even more interesting, the first 50 contributors to the campaign will be entered in a draw to win an original dragon drawing by Martin, so get in there quick! (By the way, you are not committing yourself to subscribing by contributing to the campaign - we'll ask you about that later, when you've actually received some samples!).

Go for it!

Love

Martin & Vivi-Mari