What will 'I Vote for Art' look like?

I think that it's about time I showed some screen mock-ups of ivoteforart.com, to give you an idea of what it's going to look like.

This first one here is the home page. Because you will be able to vote for artwork on the site (who would have guessed?), the home page displays the top voted pieces.

As well as the top voted art, the homepage will display the most recently added artworks.

Below each picture is some brief info about each artwork: the artist, the title, and the price of each piece.

Also, in the bottom right hand corner of each image is a small 'thumb'. That's where you do the voting. You can vote for as many pieces as you like, but only once. That thumb turns into a tick once you've voted for something.

The right hand side-bar is where you can login or signup, display your favourite art that's on the site, and read the latest news about ivoteforart.com

You can click on each piece and you'll be taken through to individual art pages - with more details about each piece, as shown here on the right.

On these pages, you can buy the artwork, add a comment or review about it, and of course you can add you vote here too.

So, as you can see - it's starting to take shape. I must say that the whole process has taken me a lot longer than I expected ... but it's very close now to being ready to launch.

The 'Sell' area on the top navigation bar, and panel towards the bottom of each page, is where artists can submit their work to be considered for the site. But "I vote for art' isn't going to be a free-for-all like etsy is. We'll only be adding work that we consider to be of a high standard.

I hope you like the look of it ... but either way would be very interested in hearing your feedback about it. This is only version 1, and I'm sure that plenty of things will change in the months (and hopefully years) to come.

Great Gocco prints by Inkdesigner

I am delighted to have Inkdesigner's work on 'I vote for art'.

Inkdesigner, aka Wing Ngan is a Hong Kong born designer who now runs his own design firm, Ink Design, in Boston.

Inkdesigner will be initially selling 3 limited edition Gocco prints at a very affordable price. I can't wait to see these prints in person.

"What's a Gocco print?", do I hear anyone ask?

Gocco printing is "print gocco" is a clean, easy, and fully self-contained compact print system that exposes and prints all in one unit. It uses flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras, where an original image is thermally imprinted on a master screen. Colourful prints are made by pressing the ink-applied master screen against a sheet of paper placed on a sponge pad.

Sadly, the Japanese company that make the Goccos have announced that they will no longer be making Gocco printers ... such a shame.

Anyway, it's great to have some Gocco Prints from Inkesigner. You can check out more of his work at his flickr page.

Originals vs Prints

[Update :: Dan's right, I haven't quite used the word 'print' correctly in this post. See his comment below for a better clarification. Thanks]

I'm wondering what people think about original vs prints when it comes to art?

Yesterday I was in at the Printmaker Gallery on Brunswick st, which has some nice prints. I especially like Jam Fancy's work that is for sale in here ... her work is always cute with a sprinkle of evil.

I also visited the Dianne Tanzer gallery yesterday, on Gertrude St. Ash Keating's exhibition was on. His work was available for sale via limited edition prints (pricey), or free in a take-away newspaper format.

Both experiences got me thinking about the original vs print debate. So I thought I'd jot down a few pros and cons of original and printed works. Feel free to suggest any others in the comments.

Original Artwork

- The artist is directly involved in creating the image. You therefore have a closer connection to the artist
- There is more of a story behind each work, as each piece is considered within the artists entire portfolio.
- Obviously an original is more of an investment.

Prints

- Gives art more of an entry-level, making it accessible to more people.
- A way for a artists to earn some additional dollars to pay the bills.
- Allows the non-art-investor to buy affordable work from well known artists.
- I'm sure prints would be considered evil by some, cheapening the art world to a money making experience.

Of course, Prints can be further broken down into to groups - Open ended prints vs limited edition prints. Not sure if there's much difference, although with a limited edition print there feels like there is some amount of exclusivity / collectivity.

Personally speaking, I don't have a problem with artists who do prints. All the art that I own is reproduced. But I'm sure there are others that aren't so comfortable.

Does artist involvement have anything to do with it? My Aunty, Sandra Brett, is an artist that does a lot of linocut artwork. She does all the prints herself, so is still involved in the printing creation.

At the other end of the spectrum, I have two Yoshitomo Nara pieces on my wall that are open-ended giclee prints. I'm sure that Yoshitomo himself wasn't there when these were printed, but does that make them any less special?

We live in a much more digital, reproducible society now than we did even 10 years ago. My guess is that most people (Genuine art investors excluded) would be less fussed about whether an artwork was original/printed and more concerned about having access to art that they can afford for themselves.

Your thoughts very welcome, as always.