Redbubble: Bursting into online printing

In an era where doomsayers are predicting the end of print every other week, a print company skyrocketing onto the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the tender age of ten is a remarkable feat.

Cashing in on the successful marriage of the internet and digital print, the founders of garment printer Redbubble certainly know how to keep print relevant in today’s fast moving market.

Their business concept is simple: link the audience with the root of the print work, the designers and artists. The recently ASX-floated technology company was born out of a business idea devised between three friends in Melbourne in 2006; Martin Hosking, Paul Vanzella and Peter Styles. Fast forward ten years, Redbubble is now worth $300m, has offices in San Francisco as well as its home town, and offers some 9.8 million pieces of printed work on its website with items ranging from iPhone cases to miniskirts.

Hosking and his business partners developed Redbubble with the hope to provide a global platform for designers and artists to showcase work, rather than building a traditional print company. The e-commerce printer allows the designers to monetise their designs by uploading them to the

Redbubble website, and enabling the public to choose items to have the designs printed onto, such as t-shirts, pillowcases, caps, iPhones and the like. When asked why he saw potential in the print market, Hosking says he knew there was a market gap for a printing company that focused on designer work and art in the online universe.

“Our business model makes it all about the artist, people respond to print better when they are more involved directly with the artist I think,” says Hosking.

As none of the directors are printers by trade, the boys prefer to keep the printing to the experts. Hosking says the company prefers to market the design aspect and focuses efforts on providing artists a platform to share their work rather than operating a printing business.

None of the website’s printing is done on-site at its Melbourne premises; instead Redbubble has 12 printing partners in 18 locations around the world which handle the company’s mammoth printing requirement.

“From our point of view, we do the designing and marketing and our printing partners do the print work and mailing,” he says.

“Traditional printing used to be very difficult, but the print-on-demand model we use now makes it very easy.”

Today’s print landscape is being slowly swallowed by digital, making entrepreneurs and printers alike very uneasy investing in the trade. While many companies are bowing out of print, Redbubble is tapping into what the founders believe is an emerging market.

Redbubble’s blueprint for success is print-on-demand, and Hosking believes the print industry is now shifting towards micro-runs with a spotlight on customisation, rather than mass production.

“The world of printing is changing, and it has become aesthetic rather than utilitarian, and that kind of printing is what we do – designs on iPhone cases, stickers and notepads are our highest selling items,” he says.

Hosking adds, “Print started as micro production, it moved from that to mass production and now it has gone back to the original concept which involves one offs and limited production and micro runs.”

The online superstar’s business culture is primarily about its designers, because without a global community of artists uploading work, the website would cease to exist.

Co-founder Paul Vanzella says the essential motivation behind Redbubble is to help designers have their work broadcasted to the world. This is a profitable concept in an era where millennials fear a loss of identity through mass production, and where individualism and creativity is worshipped.

“We find our customers do not want to be part of the mass commercial market – so for a designer to have a following is totally ideal. And people can connect with that designer directly by purchasing the artwork,” says Vanzella.

“It works so well for the designer because they have a market ready and waiting. Redbubble facilitates everything for the designer, so all they have to do is the creative process. That is why I think it works so well, and the fact there is an immediate market there for the designer.”

Vanzella agrees that microproduction is fast becoming the trend with modern printers and graphic arts companies. Redbubble’s website is bursting with pages and pages of material, playing host to almost two million pieces of individual artwork and design.

“We noticed people wanted to express total individualism – so we made it possible to be able to print on demand in quantities from one to 100 in various product guises,” he adds.

“We wanted to make it a one stop effort, where an artist can concentrate on creating his or her work and with a click of button it can be turned into a product and delivered anywhere in the world.”

ProPrint paid a visit to Redbubble’s Melbourne office, and like most start-up companies, the building had powerful Google-type headquarters vibes; complete with bean bag chairs and meditation rooms. Designer artwork plasters the walls and Apple technology graces every table top: all the trappings of a millennial business in its youth.

Since its inception a little over ten years ago, Redbubble has reaped impressive success. The company floated itself on the Australian Stock Exchange earlier this year, hitting an early share spike and it is now valued at $287m. And its growth doesn’t just stop there – the company’s offices on Collins Street, Melbourne already take up a spacious open-plan floor, and it has arrangements to take up another whole floor just to make space for its garment section.

The company’s endeavour to assist artists and designers doesn’t stop at the website, either. Redbubble’s Melbourne office hosts six-month contracts for international designers to work in-house and produce work that will be featured on the website.

“I think the world is changing to be more individual, now more than ever, why buy mass market products when you can follow and individual voice that is not dictated by a company or corporation,” says Paul

“I think that is what Redbubble does so well. Redbubble gives many artists both a voice and an outlet and an environment to thrive within.”

It is clear budding artists see the value of using Redbubble to sell their printed pieces. There are 400,000 selling artists from 190 different countries on its online marketplace, and since its launch users have generated a total profit of around $44m.

The site’s highest selling artist managed to make $54,000 in the 2015 financial year. Commenting on the commercial value of print in today’s digital culture, both Hosking and Vanzella agree there will always be room for the trade, however – just like their business approach – the industry needs to be a reflection of the changing world.

“People will always need and want print, but now they will want is in a far more customised way. The industry is leaning away from mass production and into niche customisation and that is where the selling point is,” says Hosking.

Vanzella adds, “There will always be creative thought, the way it is executed can change, however, the idea will always hold value no matter how it is executed.

“Whether it is an animated GIF or a printed piece the design print industry will remain relevant as long as there are ideas to be documented.”

The marketability of online design catapults printing back into the forefront of the manufacturing industry. Online graphic design start up Canva is also reaping similar profits to Redbubble through providing users a platform to engineer their own art. The start up giant was founded in 2012 and has already garnered 10 million users, and offers design tools for print and digital outputs.

Companies like Redbubble and Canva are certainly making use of the influx of new technology to take print and design to whole new league. Both companies have expanded globally and attract customers due to their user-friendly digital capabilities which still manage to capitalise on print. Any printing company worth its salt will look to Redbubble’s mission and see there is potential in print, but capturing that potential requires a modern approach.

As Hosking and Vanzella point out, the commercial viability of print – both online and offline – stems from innovation and niche markets. Today’s generation of print customers want something no other company can give them, and often something that is yet to exist. Printing the unprintable and subverting the traditional model is what Redbubble has achieved, and is the refreshed strategy for success.

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