This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project provides an integrated suite of Web-based applications to an online network of professionals in the creative industries. These professionals include Creatives such as writers, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers, animators, product designers, programmers and producers. The products of their creative activities include both commercial and fine-arts applications in the realms of music, literature, imagery, audio-visuals, communications and product design. The end users of these products range from the personal consumer to global industry, education and government. This innovation builds on the software-as-a-service tools developed through Phase I efforts and brings them to their next evolutionary level. Tools to enable collaboration and commerce among subscribers to the site will be developed and released. With these tools and its network of cultural entrepreneurs, Artbox.com establishes a 21st-century internet agora, in which talented, accomplished thinkers-and-makers assemble to trade their ideas and inventions.
Independent Creatives, the driving force behind the growing Creative Industries, have demonstrated a need and desire for the kind of solutions that this innovation intends to provide. The Internet has changed the economic realities of almost every business, and the American economy is at a turning point. Old models based on manufacturing and information technology have been greatly affected by the availability of cheap labor overseas. Observers of these trends have identified that "innovation," "imagination" and "collective intelligence" form the new basis for competitive advantage in the global marketplace. In an innovation economy, creators of original content, concepts and products are also the creators of value. If successful, Artbox.com will build a powerful network and efficient talent-sourcing tool for businesses and individuals alike.
This Small Business Innovation Research project enabled us to research, develop and release first iterations of a cloud-based platform called www.Artbox.com. Through this web portal, we have begun to attract and organize a community of independent, professional art and media "creatives"— writers, photographers, animators, video producers, graphic artists, designers, artists, etc.— by providing an ever-expanding sute of web tools designed to increase their productivity and ability to interact with peers and with potential clients, and to promote their "personal brands" as creatives who strive to use their talent and skill to benefit the common good. The SBIR grant enabled our startup company to hire our first staff — creating 5.5 full-time jobs over the course of the project — and to set up a small office space. The research grant gave us the runway to work through the significant engineering and design challenges of building a SaaS product with such complexity — while achieving a simple, friendly user interface. Additional REU grants enabled us to hire 4 undergraduate interns who helped to expand our workforce while we mentored them and gave them real-world experience working in the unique culture and challenges of a small tech startup. As a result of this project, Artbox LLC has released our major platform www.artbox.com and is building user interest and sales. The platform follows the 'freemium' model of web services, offering free profiles and portfolios to members who join our online community we call "The Creative Force" TM. Members may upgrade to add a feature-rich, professional "20/20 Portfolio Website" to their account. Their cost is for $20 monthly hosting and an investment of about 20 minutes time. Members also receive the benefit of promotion via the Art Vox blog attached to our site, plus various social media outlets. Artbox.com's toolset will continue to expand, as will our revenue streams and partnerships with charitiable and mission-lead social enterprise companies. The Artbox.com mission is to use our technological platform to achieve a positive "double bottom line" for creatives, commerce and causes by assembling a Web-based community of like-minded art and media professionals and providing them with useful and elegant tools for commercial exchange that benefits social causes. Our team will continue to expand its product offering, increasing its value proposition, and testing it with the user market. Our company is seeking private investment to enable ongoing r&d and marketing efforts.
