Q&A with Ian Priddle
While many people think being an artist may be the easiest thing in the world, making a living from it is actually a pretty tough act. That’s where the new app idea, Arti, by Codeacious comes in. They’ve designed an app for you iPhone, Samsung or whatever contraption you may have – provided it can download apps of some sort – where you can buy and sell artworks, but it’s so much more than that. We had a chat with app designer Ian Priddle, about the ins and outs of the app and how you can help make it a reality.
Hi Ian, thanks for taking the time out to chat with Forte, how are you and what are you up to right now?
Hi Forte, it’s my pleasure! Right now I’m working on a hilarious new feature for next year’s Pako Festa app.
I understand you work for Codeacious, what does an average day for you look like with them?
I actually co-founded Codeacious with my good friend Glenn Schmidt three years ago, so there’s not much I don’t do. My average day starts like most; with coffee. Long black, no sugar. Then I open my email. Oh the email. Delete a bunch of nonsense emails, flag the stuff I need to come back to, quickly reply to the important ones… aaaand it’s lunch. After visiting that day’s choice of one our many awesome local cafés, it’s time to get down to some serious business so I open up our job tracking system, JIRA. I’d like to say I follow a strict regiment of addressing the top priority issues first, but sometimes I can’t help but tackle “Photoshop grass onto tab bar” before looking at “Analyse TPS reports”. Most of the time I’ve got my head buried in Adobe Illustrator, designing wireframes or app graphics, or I’m using Xcode or Android Studio to implement the designs in code.
And you’ve decided to create a Kickstarter campaign for a new app called Arti, where did the idea for this app originate?
I first got the idea when I was in a Geelong café a few years ago and saw a piece of work that I wanted to buy. Customers sat in front of it, the staff was flat out and I couldn’t see any information. I came back another day and found the situation the same. The next time I returned, the painting had gone. I was frustrated, not just because I missed out on a piece that I wanted, but also because I could see how that artist had potentially missed out on further sales. If I’d been able to take out my phone and buy the piece then and there using a simple app, that artist would have made an immediate sale and could have replaced that work with another, and potentially sold two – or more – pieces in that same time-frame.
Are you a big lover of the arts scene?
Absolutely! Supporting the arts scene in any town is of critical importance for a number of obvious reasons. Right here in Geelong we have a huge number of extremely talented artists producing fantastic work which should be out there and being appreciated by as many people as possible, and we want to build Arti to make that happen.
How will the app benefit artists, curators and buyers in the region?
Arti will be a technology platform that brings together artists, art lovers, art spaces, buyers and sellers. The app will be free, and usable anywhere in the world which means greater exposure for artists and their work and with a fast and seamless way to buy, bid or possibly even tip, artists can be financially supported to keep doing what they love.
The campaign is asking for $50,000, can you give us a breakdown of where the money is going?
Sure. First of all, Kickstarter will take 5 per cent, then the credit card companies take another 2-5 per cent. That leaves us with around $45,000 of which $30,000 will be used to support Glenn and myself to eat, pay rent, and live off noodles while we work for around six months consulting with practising artists, developing the backend systems, iOS app and Android app. This works out to be about $16 per hour (as a comparison, the going rate for experienced app developers at the moment is about $125 per hour). The small amount left will be used to market the app once it’s built.
What kind of rewards can people get for supporting the campaign?
Just by backing Arti, with even a dollar, you’ll be able to contribute your ideas and help us shape Arti for your needs. That’s what’s most important for us. But for those who are able to pledge more, there’s opportunities to access the app in beta, create profiles in the app before it’s even launched, and have your artwork or profile featured in promotional material. If it’s a t-shirt you’re looking for, we’ve decided not to do novelty rewards, because every dollar is precious and we want to make sure all the cash goes directly to funding the project. We don’t think people want us spending all our development time producing and mailing out custom clothing. No one wears them anyway…
Once the app is created it’s actually going to be available for free, what’s made you decide that instead of charging people to purchase it?
Arti is all about getting artists exposure so that more people can buy their art, so that means we want as many people as possible to download Arti and one of the best ways to do that is to make it free, and available on both major platforms. And no, there won’t be any banner ads. Ewww.
People mightn’t realise but you actually created the Queenscliff Music Festival app, how long did it all take you?
This year we’ve released our third major version of the Queenscliff Music Festival app and we love it. We love sponsoring the festival and to date we’ve spent a total of around 1700 hours on the app. To put that in perspective, that’s about the equivalent of one person working full time on the project for a whole year.
What do you think makes a good app?
First and foremost – a good app just works. It’s fast and intuitive. I don’t think we make good apps though, we make awesome apps. Awesome apps that are powerful behind the scenes, driven by really smart custom software, and are intuitive and look fantastic.
Is there a back up plan for if the campaign isn’t successful?
There’s no way we can afford to do this particular project without crowd funding support. People are starting to take notice and the feedback we’re getting from artists is awesome – basically they want this app!
To support the campaign visit facebook.com/codeacious and follow the links.