EyeWire Launches Portal Site

Posted on 2/1/1999 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

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EYEWIRE LAUNCHES PORTAL SITE


February 1, 1999

EyeWire, Inc. (formerly Adobe Studios) will develop a first-of-its-kind resource

that will provide visual content - such as video, animation, photography, type

fonts, illustrations and clip art -- and related graphics software, products and

services within a single Web site: EyeWire.com (http://www.eyewire.com).

EyeWire's key target market is the creative professional community, whose functions

include graphic design, advertising, Web site creation and multimedia. According

to EyeWire there are 500,000-plus professional graphic designers who regularly

design and produce for print, broadcast and the Internet engaged in this industry.

They spend several billion dollars annually on products and services.

EyeWire's goal is to develop a site that will be a one-stop resource for all the

needs of graphic designers, creative directors, art directors, broadcast designers,

Web site designers, multimedia designers and desktop publishers. The site will

also be of use to people charged with developing graphics materials who are within

the small business community, the education industry, and non-profit agencies.

Currently, people developing professional business communications are forced to

find and purchase content, products and services through multiple sources, many of

which are not found on the Internet. Using its own products and a rich suite of

products/services from industry partners, EyeWire.com will create a time-saving

"one-stop shop" that will provide:

    Graphics professionals with the industry's most comprehensive selection of

    visual content, a diverse range of editorial features and how-to's, opportunities

    to buy and sell related products and services online, and the ability to enhance

    their expertise through participation within their own online community;

    Business users with "content on demand" that offers the right visual solution -

    typeface, graphics or multimedia - or service, such as printing or distribution,

    without demanding that they do any sourcing or even leave their software

    application.

Both markets will be served by EyeWire.com's MyWire "personal portal" that will

allow users to build their own site that features favorite products and services;

individualized information, such as pertinent articles, industry trade shows or

competition deadlines; and personalization capabilities, such as flexible "look and

feel" tailoring and support for multiple foreign languages.

Key to the EyeWire.com initiative will be leveraging the EyeWire core customer

base, which has been derived from the company's industry-leading direct mail

catalog and customer service operation.

"Becoming a portal -- even a vertical portal -- demands traffic, which we

anticipate will come largely from converting our catalog customers to Web-based

customers. We have a built-in traffic generator based on our record as the leading

cataloger for visual content," said Brad Zumwalt, Chairman and President of

EyeWire. EyeWire has mailed over 50 million catalogs to date. Currently they are

mailing about 800,000 catalogs a month to business and professional graphic arts

users. Their mass mailing program has been developed and refined for over a decade

and is supported by EyeWire's telephone and Web-based customer service operation.

Much of EyeWire's royalty free image collection has been provided by SuperStock.

EyeWire also distributes the Digital Vision collection from the U.K. as well as other

royalty free products. The one resource which designers have great need of, and

which EyeWire currently

does not supply, is "Rights Protected" photography. Look for EyeWire to find some

way to offer RP images to their massive customer base in the near future.

EyeWire was founded in 1985 (then known as Image Club Graphics) as a distributor of

individual digital typefaces. They were acquired by Aldus Software in 1994. Aldus

was purchased by Adobe Systems in September 1994. During its four years as an

Adobe subsidiary, the company grew more than 450%. In the fall of 1998, company

management reacquired the transformed company from Adobe, naming the newly

independent organization EyeWire Inc. EyeWire has a growth rate of 50% per year,

plus profits and revenue exceeding $20 million.


Copyright © 1999 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

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