My luck swings wide I tell you. If you’ve been reading these posts lately you’ll notice a bipolar trend: A customer ripped me a new one (but we’ve just celebrated one year in business!). Someone stole an original from me (but we were mentioned in a national magazine!), and most recently My computer died (but [...]

A good and loyal companion left me today. I bought my 13-inch Titanium Powerbook on January 21st, 2003 the same day Apple released them to the public. In the 3 plus years I owned this little guy I had zero, that’s z-e-r-o, problems with it. Together we built Thumbtack Press.

There were warning signs of [...]

It’s about time for some good news!

Home Magazine is featuring Thumbtack Press, but more importantly, Gina Triplett’s work in their November issue on newsstands now! It’s a little scary seeing the other stores—Anthropologie! for Pete’s sake!—with their 24 hour “call now” toll-free numbers compared to my puny “please don’t call during peak hours!” local [...]

Believe it or not, I have a thin skin. A few weeks ago I received an inflammatory e-mail from a customer complaining about how their print was damaged via shipping, it rarely happens, but unfortunately, it does happen. UPS is a good company but 90% of their handling is done by machines and conveyors (and [...]

In my never-ending search for better and unique ways to market Thumbtack Press I stumbled upon this clever marketing gimmick for Papa John’s pizza. Damn, I wish I would’ve thunked it.

What a hoot. If this was on my door I’d think “Papa John’s” the next time I wanted pizza. Brilliant idea! (as long as the [...]

I read this article, which inspired me to make my own list:

You’ll have free time to play golf during the day, go clubbing all night, and boat on weekends When you first launch an online store the orders just come pouring in Name your own salary You can take a day off whenever you want and often take [...]

I have a nephew who is almost 7. He’s inquisitive and really smart for his age. Yesterday was Sunday, it was 106 degrees outside, and I was working very hard to finish orders. I was a little stressed. He came into my studio and asked me what I was doing, I told him I [...]

www.thumbtackpress.com

Hi Canada, it’s me! Tony, your friend in the States. Thanks to a little programming change I made to the website today you may now order prints to be sent via UPS instead of Int’l Air Mail. I know this news won’t make the front page of the Toronto Star but I thought you art-loving [...]

Neat little chat device that I predict will never ever be used on Thumbtack Press, but here’s hoping. I’ll try to use it and maybe we’ll cross paths. You can use it on your site as well!

P.S. I am becoming increasing engulfed in web 2.0 and AJAX. Suddenly the rest of the web is [...]

While being in a new town is great, I’m starting to feel the pangs of disconnection from all things that were once familar and that I took for granted. I’m looking forward to . . .

  1. making friends up here (I don’t know anyone, this sucks)   2. finding an awesome park where I can read and/or [...]

Love it! I promise to start posting regular stuff soon - this was just too good, especially Arigon’s entrance. www.thumbtackpress.com

I’d like to welcome Chris Silas Neal to Thumbtack Press. The thing I like most about our selection is how different and unique each artist is. I often get submissions from very talented illustrators, but I don’t sell two somewhat-alike styles, and I never will.

When I was a mail boy at Disney Studios in [...]

Over 500 prints now available on Thumbtack Press! www.thumbtackpress.com

Okay, the jig is up, you got me, I’m not who I say I am. For the last 6 months I have taken orders, sent out post-sale surveys, and corresponded with customers under the name Joe Vaughn.

Why? Because I wanted Thumbtack Press to appear bigger than we are. I wanted to be that mega-corporation [...]

side note: Brownpau let me show this image under a Creative Commons license, now 4,000 + visitors know his name.

Why? In a nutshell, my Son. We have lost faith in the Los Angeles school system and want him in an environment where it’s considered ok to be smart, or at least, where it’s ok to [...]

Almost literally! Thanks Nick for your post-cognitive ability to channel me into your brilliant work. www.thumbtackpress.com

♫ I left my heart ♪♫ in . . . ♫♪ (hint: rhymes with Sand Hand Miss Foe). Stay tuned! www.thumbtackpress.com

Well, it was bound to happen, Thumbtack Press got robbed. They didn’t use a gun or a knife, or break into our store wearing a stocking on their head. They used the internet.

After some reflection it really doesn’t surprise me, I’m generally a trusting person (read: naive) and I guess they smelled that. I should [...]

Today, I took a screwdriver to my computer housing and opened her up. Today, I viewed her innards and saw a sea of circuits and wires—things that frightened me. Today, I took a stick of memory and gently snapped it exactly where the instruction manual told me to, I did not force. Today, I replaced [...]