...as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others,
we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do so Freely and Generously

Invention: Discovering Fine Artists

Type: Online Service

Summary: Fine Art (Physical paintings, sculptures, etc) is the domain of the well known and the wealthy.  In many ways, it is one of the few art forms without wide commercialization.  Discovering Artists supports undiscovered artisans through telling their story and marketing their talent.

Explanation: Discovering Fine Artists is an online community of weblogs created by individual artists with each artists’ weblog chronologically detailing the artistic process of each piece of art created.  Discovering Artists has an initial web-portal, which serves to highlight members of the community as well as maintain a list of categorized blogs of artists in the community.  Each individual artist’s blog is of both their lives as well as their work.  Successful blogs will chronologically record the steps taken to create a piece of fine art (including preliminary sketches and photographs of the incomplete works), the influences of the piece and the life of the artist during the time of creation.  The blogs may also allow for audience feedback and professional critiques from the community, allowing the artist to receive additional influence, if desired. The purpose is that this will create a story behind the piece of art, making its meaning more accessible and understood by those outside of predefined, typically very high-end or well to-do, communities of art patrons.  Once the story and piece of art is complete, the artist has the option to sell the piece through Discovering Artists’ online web auction platform with each piece coming with a bound hard copy of the artwork’s story.  A much higher percentage of the sale would be given to the artist than is typical of most brick and mortar art galleries as well as the wider audience and story would generate higher returns for each piece.  In addition, Discovering Artists would allow the artist to sell reproduced pieces of popular works, generating additional revenue for the artist.  Discovering Artists would charge a commission on each sold piece of work and each reproduced piece, but that commission would be able to be small due to higher volume and lower overhead than traditional galleries.  Discovering Artists would also put on traveling art shows in major cities, so that pieces of work could be admired in their physical form.

Utility: First, by adding a defined story to a piece of art, art becomes less intimidating, and opens it up to a wider audience.   Second, with a wider audience and a more equitable distribution of the artwork’s revenue, more fine artists would be able to become professionals, adding to society as a whole.  Third, unknown artists or part-time artists, are able to show and develop their talent in a potential global artistic community.

Invention: Consultant Room Brokerage

Type: Online Service

Summary:  Online Service and community that allows traveling consultants (those who are typically away 4 or more nights a week) to rent out their apartments while they are gone.

Explanation: An online service made up of professionals who are typically away for 4 or more nights a week which allows them to rent their room to other professionals with clients in their town while earning hotel-level pay per night compensation.  The community would rate each persons apartment and each member in the community to ensure quality of both apartments and members, with those receiving consistently negative feedback being placed on probation or being removed.  The service provider collects payment for the room rental from the consulting firm as the per diem for a hotel stay and takes a commission.  Members should be required to use the service whenever possible in order to receive the benefit of renting their room.

Utility: Consultants who travel will be able to earn a significant second income renting out their rooms while having the privilege of staying in fully appointed apartments while traveling.