Owd Bob

The most elusive print shop in the world

Client: Internal lab
Project: E-commerce

Given that Fully is a digital studio, the majority of our creations live, move and die on the Internet.

This is a glorious thing; as an outlet for creativity, the digital world is boundless and constantly proffers new tools.

Author: Robin Kollberg

Growing up, my grandma was an avid collector of paintings. She imparted both the thrill of obtaining art and respect for its makers.

When art buying started to shift to the web, I noticed that both these things – the thrill and the respect – were being lost in translation. Online print stores were selling artists’ work in bulk, and splashing their prints across mugs and t-shirts and all kinds of cheap ephemera. The artists went under-paid and under-noticed. Meanwhile, as a buyer, it was difficult to find “something special” when everything was 1 of 5,000+.

The idea

I called Mikael late one night with an idea: to set up an online print store that would be open for only 48 hours at a time.

Each 48-hour cycle would feature just one print and one artist, created specially for the project and never to be reprinted again. Like the lithographs of old, each print would be numbered. There would only be so many printed as were ordered. If you pass it up, the webshop closes and it’s gone.

Several interesting questions and hypotheses arose. We were about to test the general truth that web stores never close. What if they did? What if a web store had opening hours? How would that affect traffic, and sales?

The concept takes form

We decided to call the store Owd Bob. This was a name I had in my head for a while. It was the name of a sled dog that accompanied the crew of The Endurance, which was shipwrecked in Antarctica in 1914. Obscure, I know, but for some reason it stuck.

When I looked into it, I saw Owd Bob was the title an English children’s book published at the end of the 19th century. The author, Alfred Ollivant, wrote the whole thing in the Cumbrian dialect, making it nearly impossible to understand by the majority of the population. A bold move.

I liked the idea of associating this project with single-minded artistic vision.

For the logo, we opted for hand-lettering, as a way of simulating the creative process of the artist. While Owd Bob is closed, the landing page features a picture of the Mona Lisa – the famous keeper of secrets – with the logo concealing her face.

The secret clubhouse

When it came to marketing, we didn’t go for range – we aimed for exclusivity. We started off only using Instagram. And we primarily promoted featured artists in our posts. This way we could focus on varied, quality content. We also sought to only follow interesting artists, not people likely to follow us back. Every follower should be someone interested in art, not interested in getting followers of their own.

The opening hours were revealed on Instagram only. If you missed them, the opportunity would pass you by, never to return. We hoped this would inspire people to actively visit our profile, and to see the store opening as an event.

Image of projekt Owd Bob
Image of projekt Owd Bob
Image of projekt Owd Bob
Image of projekt Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob
  • Image of project Owd Bob

    Our plan worked. We gained a lot of interest and traffic and were contacted by several journalists who wanted to write about the project. For instance, My Clever Lab named us Startup of the Week. And the first artists told us that they sold more prints during the 48 hours than they had in a year when featured on some of the print-on-demand alternatives out there.

    Alive and growing

    The Owd Bob store is constantly evolving. We’re always looking for new ways to present and sell the prints. And new ways to market the site, simultaneously. As a studio, we love to tinker with new and clever ways to market on the web with an extremely low budget.

    It’s also a priority for us, both as individuals and as group, to make space for creative projects. Owd Bob was a side project, something Mikael and I would work on whenever we could snatch free hours.

    But these days we take “Fully Lab” seriously, setting aside agency hours to make each other’s quirky projects come to life. It gives us the liberty to experiment with progressive new techniques in the field, which ends up making our client work stronger and bolder.

    And it’s just important as a human to put yourself out there and make something. It’s easy to have an idea, and even easier to have an opinion. The hardest part is to deliver. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to get out there.

    Author: Robin Kollberg

    Selected work

    Fenderball trailer

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    Qgroup

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    Qmatic

    Energetic explainer of the robust and functionally jam-packed services of Qmatic Cloud Appointments.

    Academedia Snacka med SYV

    Academedia Snacka med SYV

    A guidance counselling service

    Stockholm Light

    Stockholm Light

    Digital Fireworks

    Semrén & Månsson

    Semrén & Månsson

    Architecture with heart

    Crusner Advokatbyrå

    Crusner Advokatbyrå

    A lawyer in your phone

    Planet of Lana

    Planet of Lana

    A tale of two sisters

    Poppy Poppy

    Poppy Poppy

    Who said flower pots should be boring?

    Brooklyn HaHa

    Brooklyn HaHa

    A mini-series about stand-up in the heart of Brooklyn

    Schedaero

    Schedaero

    Aircraft and pilot scheduling, made easy with Schedaero from Avinode Group.

    Bauer quiz

    Bauer quiz

    Sunny hockey season

    Paynode

    Paynode

    Retro-influenced animation for aviation service Paynode from Avinode Group.

    Allemansrätten

    Allemansrätten

    Infomercials can be fun!

    Nya Styr & Ställ

    Nya Styr & Ställ

    A brand new fleet of city bikes

    Hubins

    Hubins

    Explainer video for investment site Hubins.com with smooth and flowy line art animations.

    Montessori Mondial

    Montessori Mondial

    A playful handpainted animation series created for Montessori Mondial schools.

    Qgroup

    Qgroup

    A chef's table-esque branding film

    Paprica­klubben

    Paprica­klubben

    An interactive world for ICA's children's club

    Crayon

    Crayon

    Smooth animation explaining CloudIQ, a subscription management service from Crayon.

    Winningtemp

    Winningtemp

    Demonstration of the structure of well known employee satisfaction platform Winningtemp.

    Veterans Online

    Veterans Online

    Brainy multiplayer battles

    The Swedish School in London

    The Swedish School in London

    One of a kind. In fact.

    JOOL

    JOOL

    A financial service for bond investments

    Study in Sweden

    Study in Sweden

    Redesign of the student blog

    Collector

    Collector

    Success & the niche bank

    Liseberg

    Liseberg

    A Halloween click-or-treat

    Owd Bob

    Owd Bob

    The most elusive print shop in the world