Wallhogs - Wall Prints 2.0

Wallhogs is a new startup that allows you to create your very own wall prints, slightly larger than your average shop sizes. At least, 52″ is bigger than anything that I’ve seen in a shop. This might not sound very Web2.0ish, but the website has a brilliantly simple Web 2.0 design and features some pretty impressive architecture, worthy of being mentioned here at Profy. It displays some key characteristics that make it this.

Simplicity (simple, minimalist, curved design). Interactivity (video introductions) and most importantly, a blog. The blogosphere has expanded, and with this latest edition, proves that it is not only a blogosphere, but also a hogosphere! Okay… That was corny, but I had to throw it in!

You can easily upload, or select a pre-made graphic or photo, which is then printed onto a patented vinyl that has a magical “semi-adhesive backing”. Which supposedly lets you stick it on a wall, then move it to a different wall. If the lighting isn’t right, move it again! That’s the beauty of it! I had a chat with Mark Seremet, the CEO of Wallhogs, and according to him, it allows unique flexibility and lets you “easily decorate rooms without worrying about painting or any time-consuming work.” Which to me, sounds pretty darn nifty!

I tried out the whole thing, and I really liked how you can easily upload a picture to be printed, and off they go! I can see lots of uses for Wallhogs, and the website architecture itself. Having the power to upload into a Web 2.0 atmposphere and print on demand, is kind of like the next-gen Cafepress!

Of course, with Wallhogs, you’re limited to posters, but it’s simply so much easier, lighter and more scaled down than Cafepress, which really attracts me to the startup. Mark told me that “Wallhogs might run a contest to see the most interesting uses of them in the upcoming year.” Of course, loads of unique doors will be opened by Wallhogs, and getting the community to collaborate together, symbolizes Web 2.0 at it’s best.

Like I said, simplicity is the key. You simply set up an account with minimal fuss, and then you can instantly, yes, instantly upload your high resolution graphics or photos. Digital camera uploads require images captured with the minimum of a 3 MegaPixel camera at a resolution of 2048×1536. Santa is giving me a 9 Megapixel this Christmas, so no worries on that front. Anything less than 3 Megapixels really wouldn’t show well when printed, even in the small sizes that the company offers.

Once uploaded, you can give specific processing instructions. For example, if you upload a picture of a guy riding a motorcycle you can specifiy that you want only the man on the motorcycle to be printed - eliminating the background in the distance. This seems pretty nifty technology to me. I won’t ask how, but they do a good job at doing these fancy things. I’ll leave it up to them.

I asked them (them, being the folks over at Wallhogs) about any additional features. They told me there were many, including speech and thought bubbles which I saw included in several of their examples. You can add them in the handling instructions simply by selecting the option “Speech bubble - “what you want to say”, though admittedly, this isn’t very easy. When I pointed this out, Mark promised that they’d get a fix out sometime soon.

Wallhogs is also launching a catalogue next week. They apparently have licensed content from many top names including “Gwen Stefani, Nine Inch Nails, Social Distortion, Offspring, and the Greek Letters”. Truth be told, I’ve only heard of Gwen Stefani, but I’m sure that the others named are just as big. In the next few weeks anyone (Whether it be a 12-year old kid or an 80-year old billionaire) will be able to upload their work into the so called ‘Hogalogue’. This to me is no worse a name than the whole ‘Hogosphere’ thing I said before, but quite frankly, nobody in Web 2.0 seems to care how bad the jokes are.

Web 2.0 is advancing. It’s now on my kitchen wall. What next I’m left to wonder. The Internet is advancing, and Web 2.0 is doing all the hard work. I can’t wait, things are only beginning. 2007 will be an exciting year for the net. No doubt, much of the future will be shaped and defined in it, and I can’t help but wonder, will services like Wallhogs lead the move into the next-era of the net? Our own homes? Only time will tell, but it looks promising!