Hand-On Mobile to debut indie art as wallpaper

By Gabrielle Kalika

July 24, 2008

Independents' day

Mobile game and application developer Hands-On Mobile launched mixtArt, an SMS service that allows mobile users to decorate their handsets.

Independent artists can now sell their art directly as wallpaper to mobile consumers. Consumers are asked to text an artist's keyword to short code 46966 to get art that can be made into wallpaper for the mobile phone.

"We are opening a door that previously never existed," said Jayme Crawford, marketing brand manager for Hands-On Mobile, San Francisco. "Nowhere out there can you find this type of art with a wide range of artists and high quality images.

"This is not traditional wallpaper," she said. "This is urban-hipster-meets-technology. We also want to expose a whole new segment to this amazing art and the wonderful artists that create it. It's the type of art that can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere."

From July 24 to July 27, artists such as Patrick Ma, Buff Monster, Jon Burgerman, Brent McHugh, Patricio Oliver, Alex Pardee, Ekundayo and Dave Correia, Noferin and Astro will be attending ComiCon in San Diego, where they can display their art work.

Should a consumer like a piece of art, they can purchase it immediately on their mobile phones.

Artists who will not attend the event will still have their artwork posted at http://www.mymixt.com/mixtart.

MixtArt will be available to a broad range of carrier services including Alltel, AT&T, Boost, Dobson, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Mobile subscribers can sign up for pre-launch wallpaper downloads by entering their email address and mobile phone number at http://www.mymixt.com/mixtart.

Each wallpaper costs $1.99 to download. Standard messaging fees apply.

Established in 2001, Hands-On Mobile has delivered such mobile games as Guitar Hero III Mobile and WPT Texas Hold 'Em games as well as Astrology Zone Premier and Billboard Mobile applications.

"We are providing our customers with a cutting edge personalization program that really pushes the envelope for mobile phones," Ms. Crawford said.

"It also addresses the challenge of independent artists' lack of distribution," she said. "With mixtArt, now they have a portal to gain exposure for their art."