What kind of question is that!

We are entirely Mac-based at Lucid Design although we are running Windows XP and Windows Vista on one our or Intel machines for testing sites in IE6 and IE7.

By the way, for those who are interested, take a look at Apple's latest policies regarding their commitments to the environment in their article, A Greener Apple. Quite interesting.

The Lucid Arts Project is built using Ruby on Rails and takes advantage of many of the latest so-called "web 2.0" technologies and techniques such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), Prototype, Lightbox and other exciting things….

This blog is powered by Lucid Design's customised hosted multi-site Mephisto solution.

We are now ready to take official sign-ups and have a range of plans to suit the needs and budgets of most artists and galleries.

After the free one, plans start at $20+GST per month.

There is no setup charge if you wish to do it all yourself and the system is designed from the ground up to make this as easy and achievable as possible. Of course, if you would like us to set up your site for you, we are more than happy to do so and have a range of options available. Once we have set up your site, we can give you your own login and password so you can manage your site or we can continue to manage it for you.

We offer a 30-day trial period so you can sign-up for any of the plans with no obligation to pay a cent. After 30 days you can start paying the monthly fee or downgrade to the free plan and continue to use the system as long as you like. 

Full details of the available plans can be viewed on the sign-up page.

Hi all,

If you login to Lucid Arts and edit your profile ( or if you sign-up for a new account here ) you will notice a Paypal Options section.

There are more detailed instructions on the Profile Edit ( or sign-up ) page, but basically to sell your work online you will need:

1. Paypal Account (sign-up here)
2. Default Shipping Prices to New Zealand, Australia and the Rest of the World.

Once Paypal has been enabled any work that has a price and is for sale will now display a Buy Now button on the work's detailed view page.

You can also set shipping prices for an individual work by editing that work.
If shipping prices are set on an individual work they will override the default prices you set in your profile.

This payment system will be evolving over time, and we would appreciate your feedback on how well it is working for you.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. support@lucidarts.org.nz

We have decided to open up the system to new members. This system is still in BETA stage but we welcome people to come and get involved, gives us your feedback, suggestions etc. There will be no charge during the BETA stage and we will give you plenty of warning before we start charging for the service. BETA testers will be given some months' free membership once we do start charging. Visit "the sign-up page":http://www.lucidarts.org.nz/signup and keep us posted; we would love to hear from you.

Well, 2006 is coming rapidly to a close. It has been a busy year for us and, after talking about it for probably more than two years, we have finally started making real, visible progress with this project. The Lucid Arts Project has come about through my work as a graphic designer working with local artists in Golden Bay (New Zealand). I got to the point where my conscience didn't quite feel right charging large fees for custom-built websites for artists. My fees are certainly fair but the simple fact is that there is a lot of work involved in setting up a multi-category, cross-referenced, sortable, searchable gallery website with various thumbnail sizes, image handling etc. It is simply a big project and therefor costly and time-consuming. I knew there had to be a better way and that a hosted solution made the most sense. This means updates are handled by us and the artist's website is not a system that is developed once and then left to age. The fact is, the internet is changing and methods and technology change making it easier to do things in better and more efficient, elegant ways. With the advances in "web 2.0" technologies such as "AJAX" ("?":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_%28programming%29), "Ruby on Rails" ("?":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_on_Rails), "RSS Feeds" ("?":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss_feed), etc, we are hoping to create a system that is both simple for the artist to use and a pleasure for their potential audiences in New Zealand and around the world. We want artists to be able to set up their own websites with minimum web skills but with the flexibility to portray their work elegantly and how they want. We also want to put a real effort into promoting the project which, in turn, promotes the artists. This will be through web and print media and profits from the project will continually be reinvested into promotion and ongoing development. So, as 2006 comes to an end, we are moving forward. We welcome people's feedback and comments and if anyone would like to get involved, they are more than welcome. The whole system is free in the short term so please feel free to contact us at support@lucidarts.org.nz if you would like use to create an account for you. Usage is not limited to New Zealand although the website will only be available in English for the foreseeable future. I wish you all a happy and fulfilling 2007. Galen | Lucid Design