Frequently Asked Questions

UrlyArt. What kind of a name is that, and how do you pronounce it? #

UrlyArt is our made-up name for a photo mosaic made of tiny screenshots of websites. Each website has a link to its own URL (Uniform Resource Locator), also known as a "website address." So, UrlyArt is artwork made up of URLs. It's pronounced like "early art," but has nothing at all to do with caveman paintings.

It looks like some of your works of UrlyArt weren't sponsored by websites, but instead have a theme. What's up with that? #

We like to experiment with themes, and so we regularly create works of UrlyArt that appeal to us in some way. For example, that's what we've done with our Cheney Hunting, Flickr Wow, and Digg Popular pieces, and there will be many more in the future. If you have ideas for interesting themes, please let us know.

What's the story behind UrlyArt? #

The UrlyArt idea was conceived over a long Mexican lunch on February 9, 2006 by Ron Hornbaker and Joe Sparks. It sounded like a fun project to them, so they convinced co-workers Matt Brass and Lee Curbow to help, and they all spent the next 11 days building the site and creating some early UrlyArt. The site was quietly* launched on February 20, 2006.

* Okay, as it turns out, launch day wasn't so quiet. We were majorly Dugg. Thank you. (We think.)

UPDATE: On January 31, 2007, we were Dugg to the front page of Digg again. Weird but true.

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