By Allan Maurer

ASHEVILLE, NC – One of the most important things to a graphic artist is getting work seen. Creative Allies, a startup founded by the folks who created Asheville-based Music Allies, connects artists with jobs from famous musicians, organizations, and others via its online showcase, helping them make money and gain exposure through high profile projects.

Sean O’Connell, CEO of CreativeAllies and president of Music Allies, tells us the company still has funds left from its seed round but will attend the upcoming Southeast Venture Conference in Tysons Corner, VA, Feb. 24-25 (see: www.seventure.org for more information) to set the stage for raising an A round, probably in 2011.

The CreativeAllies Web site allows artists who sign up to create and upload content for bands, rock stars, organizations, and brands. “They can upload designs for posters, packaging, tee-shirts, and logos,” says O’Connell.

The company just launched its beta application a few weeks ago, but is already signing up designers from all over the world.

“We’re getting some brilliant designs,” O’Connell says, “and musicians are using it. They’re happy because they’re getting incredible quality work.”

A quick scan of art uploaded—on spec—for musicians bears that out. The designs for posters, tees, CD covers and other art is striking and professional. Musicians looking for art include Ani DiFranco, who is seeking poster/flyers for each city of her upcoming tour.

It has a deal with PASTE magazine, the music journal with the third highest circulation behind only Rolling Stone and Spin, to have CreativeAllies design its covers.

“We’re creating the opportunity of a lifetime to do these high profile things through these relationships,” O’Connell says. He notes that the relationships he has built through his other firm, Music Allies, with top recording and touring musicians and major music events such as the Boonaroo festival, have provided Creative Allies with high end connections early on.

Music Allies has worked with Waxploitation, Joan Osborne, Patty Loveless, the Crash Test Dummies, Jack Johnson, the Black Seeds, Mason Jennings, Tennman Records, Martin Sexton, Sia, and Aimee Mann, in addition to DiFranco and Bonnaroo.

If musicians or organizations—which include the Bob Moog Foundation, which is seeking a poster design, and even local PTAs—want to use a given graphic work, they license it from the artist for $80. Creative Allies takes a commission from the money, which the buyer pays for on the site with a credit card.

But once up on the Web, the art works for the designer and the potential buyer, providing considerable promotional value, O’Connell notes.

Widespread access to PCs and graphic design software means that many talented artists are looking for an outlet, O’Connell says. “If they’re uploading art for a PTA in North Carolina, that means that if we provide the opportunity, it won’t be just the sexy jobs people design for.”

O’Connell says the company sees the education market as a strong future focus and CreativeAllies is already forging relationships with a number of institutions, integrating it with curriculums. Some design schools, he says, even want to use it as a recruiting tool.

The company expects to have its first deals with schools inked by the time it comes to the Southeast Venture Conference, even though the company has not yet done any marketing, O’Connell says.

The reason they’ll be talking with venture capitalists at the SEVC and otherwise, O’Connell says, is that eventually CreativeAllies wants to open its doors to every industry and from corporations to the lawyer who needs business cards.

Beyond that, it might expand into 3D prototyping of products for businesses, he adds.

Online: www.creativeallies.com ; www.musicallies.com; www.seventure.org