TWEAK.COM

A Kerry-based entrepreneur who trousered €103m in 2006 when he offloaded his Stockbyte stock photography business to US giant Getty Images is ready to launch his first new business since becoming a multimillionaire, The Sunday Times reports.

Jerry Kennelly, a former freelance newspaper photographer, has put more than €10m into tweak.com, an online service that allows SMEs to design and ‘tweak’ their marketing and graphic design materials online. The service, which describes itself as a “self-service design library”, is scheduled for launch next month.  Kennelly has hired around 30 staff for the new venture, most of them based in Kerry but with sales offices worldwide.

Sources close to the venture told the newspaper the idea was three years in gestation and was based on the “disruptive business model” of Stockbyte. Apparently, clients will be able to access a bank of images, fonts and logo ideas; a veritable DIY library of resources.

Could this sound the death knell for professional graphic design?