Jonty Hurwitz was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Wonga, a British fintech company. Jonty left the company in 2011, although he still reportedly owns a significant amount of shares of the company. More recently though, Jonty has become known for his art, most specifically his very cool sculptures.
A couple of years ago, I mentioned that Jonty was using and promoting the Art.Ninja domain name, in addition to his JontyHurwitz.com domain name. About a year ago, I exchanged emails with Jonty and told him that .Art domain names would soon become available. I didn’t really follow up after that email exchange until I noticed that Jonty was able to buy Jonty.Art, and he is using it in conjunction with his LinkedIn and other social media posting.
I reached out to Jonty to ask him why he chose a .Art domain name when he already owns his full name .com domain name. I always find it interesting to read about why people and companies choose a new gTLD domain name, and it is especially interesting when they already own what would seem to be their perfect .com domain name. Here’s what Jonty told me about why he is using Jonty.Art:
jontyhurwitz.com – happy that I have it and I do use it.
but I really like the fact that domain are extending out beyond the .com world and want to support it.
Also jontyhurwitz.com is a bit of a mouthful 🙂 I find myself having to spell it every time I try and pass on my email or URL.
jonty.art – says it like it is, short sweet, memorable.
It totally makes sense to me to use both domain names, especially when there could be spelling issues.
If you have not heard of Jonty Hurwitz or seen his art before, I highly recommend that you check it out. His sculptures are unlike any I have seen before, and he continues to impress me each time he shares something new. Here’s a sampling from his Twitter feed, but there is much more at his website (which can easily be found by visiting Jonty.Art!).
Good usage. Jonty.art is far more memorable than Jonty + whatever his surname is + .COM. (Already forgotten.) Now all I need to remember is “jaunty”.
He has a piece called “Rejuvenation” – which is a grasping hand when reflected in a cylinder … but a weird, distorted, hunk of copper-colored driftwood otherwise. Mucho cool.