Image by bubbsie

This week marks the official launch of bubbsie, a photo editing app developed by College of Charleston alumni. The app allows users to add speech and thought bubbles to new and existing photos.

The app was created by Thunkit, LLC, a privately-owned company that aims to bring new, fun-loving and user-friendly experiences to the app world. The founders, Chief Marketing Officer Donnie Exelbierd ’04 (Business Administration), Chief Creative Officer Caitlin Shockley ’04 (Communication Studies), and Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Glover ’05 (Political Science), have been friends since their days at the College. bubbsie is their first release.

“The idea for bubbsie came about completely organically,” Shockley explains. “Earlier this year Nicholas and I, who both live in New York City, flew back to Charleston and met Donnie for a cocktail on Upper King Street. We observed the need as we were surrounded by young people with iPhones in hand, laughing and cracking jokes about their photos. Creating the app was a no-brainer for us.” See how it works.

“The rigorous, liberal arts curriculum at the College provided each of us with the foundation and versatility needed to succeed – in any business, at any level. Though Caitlin, Donnie and I have very different skill sets, oureducations have allowed us to tackle specific goals for our new venture,” added Glover.

Any text typed into the speech or thought bubble will pre-populate into an automatic Facebook comment or Tweet based on the user’s settings. “It makes photo sharing easier than ever for lighthearted users of all ages,” says Exelbierd. “Gone are the days of having to save an edited image to your photo gallery, close the app, and then open a social media channel to tweet out an adjoining message.”

The bubbsie app is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Photo and Video category. The app is $0.99 and runs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices, and it requires iOS 4 or later. To download the app visit www.bubbsie.com.