How top NFT creators make “good” NFT art

People often say that good art is subjective, but can the same be said about NFTs—digital creations that are undoubtedly artistic but also products, meant to make their creators money? 

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there are principles that top collections and studios follow to ensure their projects thrive. 

• Consistent design

With NFTs becoming more mainstream, dozens of types, use cases and styles have emerged. There are collectibles, art NFTs, in-game assets, metaverse land and utility NFTs. The limitless amount of possibilities and sheer output of projects has meant that those with distinct, consistent artistic themes stand out from the rest. 

For PFP projects, consistent design—with recurring motifs and an overarching theme—is a top priority. For example, here are how the 3 top collections right now approach this problem.  

Footprint Analytics – Top Collection

• CryptoPunks is rebellious, with the spirit of anti-utopia as the main theme,  and futuristic. 
• Bored Ape Yacht Club is diffident, with the template character being an ape with too much time and money.

Footprint Analytics NFT – BAYC

• Doodles are pleasant. In stark contrast to many top collections, these NFTs are not overtly masculine and not aggressive

Footprint Analytics NFT – Doodles

Consistent design goes beyond the avatar itself and must reflect in the messaging, mission and website of the project as well.

• Web design

While not as important as the design of the NFTs themselves, it does signal the overall competence of the team behind the project. For example, the GameFi game project Illuvium, which combined sci-fi elements with a 3D model to promote the trailer, attracted many players to lock up their stake assets before—before it even had any game or in-game NFTs launched. 

• On-chain mechanics

Unlike paintings, NFTs are interactive, living objects that can be incorporated into secondary projects, have fees, and their own ecosystem mechanics. Hence, the blockchain the project is on is crucial—the most active chain for NFTs is Ethereum. A project on BNB Chain, Solana, or Polygon, the next biggest chains for NFTs, will have a different logic, and there will be different trading methods in the payment of currency between buyers and sellers.

In addition to this, the number of NFTs in the Collection is also critical. The current motivation for people to buy NFT is to invest, to buy low and sell high. This means that the creator has to make people feel that the NFT it designed is promising and appreciating in value, otherwise people will not come to Mint.

Design rules also include:

• Price
• Method of sale
• Secondary and auction purchases
• Gas Fee
• Incentives

• NFT Rarity

Supply and demand is the core principle of economics. Therefore, artificially designed in rarity and quantity to make will influence the price of an NFT.

While the value of an NFT artwork is often determined by a variety of factors, liquidity premium and rarity are quantifiable. The rarity of an NFT can affect the price of an NFT, which is why NFTs from the same project can sell for vastly different prices.

• Social media activity

While this wouldn’t seem like it’s tied to the quality of an artwork, NFT projects our living, community-driven endeavours that are continually iterated on. For example, with offshoot collections like BAKC. 

Active social media accounts allow teams to validate their art and ideas, as well as get first-hand info about what their communities like. For example, the team will synchronize the content that their project wants to express on social media such as Discord and Twitter, and interact with industry platforms and users.

Summary

With endless possibilities in the NFT space, only good-looking projects will thrive. But what is “aesthetic” in light of personal preferences? While there’s no right or wrong, there are several principles that guide the top projects to make “good” art.

This piece is contributed by Footprint Analytics community.

The Footprint Community is a place where data and crypto enthusiasts worldwide help each other understand and gain insights about Web3, the metaverse, DeFi, GameFi, or any other area of the fledgling world of blockchain. Here you’ll find active, diverse voices supporting each other and driving the community forward.

Oct. 2022, Vincy

Data Source: Footprint Analytics – NFT Projects

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