The art world thrives on change. Artistic mediums – and the ways we consume and interpret works of art – are constantly evolving, pushing the bar to unexplored heights.
Whether you’re an aspiring Picasso, a budding Banksy or a talented designer – digital art presents a great opportunity for you to turn your talent into active or passive income.
In this complete guide to digital art, we’re going to discuss where and how you can sell digital art online. But first, let’s look at how digital art differs from ‘traditional’ art forms.
Jump to section:
- The challenge with digital art – and how to overcome it
- Can you make money from digital art?
- Types of digital art that are commonly sold online
- Where is the best place to sell digital art?
- How to help your digital art business thrive
The challenge with digital art – and how to overcome it
It’s no secret that the art world, both physical and digital, is incredibly competitive. Yes, selling art online is a great way to make money, but the industry is becoming increasingly crowded, so your work needs to stand out.
If you create a priceless piece of hand-painted art that's sold at auction or a limited series of graphic design prints, you’re obviously selling a physical copy of the art. The buyer can then take the art home and enjoy ownership of it.
With digital art, as soon as your artwork is purchased the buyer can technically share and reuse it however they want.
This poses an interesting question: How can you make digital art that’s valuable to buyers?
Well, there are a few ways to achieve this. In addition to producing work that's high quality and reasonably priced, consider creating art that is:
- Useful – e.g. asset packs
- Personal – e.g. bespoke artwork on commission
- Unique with technology – e.g. NFTs and similar formats
Can you make money from digital art?
There are a variety of ways you can make money from digital art. You can earn active income from your art, treating your artistic practice as a full-time job that earns you a salary.
Alternatively, your digital art could be a source of passive income. For example, you could sell pre-designed asset packs or graphics on a marketplace, generating a new income stream but requiring little time or effort once they've been listed.
How you make money from your digital art will typically depend on two things: the type of art you're creating and your chosen method of selling. This is because certain types of art (such as original pieces or commissions) will be inherently more valuable to the consumer than products that are more widely available.
Types of digital art that are commonly sold online
Digital art is a broad umbrella term, under which is an enormous variety of different mediums and formats. Generally speaking, there are two routes to success with digital art:
- Finding a niche – find a creative community, movement or emerging category of art with a sizable audience, but limited art in existence. In many cases, these audiences will be willing to pay more for niche pieces of art created by talented artists with particular skill sets or interests.
- Developing an iconic style – become known for your style, which emanates from all your works. Offer something that your competitors can’t, and that couldn’t be found anywhere other than through a commission directly from you.
In the next section, we’ll focus on the types of digital art that can be sold online, along with some of the different methods for selling digital art.
Commissions and original artwork
Commissioning is the process of requesting the creation of art on behalf of someone else. A buyer will hire an artist, who will produce an original piece based on that client’s request. Art commissions may come from individuals, businesses, organisations or even governments.
Commissions are an excellent way to create valuable, unique, high-quality art for customers. They are getting a product for commercial or personal use that they couldn’t otherwise create or replicate.
Logos and vector graphics
As a simple way to earn passive income, you could create digital art prints to put on t-shirts, phone cases, stickers and other physical products.
Or you could pivot to freelance design and create custom art or designs for brands. Every day, small businesses, content creators and solopreneurs are creating new business opportunities. And each one needs support with branding their new project.
They may not be able to afford a full-time design agency, and may not have the expertise to produce branding kits in-house. That’s why these businesses seek original designs from a freelancer, or purchase pre-made vector graphics to get their ideas off the ground quickly.
Fonts
Similar to logos and vector graphics, web fonts can say a lot about a brand’s online presence. Developing unique fonts can be a lucrative business that reaches both professional designers and amateurs alike.
Social filters
Many of us will be familiar with the stylistic and AR filters for images and videos on social media. But did you know that you can make and sell custom filters, too?
Once created, custom filters are easy to sell via online marketplaces, allowing customers to download the file and import it into their in-app filter galleries.
Twitch emotes, animations and badges
The live streaming platform Twitch is extremely influential for large audiences around the world. As a result of its popularity, Twitch frequently inspires viewers to try their hand at streaming for a shot at stream stardom.
Just as there is a market for logos in the small business and start-up space, there is a large market for Twitch’s equivalent – badges, channel icons, custom chat emojis and in-stream effects or animations.
3D print models
You’d be forgiven for thinking digital art has to stay digital, but this actually isn’t the case! With the rise of 3D printing, print-on-demand services are becoming increasingly popular.
The possibilities are endless, but some examples include:
- Tabletop gaming miniatures and figurines
- Custom board game pieces
- Statues and other sculpture-like artwork
- Or anything you can think of – what about scale miniature models of famous mountain ranges, buildings or a topographical map of the United States?
NFTs
NFTs, or ‘non-fungible tokens’, have been hard to miss in recent years, cropping up in news cycles regularly. They aim to solve some of the biggest challenges with traditional and digital art – namely provenance and reproduction.
With NFTs, a string of code and blockchain technology are used to create a form of digital receipt for the artwork. This shows that no matter how many copies exist, the listed person is the official owner of that digital artwork.
Unlike other digital art products, such as stickers and vector art, NFTs are generally limited-edition pieces. They’re sold on marketplaces, such as Opensea or Rarible, which handle the ‘minting’ of the art and applying the block. This gives NFTs a unique quality and appeal as digital collectables.
The emergence of this divisive medium has shaken up the art and cryptocurrency trading communities, with many initially treating it as a passing fad. While their long-term impact on the art industry is yet to be seen, the perceived value of NFTs is undeniable. In fact, the global NFT market size is expected to reach 92.98 billion USD by 2028.
Where is the best place to sell digital art?
Depending on the type of art you’re selling, you have a few options for how and where to sell your art. These include online marketplaces, bespoke quotes and your own shopfront.
Online marketplaces
Platforms like Etsy are becoming increasingly popular. They have the advantage of a wide customer base but are often oversaturated with a sea of competition and limited customisation for sellers. In the case of NFTs, marketplaces form an integral part of the technology and experience.
Bespoke quotes
If you sell pieces at a higher value, you can always handle quotes directly and simply offer a means to contact and enquire for commissions or one-off pieces. You might manage this through direct messages through Instagram or other social media profiles.
Your own shopfront
This may be a more expensive option, as providers such as Shopify require a subscription fee and a percentage per transaction.
However, creating your own shopfront allows you to combine the simplified payment processing and management of marketplaces with the uniqueness and customisation of a more bespoke solution. The end result? A digital art gallery, open for business.
How to help your digital art business thrive
Once you start creating your art and have your storefront set up, it’s time to start driving customers to your online gallery and converting them into sales.
Pricing
Anyone involved in the art market will tell you that putting a price on a piece of art can be challenging. The pricing for digital artwork is slightly different from physical products.
With a print on canvas, for example, you would need to consider factors such as the materials, frame, shipping costs and labour. For digital art, you’ll only need to think about the time and effort it took you to create the piece.
If you’re selling something tangible and practical, like design assets or 3D print models, then market research can help you understand what similar items generally go for.
If you’re selling something more bespoke, carry out research into artists that reach similar audiences and see what they charge. You may find that pricing low at first will allow you to drum up some early business and acclaim. After this, you can increase your prices based on demand.
Marketing your services
You can help your online business succeed by promoting your work in the places your audience regularly visits. A to-do list with a productivity tool like Dropbox Paper, can help you keep track of all of your marketing activities.
Social media will be instrumental in this. You’ll be able to connect with fellow artists and attract potential customers through your posts. Remember, many social media users consume content differently depending on the platform. For this reason, consider branching into different formats to showcase your work, such as:
- TikTok videos
- A curated Instagram account, with reels as well as regular image posts and carousels
- Twitter hashtags, so your work can be seen and shared by art accounts
- Reddit forums
- Pinterest boards
If you’re prominent on social media, you could even add “Commissions available” to your bio, with a link to your shopfront wherever possible.
Manage your workflow
Running a small business online naturally means you're creating and managing lots of content. From agendas and marketing plans to invoices, Dropbox provides a safe, centralised space for creating, storing and sharing your files.
If you're selling your digital art directly to your clients, you need a secure way to share those files. Dropbox cuts out the tedious process of downloading files and attaching them to emails – you can share large files directly from your account.
And when you use Dropbox, you get access to a range of other helpful features as well. Version history and file recovery ensure you can access previous versions of your work and never lose important files. Advanced analytics with Send and track help you understand who is engaging with the content you share, for how long and from where.
The last thing you want to happen is your art being stolen or plagiarised. With Dropbox, you can add watermarks to PDFs – so any listings on marketplaces or your shopfront can’t be downloaded and used without your permission.
By using Dropbox, you can streamline your digital art workflow, improve productivity and focus more on creating art rather than worrying about file management.
Streamline your digital art practice with Dropbox
Starting a digital art business can be tricky, but with Dropbox, managing your workload is much simpler.
Dropbox is the ideal solution for creating, storing and sharing files. Keep everything in one place, protect your work and easily share files with clients.
