How Graphic Designers Can Get Into NFT

In the past year, you may have heard almost everyone talking about NFTs. It has become a popular topic in the digital world and attracted the attention of artists, graphic designers and investors. People across the globe are looking for more information on buying or selling an NFT and famous visuals or graphics are being sold for millions of dollars. Now, it can be a bit confusing to understand at first. To figure out why NFTs are trending everywhere, you need to know what it actually is.

What to Know About an NFT?

Before we talk about how you can get into NFT as a graphic designer, let’s begin with the basics. An NFT is a non-fungible token and is considered a unique asset in the digital world. If you research this, you will find out that non-fungible tokens cannot be replaced with anything else. While you can trade a fungible token for another asset, these do not have a fixed value. For example, a $100 bill can be replaced with two $50 bills. This is considered a fungible token. An NFT is something quite different that you will not be able to swap for the same value.

It’s a unique asset such as digital art that can be sold or bought at any given price. Recently, there have been many viral memes, tweets, illustrations and animations that have been sold as NFTs. The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, generated a lot of interest when his first tweet went on the market for millions. It was sold for around $2.9 million in an auction that had many different corporations bidding to purchase the tweet. This is just one example of a popular NFT that has grabbed attention for its high value.

I decided to sell this NFT ( the world’s first ever tweet ) and donate 50% of the proceeds ( $25 million or more ) to the charity @GiveDirectly
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🖇 https://t.co/cnv5rtAEBQ pic.twitter.com/yiaZjJt1p0

— Estavi (Bridge is hiring) (@sinaEstavi) April 6, 2022

‘Disaster Girl’ meme NFT sells for $500,000 at auction https://t.co/TUmAlzQgrx

— Mashable (@mashable) May 3, 2021

Other than that, people have and are investing in digital art created by graphic designers as it can increase in price over time. As NFTs are becoming so popular in such a short time, more and more people are looking to explore the new opportunities in the market. If you think about it, you can easily create and sell a digital asset to interested buyers for a good amount of money.

How Graphic Designers Can Get into NFT

This brings us to this very important question. How can graphic designers get into NFT? Once you understand the process, it might become a lot easier for you to promote your work in the digital world. To get a clear idea of how this works, you should become familiar with the blockchain.

What is a Blockchain Network?

This is basically a system where the information and unique code associated with the NFT is stored. When you create any digital art, you will have to list it on a blockchain network. Once it is considered unique, you could sell the asset at any given price.

Since you will be the real owner, the network could provide you with all the information of future sales as well. This means that as a graphic designer, you can get a small amount of money on every sale. Buyers can also track the original owner through the code that’s easily accessible on the blockchain.

Selling An NFT

Now, when it comes to creating an NFT, it can be anything you may think is relevant. Even a good logo design can be sold as one and brands or companies could bid for it on an open platform. This is actually a very good way to start expanding into NFT with graphic design.

Step 1: Identify and Create A Digital Asset

This is one of the first steps that you should take when getting into the world of NFTs. You need to figure out where exactly is your market and what do you have to offer to the target audience. It is important for you to brainstorm ideas and create a unique asset. Take the example of the Bored Ape collection that has grabbed the attention of celebrities and sports personalities too.

The famous NFTs have been sold for more than $200,000 to buyers across the globe. When they were launched, the price was quite low but with the cryptocurrency boom, the value of this NFT collection also increased.

Today, they are sold for thousands, even with the fluctuation in the market. One of the biggest reasons why the NFTs have attracted a lot of interest is because they are all unique and exclusive. The digital files can be used for the display picture across social media platforms. Celebrities such as Eminem and Jimmy Fallon who have bought the NFTs were using the bored apes on their Twitter pages.

I’m living in a simulation.

Thank you @Eminem for buying my ape and joining the club!

Madness. Let me write a lyric in your next single 🤣 pic.twitter.com/myGNRmMLeD

— GeeGazza  (@Gee__Gazza) December 31, 2021

Joined @BoredApeYC ready for the reveal? Thanks @moonpay concierge pic.twitter.com/gzm1JQEHHF

— Gwyneth Paltrow (@GwynethPaltrow) January 26, 2022

As a graphic designer, it is essential for you to identify a piece of art or illustration that you can pitch to buyers. This can include visual elements such as icons or shapes that could be used for branding as well. You can also choose to create a memorable design that can get people to think about a social cause or issue. If you are able to send a powerful message with the visual or animation, you might be able to create an NFT that increases in value quickly.

In the field of design, you can experiment with different styles or techniques to create digital art that can be sold as NFT. Abstract visuals, animations, GIFs, short videos or symbols can be listed on the network.

Step 2: Become Familiar with Blockchain

To expand into the NFT market, it’s important for you to get as much information as possible about cryptocurrency and blockchain. Mostly, NFTs are bought and sold in Ethereum but you can find other blockchain networks that support digital assets too. This is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and is considered the biggest platform for NFTs. When you are looking to get into this, you need to pick your blockchain. This is different from choosing a marketplace to create and sell digital art.

For such a network, you should figure out which one is the easiest for you to manage and can support the required cryptocurrency. Here are a few options that you can consider:

• Tron
• Binance Smart Chain
• Tezos
• Tron

It’s a good idea to select a blockchain network that allows you to sell tokens in Ethereum. Tron, for instance, supports Ethereum so you can easily process the transaction. Once you have decided on a suitable system, you can move on to the marketplaces and set up your cryptocurrency wallet as well.

Step 3 Buy Cryptocurrency

You might find it difficult to get started with NFTs without buying digital currency. As mentioned above, these assets are listed on the Ethereum network. So, to create and sell an illustration or visual design, you will need the cryptocurrency. This is stored in a digital wallet that is linked to the NFT marketplace. Find a good option and start buying the currency to cover the fees or charges later on. Once the wallet is set up, you can easily make your purchase for any amount. So even the info about where to buy dogecoin in UK can me useful for you.

Make sure that you store the information in a secure place. There are many reliable networks that you can look through before buying the digital currency. It is a good idea to get feedback from graphic designers that have experience with selling NFTs.

Step 4 Choose the Right Marketplace

This is another important factor that you need to keep in mind. It can help you reach out to the community of graphic designers and connect with potential buyers who might be interested in illustrations, videos or 3D design. In the digital world, marketplaces such as Rarible, OpenSea and Mintable are highly popular for NFTs. You can add the wallet to the network and list the digital asset for sale. It is important to follow all the instructions closely.

Before picking a marketplace, you should do extensive research on the available choices. Some have the option of getting royalties where designers can make money from sales in the future too. You can sell your work at a fixed price or launch an auction. A few marketplaces also charge a small amount to list the digital item or pay a fee for uploading new files to the collection. To generate interest within the audience, you can include a banner image and a description or reference for the image or video.

Step 5 Promote Your Work

This is another important thing that could help you get started into NFT. In this day and age, there is a lot of competition in the graphic design industry. It is essential for you to stand out with an impressive portfolio from the beginning. Here are a few things that you can try:

• Start by promoting your work on social media networks, blogs and websites.
• You can also add a link to your website on various platforms. This way, more and more people could view your portfolio and become interested in your work. If you are looking to create a web page for your portfolio, you can easily consider launching a web design contest.
• Connect with any old or existing clients and send updates regularly.

If people are interested in buying NFTs, they might invest in what you have to offer as well. Today, many consumers consider them as a good investment since it allows them to own digital art and sell it at a higher price later on.

Why Should You Get Into NFT?

If you think about it, there are a lot of advantages that you can get by creating an NFT and selling it online. Just like cryptocurrency, this is what the future looks like and in a few years, the trend of buying digital assets is likely to become common. This means that you may already be experienced in the market when more buyers start to invest in NFTs. So this could help you gain an edge over others and build a strong portfolio as well.

As a graphic designer, the NFT market also allows you to express your creativity and own all your work completely. This is different from selling physical art at a gallery or in print. You can reach out to people anywhere and they can buy the piece and use it across digital mediums. If the marketplace or platform has the option, the designer can get a royalty on every copy that is sold.

It is a good way to get a good price for your work and establish a name in the industry as well. With Metaverse being introduced this year, there are a lot more opportunities for graphic designers to get into this world.