A creative exploring the value of NFTs

Yelena Vakker, Visual Designer, Designaffairs/Fjord Design — Photo by Andreas Gebert

I’m a Munich-based visual designer, artist, and miniature maker. Back in April 2021, I started to put my artworks on the Tezos-based NFT platform Hic et Nunc (now discontinued) and have now moved to Objkt.com. That’s how I learned the process of creating and selling NFTs and the, sometimes hidden, value it can create for artists and brands alike.

Let’s get into it!

A simple step-by-step guide on how to sell NFTs:

1. Create a digital wallet and buy cryptocurrency. Keep in mind that different wallets support different cryptocurrencies. There are also different platforms for buying and exchanging crypto and once you’ve bought some, it’ll be transferred to your wallet.
2. Choose the platform where you’d like to sell your pieces of work. As NFTs have gone through the roof in the past months, it can be difficult to get onto a platform sometimes as you need to apply for it and sometimes have to wait several months until you’ve been accepted to it. It’s more about fast money rather than the actual art which turns out to be problematic for serious artists as the market is completely oversaturated.
3. Once you’ve been accepted, you can upload the digital file of your work. Make sure the quality is high enough, add a description, price it and choose whether it’s a single piece or multiple ones.
4. After all of that, your object needs to be minted meaning the platform generates the NFT. That’s when you have to pay the ‘gas fee’ and your NFT will become a part of the chain.
5. Once it’s out, it’s there forever. It can be burned which means it gets erased from the market but not from the chain. So my advice is to be careful with what you create.
6. When someone finally buys your NFT, the money is transferred from their wallet to yours. Every time your NFT gets resold, you’ll make a profit as you’ll always receive a certain percentage of the selling price.

For those interested in buying art there are platforms where you have the possibility to use their built-in wallet and you can easily pay with your credit card to get funds.

One of Yelena’s first NFTs is available on objkt.com

The value of NFTs

A lot of people don’t understand why you would invest money in something that is by default accessible to all. But it’s not about the JPEG itself, it’s about owning an original art piece by one of your favourite artists. It’s as if you buy a cheap copy of a Picasso, everyone can say they own it but there’s only one original. The same goes for NFTs. Add to that the huge benefit it creates for the original artist who will keep earning from it with every resale.

One of the most popular NFT sales at the intersection of the traditional art world and the NFT space was by the artist Beeple and the auction house Christie’s. “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, a piece consisting of 5000 digital artworks created over the course of 13 years. It was sold for $69,346,250 and is unique due to its verification of authenticity through blockchain technology. It’s also exciting to see how a company like Christie’s is entering this new phase of exploring the unknown together with rather untraditional artists and their pieces.

Where do we start?

So, how and why is this valuable for brands? Think about the why and the what. What does your brand stand for and how does it communicate its values in the real world? For our own brand, Accenture Interactive, we need to ask ourselves what value we create for our clients. We promise them to solve their problems and that’s deeply ingrained in our identity as a company. If we were to create our own NFTs, I’d like to think about what is valuable to society, how we can help solve something big, and how we can help humanity.

Even though the whole NFT space has become somewhat mainstream and it has already existed for about six years, it is exciting to see how companies are getting into it and what impact it can bring to the community. With my art, I’m exploring what lies outside the boundaries of traditional fine art and physical objects. It’s another dimension for creativity output and its financial value. I am excited about what’s to come.

Visit Yelena’s website
Find Yelena’s NFTs for sale on Objkt.com