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In an period the place expertise is driving the evolution of every thing, together with artwork, at an unprecedented tempo, artists are seeking platforms the place they cannot solely exist however thrive regardless of ever-changing algorithms.
One such platform, born amidst the tumultuous backdrop of a worldwide pandemic is HUG, which has proven itself to be a beacon for equal illustration and alternative for all – a platform that gives a platform.
To completely perceive the gravity of what HUG is doing for artists in and out of doors of the Web3 area, we caught up with its co-founders, Randi Zuckerberg and Debbie Quickly, and like every story price listening to we thought it greatest to begin originally.
One Message and One Mission
Whereas HUG might have been shaped in 2022, it actually began a number of years earlier because the world confronted a worldwide pandemic that might deliver forth adjustments within the lives of practically everybody on Earth, together with Zuckerberg and Quickly.
“Many might not know this… however after Fb and earlier than NFTs, I used to be a Broadway actress, after which producer,” shared Zuckerberg, including “Covid shut down lots of the exhibits that I used to be engaged on, and that resulted in me immersing myself in NFTs as a solution to marry my passions for each arts and expertise.”
She additional defined “Earlier than I knew it, I ended up changing into a mentor to many digital creators. All of them had been battling the identical factor – feeling challenged by the algorithm, and usually feeling unseen and at instances misplaced on easy methods to scale their creative enterprise.”
Desperate to scale the present assist she was providing to creators, Zuckerberg set out on a seek for a co-founder with a imaginative and prescient for making a “thriving and sustainable ecosystem that might permit artists and artwork lovers to assist one another.”
As destiny would have it, Quickly was additionally on that exact same search. Having fallen in love with Web3 when navigating a mid-pandemic transfer from Singapore to LA, she determined to place her background within the finance and start-up sector to the aspect for a second and sought out kickstarting a profession within the NFT area.
“I put a want out within the Meta Angels Discord,” she defined, including “To my shock, Randi discovered and responded to my message there one complete week later! We each are obsessed with leveling the enjoying area for anybody to achieve arts and expertise, so this actually was a match made in heaven.”
Are you a creator seeking to get found?
Are you prepared to attach with collectors like by no means earlier than?
Over 3K artists have a free artist profile on HUG.
Signal as much as be part of them at the moment✨https://t.co/S8bzwoudvV pic.twitter.com/TCz2lvK5V8
— HUG 🤗 | Apply for an Artist Profile (@thehugxyz) August 25, 2023
Sharing her aspect of the story, Zuckerberg defined how Quickly was nonetheless going by an anon identification once they first met but when you recognize something about early Web3, that was usually seen as a plus! “We bought onto a Zoom name a couple of days later, and instantly hit it off,” Zuckerberg shared, including “As I used to be attending to know Debbie, I used to be blown away by all of her thought management items that she was placing out on Twitter, and knew that there couldn’t be a greater particular person to embark on this journey with.”
Embark on a journey they did. Zuckerberg expressed, “In a nutshell, HUG’s mission is to assist all artists change into inventive entrepreneurs, and we’re doing that by discovery, alternative, and schooling.”
What began as two like-minded people with a shared imaginative and prescient ultimately grew into 200 individuals with a shared trigger, and from these 200 passionate people, has emerged a various neighborhood of over 3,000 artists from over 85 completely different nations.
Quickly defined that “We’ve deliberately flown underneath the radar and prevented being surrounded by moments of hype. As an alternative, we’ve been per our mission from day one, and have adopted a very intentional and inclusive method to constructing our neighborhood.”
Neighborhood Assets
In an area the place practically every thing of worth is hidden in secret alpha teams or housed behind a token gated membership, HUG has dared to do one thing radically completely different, offering free assets for each artists and collectors alike.
These assets aren’t fast threads on X that it is best to bookmark for later or a halfway-finished hook to get you to purchase into one thing on the finish. As an alternative, HUG has devoted a big period of time and assets to offer full-length guides and paperwork put collectively by its analysis crew.
Explaining why this was and is essential, Zuckerberg shared that “I’ve all the time been a agency believer that belief needs to be earned, not given. We by no means wish to extract worth earlier than we offer it, and providing these free assets is one in every of our methods of constructing belief inside our artist and collector neighborhood.”
Additional driving the importance of this resolution dwelling, Quickly shared that “Accessible schooling has all the time been a core perception of ours. Notably in Web3, the place the expertise is evolving sooner than the typical particular person can sustain with, we consider it’s our accountability to demystify these tendencies and make them simple for everybody to grasp.”
On the time of writing, HUG has seven full-length guides and workbooks up on its website underneath the Assets tab. These vary from “The Final Artist Advertising Handbook Vol 1.” to “The Artwork Collector’s Companion: An Interactive Workbook” – once more, accessible freed from cost, as HUG believes anybody constructing within the area ought to be stewards and never gatekeepers.
To this finish, the platform has lately had the chance to accomplice with TransientLabs, one in every of its many like-minded companions, and ran a six-week-long Innovation Lab program that launched over 200 artists to dynamic NFTs through Transient’s no-code tooling.
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Examine the most recent version of Creator Royalties, our weekly supply for schooling, information, & alternatives for digital artists ⤵️https://t.co/I0nYVwYLFH
— HUG 🤗 | Apply for an Artist Profile (@thehugxyz) August 22, 2023
Following the discharge, Quickly shared “We noticed a number of artists touchdown their first-ever commissions by HUG. The end result of that was many comfortable artists, and even happier collectors, who had been delighted to accumulate a customized, one-of-a-kind paintings” – which incorporates Quickly herself, as she commissioned a hand-painted soccer from artist and Girls and Weapons founder, Sara Baumann.
Energy in Profiles
Whereas discoverability can usually be used as a buzzword within the Web3 artwork realm, HUG has seemingly embraced each facet of the phrase and made it a part of its core mission. This has been executed not in a broad method however fairly by a really particular and thought-out method.
“From day one, we got down to construct the inclusiverse, which was actually our manner of describing a universe… or metaverse if you’ll? The place everybody feels included,” shared Zuckerberg, including “I’m proud that on the prime of the HUG homepage, you will notice a banner calling for us to have a good time various creators from all walks of life. These communities ought to be celebrated and really feel supported 24/7, twelve months a 12 months, and never simply in particular months.”
This mission additionally strikes a chord near dwelling for Quickly, who shared that “As a latest transplant to America and a girl of shade, that is deeply private as properly.”
She additional expressed “I do know many individuals prefer to say that Web3 doesn’t care about race, gender, and so forth., however the actuality is that many unconscious biases nonetheless keep on from the standard arts and expertise worlds. By acknowledging that from day one, we could be intentional about the way in which we design HUG, each from a product and neighborhood standpoint.”
This has been exemplified because the inception of HUG, because it continues to function as a community-curated platform. Quickly defined that this has been achieved by a thesis of community-driven and decentralized curation through which the members vote for which artists ought to be onboarded to the platform and which artists ought to be chosen for numerous sourced alternatives.
Early on, HUG acknowledged the necessity for a platform that gives a platform. In consequence, it has developed complete profile instruments that assist artists to get eyes on and in addition profit collectors seeking to sustain with their favourite creators.
“We’re biased, however we undoubtedly consider that [artist profiles] are an artist’s greatest device to getting seen, shared, and celebrated,” mentioned Zuckerberg, including “Not solely are you able to acquire probably the most superb, considerate critiques from appreciators of your work, you may also showcase your whole portfolio of labor, each inside and out of doors Web3. We will’t wait to maintain upgrading these Artist Profiles, and produce further performance and interactivity there.”
Along with this, HUG boasts an “Artist Updates” tab, which Quickly “Permits artists to share essential updates on to the e-mail inboxes of their followers.”
She joked “Whereas we love the gm vibes and neighborhood discourse on X, typically artists and collectors simply need a devoted place to share and uncover artwork on the market. At this time, lots of of artists are posting their updates to HUG on daily basis.”
Highlighting one of the vital vital features of the Updates device, Quickly referred to as out {that a} majority of NFT marketplaces are likely to showcase creators which are trending based mostly on buying and selling quantity, which in flip unfairly disadvantages rising artists.
Past the Digital
With the royalties facet of NFTs being but once more in danger on account of shifts in stance from quite a lot of main marketplaces and loopholes created by aggregators, we requested HUG what they’re doing to arrange their artists for this alteration and to our shock, it’s one thing they’ve virtually anticipated in a way, from inception.
“Artists didn’t get up one morning due to NFTs and determined that they had been artists,” mentioned Zuckerberg, including “As an alternative, they’ve been artists for years, even a long time, earlier than NFTs existed! As such, our view has all the time been that NFTs ought to be one in every of many ways in which artists ought to look to monetize their paintings and that it’s fully okay to shift priorities from one solution to one other relying in the marketplace and even what conjures up and excites them.”
She additional defined, that in assist of this, not solely has HUG revealed quite a lot of assets on the subject nevertheless it has additionally launched mechanisms like its fee function, the place artists can opt-in to obtain fee requests by their HUG profile.
Different initiatives embrace merchandising alternatives in addition to Open Name alternatives for each bodily and digital exhibitions, like its most up-to-date and ongoing name in partnership with the Seattle NFT Museum.
📣 ARTISTS WANTED
We wish to share your artwork that shares your heritage! 🗺️✨
HUG is partnering with the monumental @seanftmuseum, the world’s first NFT museum, for our debut collaborative exhibition “Cultural Kaleidoscope” ✨
🗯️ RT to inform your pals🔗 Submit beneath ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/erP2TMquiG
— HUG 🤗 | Apply for an Artist Profile (@thehugxyz) August 15, 2023
A Shiny Future
As thrilling as all the expansion detailed above is, Zuckerberg and Quickly have shared that HUG is simply getting began. In actual fact, due to a $5 million USD seed spherical led by Ohhsiny’s VC fund with participation from OKX and L’Oréal, HUG is now positioned to speed up its progress.
“These funds assist us construct out our product additional, and to essentially flip HUG from a spot of discovery to one in every of social commerce,” defined Zuckerberg, including, “We already really feel like we’re serving to artists and collectors join on an emotional stage like by no means earlier than, and these funds will assist us prolong that relationship from one in every of appreciation to one in every of patronage, and assist artists construct sustainable companies out of their work!”
Wanting ahead, Quickly described HUG as “the Fb meets Etsy for a brand new technology of creators who’re inquisitive about blockchain and rising expertise,” joking that, how might they not be with Randi of their nook?
Quickly additional defined that as creators shift into an period the place they’re now not promoting their work in a single single medium however fairly in a spread of mediums, on-chain or in any other case, HUG desires to assist them discover these choices and supply a one-stop store.
“Equally, we consider the shoppers of the brand new technology may even buy artwork throughout a number of mediums,” shared Zuckerberg, including that “Purchasers of NFTs nonetheless purchase prints for his or her wall, and equally, we hope that by permitting artists to precise themselves by a number of mediums, we will persuade each single artwork lover to additionally change into artwork collectors and curators on the blockchain.”
Encouraging phrases from the “Mom Hugger”
“First off, I’ll say that bear markets come and go. After I was on the frontlines of Web2, there was the identical quantity of uncertainty and extremes of euphoria and despair. Being on this planet of rising tech is all the time scary and overwhelming, however it is usually an unbelievable alternative to study. My recommendation is to maintain exploring, continue learning, preserve creating, and extra importantly, bear in mind to have enjoyable.” Zuckerberg continued.
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