How HUG Is Empowering Artists Through Discovery, Opportunity, and Education

In an period the place know-how is driving the evolution of every little thing, together with artwork, at an unprecedented tempo, artists are in quest of platforms the place they can’t solely exist however thrive regardless of ever-changing algorithms.

One such platform, born amidst the tumultuous backdrop of a world 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 outdoors of the Web3 house, we caught up with its co-founders, Randi Zuckerberg and Debbie Quickly, and like every story value listening to we thought it finest to start out at the start.

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 world pandemic that might deliver forth modifications 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 most of the exhibits that I used to be engaged on, and that resulted in me immersing myself in NFTs as a approach to marry my passions for each arts and know-how.”

She additional defined “Earlier than I knew it, I ended up changing into a mentor to many digital creators. All of them had been scuffling with the identical factor – feeling challenged by the algorithm, and usually feeling unseen and at occasions misplaced on learn how to scale their creative enterprise.”

Desperate to scale the prevailing 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 enable 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 house.

“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 keen about leveling the enjoying subject for anybody to achieve arts and know-how, so this actually was a match made in heaven.”

Are you a creator trying to get found?

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Over 3K artists have a free artist profile on HUG.

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— 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 received onto a Zoom name just a few 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 individual 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 artistic entrepreneurs, and we’re doing that by way of discovery, alternative, and training.”

What began as two like-minded people with a shared imaginative and prescient ultimately grew into 200 folks 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 international locations.

Quickly defined that “We’ve deliberately flown below the radar and averted being surrounded by moments of hype. As a substitute, we’ve been per our mission from day one, and have adopted a very intentional and inclusive method to constructing our neighborhood.”

Neighborhood Sources

In an area the place practically every little 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’s best to bookmark for later or a halfway-finished hook to get you to purchase into one thing on the finish. As a substitute, 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 necessary, 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 considered one of our methods of constructing belief inside our artist and collector neighborhood.”

Additional driving the importance of this determination house, Quickly shared that “Accessible training has all the time been a core perception of ours. Notably in Web3, the place the know-how is evolving quicker than the common individual can sustain with, we consider it’s our accountability to demystify these developments and make them simple for everybody to know.”

On the time of writing, HUG has seven full-length guides and workbooks up on its website below the Sources 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 house must be stewards and never gatekeepers.

To this finish, the platform has lately had the chance to associate with TransientLabs, considered one 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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— 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 way of HUG. The end result of that was many glad artists, and even happier collectors, who had been delighted to accumulate a personalised, one-of-a-kind paintings” – which incorporates Quickly herself, as she commissioned a hand-painted soccer from artist and Ladies 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 side of the phrase and made it a part of its core mission. This has been accomplished not in a broad method however slightly by way of a really particular and thought-out method.

“From day one, we got down to construct the inclusiverse, which was actually our method 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 fun various creators from all walks of life. These communities must be celebrated and really feel supported 24/7, 12 months a 12 months, and never simply in particular months.”

This mission additionally strikes a chord near house for Quickly, who shared that “As a latest transplant to America and a girl of coloration, that is deeply private as nicely.”

She additional expressed “I do know many individuals prefer to say that Web3 doesn’t care about race, gender, and many others., however the actuality is that many unconscious biases nonetheless keep on from the normal arts and know-how worlds. By acknowledging that from day one, we might be intentional about the best way we design HUG, each from a product and neighborhood standpoint.”

This has been exemplified for the reason that inception of HUG, because it continues to function as a community-curated platform. Quickly defined that this has been achieved by way of a thesis of community-driven and decentralized curation by which the members vote for which artists must be onboarded to the platform and which artists must be chosen for numerous sourced alternatives.

Early on, HUG acknowledged the necessity for a platform that gives a platform. Consequently, it has developed complete profile instruments that assist artists to get eyes on and likewise profit collectors trying to sustain with their favourite creators.

“We’re biased, however we positively consider that [artist profiles] are an artist’s finest device to getting seen, shared, and celebrated,” stated Zuckerberg, including “Not solely are you able to gather essentially the most wonderful, considerate critiques from appreciators of your work, you can too showcase your total portfolio of labor, each inside and outdoors Web3. We are able to’t wait to maintain upgrading these Artist Profiles, and convey further performance and interactivity there.”

Along with this, HUG boasts an “Artist Updates” tab, which Quickly “Permits artists to share necessary updates on to the e-mail inboxes of their followers.”

She joked “Whereas we love the gm vibes and neighborhood discourse on X, generally artists and collectors simply desire a devoted place to share and uncover artwork on the market. Right now, a whole lot of artists are posting their updates to HUG on daily basis.”

Highlighting probably the most vital points of the Updates device, Quickly referred to as out {that a} majority of NFT marketplaces are likely to showcase creators which might be trending based mostly on buying and selling quantity, which in flip unfairly disadvantages rising artists.

Past the Digital

With the royalties side of NFTs being but once more in danger because 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 modification 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,” stated Zuckerberg, including “As a substitute, they’ve been artists for years, even many years, earlier than NFTs existed! As such, our view has all the time been that NFTs must be considered one of many ways in which artists ought to look to monetize their paintings and that it’s utterly okay to shift priorities from one approach to one other relying in the marketplace and even what evokes and excites them.”

She additional defined, that in assist of this, not solely has HUG printed quite a lot of assets on the subject however it has additionally launched mechanisms like its fee characteristic, the place artists can opt-in to obtain fee requests by way of their HUG profile.

Different initiatives embody 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” ✨

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— 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. The truth is, 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 actually flip HUG from a spot of discovery to considered one of social commerce,” defined Zuckerberg, including, “We already really feel like we’re serving to artists and collectors join on an emotional degree like by no means earlier than, and these funds will assist us prolong that relationship from considered one of appreciation to considered one 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 know-how,” joking that, how may they not be with Randi of their nook?

Quickly additional defined that as creators shift into an period the place they’re not promoting their work in a single single medium however slightly in a variety 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 customers of the brand new technology can 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 way of 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. Once I was on the frontlines of Web2, there was the identical quantity of uncertainty and extremes of euphoria and despair. Being on the planet of rising tech is all the time scary and overwhelming, however it is usually an unimaginable alternative to study. My recommendation is to maintain exploring, continue to learn, hold creating, and extra importantly, keep in mind to have enjoyable.” Zuckerberg continued.