Harriet Davey demystifies NFT creation, from developing narratives to the nitty gritty of minting

Future Myths is a collection of NFTs created by Berlin-based digital artist Harriet Davey. Commissioned by It’s Nice That in collaboration with Dropbox, the artist has utilised the platform to curate, collaborate and share their artworks from concept to completion. To learn more about how Dropbox can support your creative workflow, no matter the medium, head here.

A year after the explosion of NFTs as a channel for artists to sell their work, it seems that the dust has started to settle. However this new technology continues to be shrouded by its own mythology, often making it a difficult landscape to navigate. With this in mind, together with Dropbox, the digital artist Harriet Davey has created a helpful guide for creatives looking to explore this space.

As supporters of creatives exploring new territories, such as the emergent field of digital art, Dropbox commissioned Harriet to create a collection of four NFTs to lead this process. Working with the platform initially to curate her idea generation through to the destination of her files while working across programmes, within this article Harriet’s insight aims to help creatives wade through the uncertainty of this relatively nascent field.

In this piece we’ll touch on how the artist developed their narrative for this collection and how she turned each artwork into an NFT; from how to set up a wallet to the nitty gritty considerations made when choosing a marketplace. If you’re new to this space, towards the end of this article is a glossary of terms to refer to if aspects appear unfamiliar, as well as tips to avoid the common pitfalls people tend to run into.

“When minting, the first step is to choose the blockchain you want to mint onto. Ethereum is the most common for NFTs, but others such as Polygon, Tezos or Solana are also popular,” Harriet explains. “For anyone intrigued and starting out, I would really recommend Tezos. The gas fees are tiny, the artworks minted there are often done in editions and are actually affordable. You could purchase $10 of Tezos and have enough to mint several artworks and have most of that left to collect some pieces. It’s also a green chain, with a really low energy impact.” Tezos is a proof-of-stake based system that has grown in popularity due to its significantly lower energy consumption, compared to proof-of-work currencies like Ethereum.

The Bottom Line of NFT creation

For Harriet, the positives of selling work through NFTs reflects what many other creatives have expressed about the new technology. “It’s a dream to be able to live from the art I’m already creating,” they tell us. The opportunity to access a direct market to sell your work as a digital artist has emerged as one of the most concrete benefits of NFTs, as well as the opportunity for creatives to participate in defining the future of this still-evolving technology.

Common Pitfalls when creating NFTs

As detailed, the minting process features a lot of decision making from the creator. If you’re still pondering which of these processes is right for you, keep in mind these common pitfalls creators tend to stumble upon.

• It’s always important to understand the environmental impact of each NFT that you mint. Your consideration on where to mint your NFT should take into account the energy consumption of each mint. Fortunately, many resources are now available online for you to make this comparison.
• Although NFTs act as a unique certificate of ownership, it does not guarantee you any copyright to the works you put out. It’s also not a guarantee that your digital work will exist permanently online. Remember that the token created from minting places a link to the digital work hosted on a server, so always take steps to protect the rights to your work.
• It’s important not to take cybersecurity for granted. It’s often easy to forget that despite its growing popularity, as a digital object, NFTs are still prone to cybersecurity attacks anywhere, from the simple phishing attack to more complicated exploits. Always check that the platforms you’re minting on have an up-to-date security protocol and to protect the passwords to your accounts.

Glossary of NFT terms

If parts of this article feel unfamiliar, these terms may be helpful to reference if anything appears unclear.

• Marketplace: The platform where you can sell your NFTs. Each of these marketplaces offer different functionalities, communities of collectors and artists and often support multiple cryptocurrencies.
• Wallet: Separate from the cryptocurrency and the platforms itself, a digital wallet stores the cryptocurrencies that you own. Most wallets allow you to trade and access the various cryptocurrencies you own in one convenient place.
• Minting: The process of publishing your token on the blockchain. Before an NFT can be bought or sold, it needs to be created and placed on the blockchain. Think of it as the registration of a certificate of authenticity.
• Gas Fee: The cost of this minting process requires computing power to authenticate its uniqueness, and the “gas fee” associated with this minting process is required to cover this cost.
• 1/1 or one of one: A unique edition sold such that only one person could own the work. Not different from how editions in the traditional art world work.
• Smart contract: In short, a program that runs when certain conditions are met. This could be anything from a time-based agreement to what happens when the NFT changes hands.