moo

In early 2019, I started a business with two friends called GASP Gallery. What initially started as a hobby and creative coding challenge eventually evolved into a full blown business and interactive web-app. GASP Gallery is a platform where generative artists can sell their artwork in a way not possible with other out-of-the-box e-commerce platforms.

Generative art is a style of art where the medium used to create is code. Algorithms power how the art is rendered. Changing parameters on the algorithm will yield different results with each change. Sometimes, even (software) bugs can yield intriguing results on their own.

With GASP, we were aiming to solve two problems:

1. For art buyers:
   Unless you commission an artist or buy limited edition works, you can't customize art you purchase — nor is the piece unique to you.
2. For generative artists:
   Without a custom solution, ecommerce platforms don't support on demand print editing. For sites that support editing, they’re not configured for ordering and fulfilling framed prints.

We started as minimally as possible to quickly validate ideas. First, we created a signup form to gauge interest from potential customers, as well as interested artists. We used local meetup groups and social media to measure interest and collect feedback. Within 2 months, we launched a soft release to friends, family, and coworkers to see how it would resonate.

The release gave us the chance to observe how visitors unaidedly interacted with our site. We uncovered gaps we didn't expect by watching recorded sessions and started making a list of refinements — the first, to improve the homepage.

We heard things like:

Are these [thumbnails] customizable?

Am I supposed to just buy one of these prints?

The feedback helped us realize the messaging could be better and that we needed to bring customization front and center. We wanted people to engage with the site, not just browse it like a store. We refocused on the homepage to introduce an interactive module in the header. This helped us drive more traffic to the editing view and more customers spent time on the site customizing their sketch.

We also added enhancements to other parts of the site and business, to better meet customer expectations — hoping to increase sales. We explored concepts to expose potential customers to the generative aspect of each piece. By starting with themes, such as “modern” or “abstract”, we could programmatically curate sketches based on their selection — essentially funneling visitors to further customize the sketch or purchase it.

We decided to test elements from the concepts to see if they’d help visitors find a style that suited them more. We pulled the theme selection and sketch generation into the Styles page as well into each Artist’s profile. We didn’t see a significant change in browsing or purchasing behavior, so we decided to hold on further change.

Other areas we focused on included:

1. Improving sketch editing for mobile visitors
2. Increasing inventory by adding new print styles and onboarding new artists
3. Expanding shipping to outside of the US
4. Viewing and purchasing frames with your print

During this time, we've grown social accounts with over 700 followers, and sold 43 unique prints to customers. As part of the experience, we’ve had to learn much more of what it’s like to be a small business—especially how to be more creative with resource constraints and limited market exposure.

We're currently evaluating our initial problem space and looking to see how we can adjust the offering to better serve a broader market.