Breaking the Frame: Digital Art Trends to Watch in 2024

By: Tod Caviness

Published November 07, 2024

AI, AR and NFTs are reshaping the digital art world in 2024. Learn how artists are adapting and protecting their work in this evolving marketplace.

Opening night might feel like the finish line, but for artists, it's really just the beginning. Each new viewer adds fresh layers of meaning to your work, making it come alive in new ways.

Some artists might mourn the loss of this social ritual in the digital age (introverts, not so much). But the larger truth is that the internet is just another gallery, one where the canvas is never truly finished and the conversation never has to end In 2024, there are three key innovations in tech that digital artists should have on their radar: augmented reality (AR), non-fungible tokens (or NFTs), and of course, the elephant in the gallery – artificial intelligence (AI).

AI: Know your frenemy

Yes, there are still serious concerns about the environmental impact of AI and the way human art is used without permission to fuel machine learning algorithms. 

But today’s digital artists are proving that AI can be a powerful ally too. Argentinian generative artist Sofia Crespo shows how she’s harnessing AI’s potential to push creative boundaries. Featuring AI-generated creatures in her works, Crespo demonstrates how “technologies are a biased product of the organic life that created them and not a completely separated object.”

Similarly, Rashaad Newsome's social humanoid AI project "Being the (Digital Griot)" started out as a vogue-dancing tour guide for "To Be Real," an exhibit exploring the meaning of identity (racial and otherwise) in the emerging world of AI. Over the years, Newsome refined Being’s language learning algorithms, training them on the texts of countercultural icons like bell hooks and Dr. Cornell West. Today, Being exists as a work of art in its own right, "emancipated" from its previous role.

In the end, AI is just another tool. Whether an artist uses it or not, they can take care that AI isn’t using them by uploading their art only to trusted outlets. Digital communities like Creator Collective have an artist-first focus and have taken steps to inhibit the scraping of images featured on the site. Not every platform can say the same. Watermarks and masking tools like Glaze can be an effective second line of defense and should be used even on images that aren’t specifically for sale.

AR: the next dimension in art

Whether it’s implemented through a simple smartphone or a pricey rig like Apple Vision Pro, AR is a striking way to project art into physical space – and the implications are endless. 

Museums like the National Gallery in London and the Cleveland Museum of Art are already embracing augmented reality to create immersive, interactive experiences. 

Miami’s Pérez Art Museum even has an exhibit that exists almost entirely as an AR construct.

And here's the exciting part: AR isn't just for big institutions – independent artists like you can use it to bring your art to life in incredible ways, too.

Adobe Aero is free and probably the best bet for newcomers to the tech, especially if they already use existing Adobe staples like Illustrator. There are also freemium tools like Artivive and Onirix that artists can use to turn the world into their own personal canvas. The results can be truly impressive if they’re viewed through smart goggles like the Vision Pro. Mind you, that tech is probably still years away from widespread commercial use, but it never hurts for digital artists to be ahead of the curve.

Making your mark with NFTs

On the commerce side, NFTs continue to reshape the way art is owned bought and sold. They may not have been in the news as much lately, but art speculators and auction houses have definitely taken notice, and that means artists should too. Whether you think CryptoPunk NFTs are legitimate art pieces or virtual Funko Pops for rich kids, they continue to fetch millions. Overall revenue may be down from NFT’s “breakthrough” year in 2022, but it’s still projected to be at least a $600 million market in 2025. And if you’re an artist, the fact that NFTs allow you to establish concrete ownership over your digital works is powerful enough.

The downside? The fees to mint those NFTs remain a sizeable barrier for fledgling artists. Worse yet, some of those fees crop up only after an NFT is sold, making it all too possible for newbies to actually lose money on their first sale. Long story short: Research is key. OpenSea and Rarible remain the most popular one-stop shops for minting and marketing NFTs, and they each have helpful walkthroughs. Crypto guru Zifa Mae also has a solid overview of the various NFT platforms over on Medium.

Join the Collective

All these new technologies have allowed buyers to bypass the physical opening night party, but the age-old challenge remains for artists: How do you introduce yourself, and your art, to the world? The possibilities are literally endless in this constantly evolving digital gallery, and creative minds are going to be the best equipped to find their way through.

At Creator Collective, we help artists stay ahead of all these trends by providing the tools, resources, and community to thrive in the digital age. Whether you're trying to understand the implications of AI in an ever-evolving landscape, how to integrate AR into your exhibitions or explore the potential of NFTs, Creator Collective is the place for you. We offer a platform to connect with fellow visionaries, showcase your work to a broader audience, and keep pace with the latest in digital art innovation. Join us today and take your work to the next level in this ever-expanding frontier.

Your journey in the digital art world starts here.