The diffusion model: how artists build a career selling direct

Some people think the art market is in a slump. It is not. It has changed. It is booming in one place and slumping in another, and it is time to shift your thinking on the model of how you sell your work. The good news is that you are completely in control of it, and the new model is more egalitarian and less elitist than the old one. Here is how it works.

Start with a proposal. In future, all art sales will be direct, from an artist to the people who follow them. There is no need for people in the middle. There is a need for people who help, because artists do not want to spend their time running a business. They want to spend it making work and talking about it. This piece is about the shape that direct selling takes when it works, which we call the diffusion model, and why the base of it matters more than the top.

What an artist is worth

Art lovers have always valued artists for the impact they have on their lives. That is why the new model, selling direct to your followers and fans and the people who fit that description, makes total sense. It is not about how high a value you can sell one piece of work for. It is about whether your work connects on a wide basis, and whether you can support yourself from that connection. The way you do that is the diffusion model.

Rarity and reach are not enemies

Artists have always struggled a little with the idea of making their work more widely available, because they are acutely aware that rarity is important. It is. But look at David Shrigley: one-of-one works in galleries and at auction, editions, and books, prints, mugs and t-shirts that have taken his drawings into millions of homes. He does both, and the two feed each other. You can do both and you should do both, because people whose lives your work has touched would love to express that by owning something you produced, at whatever level they can. How you do it is the whole question. You have to be very intentional and very careful about it.

The four layers

At the top are the one of ones: the original works. Below them sit the rare editions: large, hand signed, complex pieces in small numbers. Below those, the open editions and larger limited editions: certified, not signed, simpler works at a price more people can reach. And at the base, the entry level: apparel, books, calendars, postcard sets, zines.

That base is where a generation enters. Gen Z are, I would say, more interested in art than any generation before them at the same stage of life. They like books, calendars, apparel, postcards and magazines. Most are not yet in the market for an art print, because of where they are in their careers, their income, and the fact that many do not have a permanent home to hang one in. A t-shirt or a zine is how they take part now.

Two things about the model

The first is that the layers are complementary. They do not fight each other, so long as each is presented in the right way and clearly differentiated from the others. That is exactly what our agency does for the artists we work with: present each layer properly, so that a hand signed edition reads as a hand signed edition and a postcard set reads as a postcard set, and neither cheapens the other. As long as you are careful about that, it works.

The second is that people travel up the layers. Someone buys something at the entry level. Over time their understanding of your work deepens, their circumstances change, their income improves, and they move up: a print, then a rare edition, then perhaps an original. What you are doing is creating a generation of collectors. If you are in this for the long term, and most artists are, that is how you build a brand that lasts.

Fashion worked this out decades ago

None of this is revolutionary. Fashion houses have run the same structure for a very long time. The couture line is the one of one. Beneath it come the diffusion lines, all the way down to collaborations with Uniqlo, Zara, H&M and Adidas. And here is the interesting part. The houses found that, far from being an additional income, the diffusion lines became the main income. Couture is where the passion is and where the brand is made. Diffusion is what pays the bills and funds the couture. You create the brand through the one of ones. You drive the revenue through the diffusion lines.

Less a triangle, more Mount Fuji

Once you see that the diffusion layers are the thing that funds the whole career, the triangle is the wrong picture. The real volume is in the base. It is less a triangle and more a mountain: a wide, solid base of people who own something small, a narrower band of collectors, and a peak of originals that the base makes possible.

A solution for every layer

We have built something for each layer of the triangle, so you can run the whole model from one store, under your own brand.

At the top, the one of ones: auctions, run from your own store page, with deposits on every bid, WhatsApp alerts for followers, and the payment, tax and delivery handled for you.

The rare editions: hand signed artworks in bespoke frames, made to order and delivered to the collector in your name.

The open and larger limited editions: print drops with print on demand and global fulfilment, certificates of authenticity, solid German-made frames and branded packaging, so a £60 print arrives with the same care as a £6,000 original.

The base: a newly launching apparel range, embroidered caps, printed caps, tote bags, hoodies, t-shirts and sweatshirts, printed to order from our new site in Texas from 1 November.

Four things to take away

One: do this carefully and intentionally. The layers only work when each is presented as what it is.

Two: it works. Artists like David Shrigley have demonstrated how.

Three: do not let unnecessary platforms get in the way. If you need help, have someone in the background, but stay in control of your relationship with your own followers and fans.

Four: get advice, and do it in the right way. Make sure the quality at every level represents you. Everything you do is an example of your brand.

Where to start

If you would like to know what your own work could sell, get a sales estimate. Tell us about your work and your audience, we will estimate what you could sell, and then we send you a short series of emails with actionable advice on growing your art sales. If the numbers say we should talk, one of our artist managers will be in touch.