How to Create an NFT Gallery?

The interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has grown rapidly in recent years. Since 2014, the volume of this market has grown from several million to a billion dollars. Currently, there are about 30 million NFT owners. Digital art is the primary factor for industry development. The new market’s trade volume is almost equal to the traditional art market (about 50 billion dollars). Galleries, where the artists showcase their paintings, are another common feature of NFT and traditional art.

This art augmented tells about NFT galleries and creating an application, website, or virtual space for a gallery.

What is an NFT gallery?

NFT galleries are digital spaces where the owners of digital art pieces can display their tokens to the public. They can do it in order to sell the NFT or just to share it with other people like actual art pieces are shared at museums or art galleries. Put simply; an NFT gallery is a platform where you can view various NFTs.

Depending on the purpose of the NFT gallery, there are two types: private (only one owner shows the tokens) and public (anyone can show their NFTs or entire collections). Furthermore, there are several categories of NFT galleries depending on the visualization means of non-fungible tokens:

2D Galleries. These are two-dimensional digital spaces that are convenient for illustrating photos and images. Regularly, they are implemented as websites or mobile applications similar to online shops, photo stocks, or Pinterest.

3D Galleries. As it says on the tin, one will display 3D models in a three-dimensional gallery. These platforms can be websites or applications, yet it is more common to meet them in digital sandboxes like Decentraland or The Sandbox. Also, 3D galleries usually use specifically created 3D spaces as a platform.

VR and AR galleries. These platforms will help to demonstrate digital art and 3D objects in virtual or augmented reality. Frequently, topical music and sound accompany these tokens. More seldom, you will meet special visual effects.

Physical NFT galleries. These are typical art galleries, where instead of paintings, you will see screens displaying NFTs. The other galleries might use projectors instead of screens.

How does an NFT gallery work?

The functioning principles of an NFT gallery will depend on its purpose. If it’s a private gallery and the owners just want to share their collection, they can employ quite a simple platform. The function will include displaying the NFTs on the website or the application. It can be either a website with image collages, a museum-like space, a regular art gallery (quite common), a virtual space within a metaverse, or an independent virtual space.

If you require an NFT gallery where anyone can show their tokens, then the platform will function like an online marketplace; namely, the users will register, list their NFT, or create a gallery for their particular needs.

How to develop an NFT gallery?

Now, as we’ve discussed NFT galleries and their function, we can share the step-by-step guide to developing such a project. Usually, the process will include five steps.

NFT gallery type

As mentioned above, there are private NFT galleries (like Sotheby’s in Decentraland) and public (like Lazy.com or Spatial). Each type has its features that must be considered in development.

Private NFT galleries. The primary task is to prove that the NFTs in a collection are original pieces. It means that the gallery has to illustrate the NFT art as the artist sees it, confirm that the gallery owner has all rights for a particular NFT, and the NFT piece is original. The evidence for the authenticity is typically a link to the cryptocurrency address of the gallery owner and the links to the transactions that prove that a crypto address owns a specific NFT.

The purpose of private NFT galleries is:

• Proving the authenticity of NFTs;
• Increasing the popularity of an artist or brand;
• Increasing the value of an NFT with the help of media;
• Boast about the NFT collection.

Public NFT galleries. These are platforms for artists who want to share their pieces. Anyone can sign up to the platform and show their NFT paintings. Developing such a project is significantly more complex than a private gallery since it requires an entire infrastructure that allows the users to add their tokens to the showcases and often sell them there.

The goals of public NFT galleries are the following:

• Helping the artist become popular;
• Promoting the best NFT art pieces;
• Earning money as an intermediary between the seller and NFT buyer or gaining revenue from fees for listing NFTs on the platform.

Project business model

If you plan to launch an NFT gallery for profit, you will have to decide on the monetization model before developing it.

• Listing fee. The most straightforward way to monetize an NFT gallery is to charge fees for listing new images and collections on the platform. The fee will depend on the token visualization means. For instance, the fee will be relatively small if it is an image or a GIF. Suppose it is a complex 3D animation with special effects that require a specific design (for instance, a 3D space within the metaverse). In that case, the fee will be significant since it requires creating and integrating the design into the gallery.
• Fees for sales. Only public NFT galleries that sell paintings within the platform can employ this method. The idea is that the platform charges a fixed price or a fee for each deal in your NFT gallery.
• Many galleries rely on user donates they receive on their bank cards or cryptocurrency wallets via Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, Kickstarter, MemberPress, or other services.
• The other popular model charges a periodical fee if the user lists an NFT or a collection on the platform. The fee will depend on the token type and the popularity of the NFT gallery.
• For instance, you can add banners or NFT promotions on the platform, like a first place on the page or on the top of the list, unique image design, listing in recommendations, etc.

The gallery functions

Showcase. This is the primary function of your platform since it is responsible for NFT visualization, which is the fundamental task of all NFT galleries. The showcase design can be a straightforward catalog (like OpenSea) or a 3D space that looks like a traditional museum or gallery (like Kijaidesign 3DP NFT gallery).

Registration. Onboarding with your NFT gallery must offer in two ways: for beginners and experienced users. The first one will include registration and a brief introduction to gallery functions, and the NFT listing process. The second option will illustrate the registration without familiarizing the user with the website or application. The experienced users will go straight to the home page or list non-fungible tokens to the NFT gallery showcase.

Integration with wallets. Wallets are applications that help users manage their NFT assets, e.g., add them to your platform’s showcase, confirm the authenticity and origin of NFTs. The most popular solutions are Metamask and Coinbase. Also, NFT owners often use Enjin, AlphaWallet, TrustWallet, PillarWallet, MathWallet, and Binance Chain Wallet.

Adding NFTs to the showcase. This process must be straightforward and multifunctional simultaneously so that all users can find an optimal way to visualize their NFTs (size, frames, design, additional effects, sounds, etc.). It is also desired to offer the creation of new pages or 3D spaces for NFT collections.

Here are some more things to implement:

• An editor for creating spaces (rooms) for NFT collections showcasing. The user will also need an instruction explaining the editor's features.
• A frame for 2D images that will highlight particular digital art pieces to emphasize their idea if necessary.
• A pedestal for 3D objects will become a scene for worthy 3D models. While adding NFTs as 3D objects to these pedestals, they have to scale and adjust to their size automatically or manually.

Smart search engine. It will help the users to navigate a particular NFT by name, keyword, category, price, author, time, view number, rating, or other filters. Preferably, the search line must have an autocorrection tool, autofill, and recommendations (based on gallery metadata).

Zooming feature. Zoom In allows scaling any 2D image, 3D object, or video. Hover your mouse over the artwork and use your mouse or controller to click the magnifying glass to display the media file in Lightbox mode. The metadata will also be displayed next to the enlarged media file; you must pull it up from the wallet.

Information NFT panel.  NFT assets are unique since they include critical metadata: information on the owner, name, and description. The integrations with wallets help to collect the metadata and display it in Lightbox and the card of each NFT.

Looping and ceasing the video. If the NFT asset is a video, then the user must be able to loop the video or stop it. Furthermore, they also require a sound on/off button.

Social interaction. Just like physical galleries, NFT galleries must provide communication means with the artist and other visitors who study the collection. It will bring closer the artists and fans. Also, the visitors will want to contact you via social networks or other options.

Marketing instruments. These tools help artists and NFT owners promote their works on your platform and beyond.

Token market. If you want to allow users to sell tokens on your platform, you will need an auction system and integrations with various payment methods.

Push-notifications. The notifications will tell the users about new paintings of their favorite artists, selling tokens, new messages, system updates, subscription end dates, issues, and other essential things.

UI/UX design of the NFT platform

If you work on a 2D website or 3D room for the artwork, you will need to plan the design thoroughly so that to highlight all image features and provide a corresponding atmosphere. If you want to have a public gallery where everyone can create a space for his NFT collections, you will need a constructor and a set of templates for rooms and buildings and design elements for them.

Technological stack and integrations

In the next step, you will need to select the instruments for the backend (server part) and frontend (interface part) development of the NFT gallery.

Here is the possible technology stack for the NFT gallery backend:

• Blockchain: Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polkadot, etc.
• Frameworks: Spring, Symfony, Flask.
• Programming language: Java, PHP, Python.
• SQL database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MS SQL, Oracle.
• NoSQL database: MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB.
• Search engine: Apache Solr, Elasticsearch.
• DevOps: GitLab CI, TeamCity, GoCD Jenkins, WS CodeBuild, Terraform.
• Caching: Redis, Memcached.

Here is the possible technology stack for the NFT gallery frontend:

• Web languages: Angular.JS, React.JS, Backbone, and Ember.
• Languages for mobile: Java, Kotlin for Android, and Swift for iOS.
• Architecture: MVVM for Android and MVC, MVP, MVVM, and VIPER for iOS.
• IDE: Android Studio and Xcode for iOS.
• SDK: Android SDK and iOS SDK.

Writing the software code

As you are sure about the functions, design, and monetization model of your gallery, you can start implementing it in software code – backend, frontend, mobile application, cryptocurrency wallet, and smart contract development. It will take two to six months on average.

Testing the product

As the first code lines lay down, QA specialists start their work. They will check every code line for bugs and issues and test the productivity, compatibility, functionality, usability, security, and other aspects of created NFT platform.

Deployment

When your NFT platform is ready and tested, it will require deployment on the local servers or in the cloud. If the project has a mobile application, it will be added to mobile marketplaces: App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Store, Amazon App Store, and others.

Support

The process of creating an application does not end after release. Usually, the programming team needs some more time to catch all the bugs, check user reactions, and improve or add (or remove) some features. In addition, you also need to train your staff and organize your helpdesk.

NFT gallery development price

Final thoughts

To launch an NFT gallery, you will need a team of professional developers with rich experience in Blockchain, DeFi, and NFT industries, like Merehead. We have an excellent team and successful extensive experience in NFT solution development. You can view our portfolio on the website or mail us at sales@merehead.com to receive it. Don’t hesitate to contact us; we will answer all questions and give detailed answers on implementing your business idea the best way.