Exclusive – Meeting the developers of new start-up Artik

Photo by: Nathalie Samen

Building an app from the ground up

Of course, it’s all well and good coming up with these ideas, but how do you even begin to go about creating an app like Artik? More importantly, what UI and UX features do you put in place to encourage people to jump on board?

It doesn’t take long to gauge how Artik works. After a five minute mess around I was able to easily understand how to give my opinions, set up a group, and post my own content should I want to.

The main explore screen features a carousel that’s not entirely unsimilar to dating app swiping, with a toggle bar to show whether you ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ a work, and you can jump into a communal chat pretty quickly.

Hadi says that it’s always been about clarity from day one. ‘From the very beginning we wanted to make sure that feedback is as useful and clear as possible. An artist can post an image of their work in any medium and they’re able to select or create up to eight criteria they deem important and relevant.’

Live updates and closed group discussions have also been implemented into the latest build, allowing users to give critiques and comments to varying degrees of depth. ‘We’ve included a new feature for private groups that can include friends, peers, classmates, if you’re more into that. We were thinking about students in particular.’

Photo by: Nathalie Samen

You’ve probably noted just how sleek and stylish Artik looks too, despite being a fairly new project with a small team. Hadi explains just how crucial the visual feel has been in making the app.

‘The experience we’ve created is tailored towards artists, so the design was always going to be really important. It had to look good to satisfy those kinds of people. We wanted it to remain fun and approachable, while also being informative and clear. We had a lot of trial and error before we reached the current design that embodies all these values.’

Most of this testing and experimentation is being done by Hadi, Allegra, and one other school friend. With a team of only three, Allegra says one of the biggest challenges has been ‘learning how to create a company from scratch’ and understanding new things outside of her areas of expertise.

‘I studied Art History at school and had no idea about most of what goes into building an app. Each day we tackle different tasks. Some are intuitive, some you learn as you go along – each experience is worthwhile regardless of failures.’

Hadi adds that it’s ‘important to learn how to do things as efficiently and quickly as possible’ and remembers how university professors would tell students to ‘build a chair without knowing how to do it.’

Sometimes just getting stuck in and involved is the best way to learn – such is the case with Artik.

Photo by: Nathalie Samen

Making an impact on Gen Z and young creatives

I was eager to learn more about how Artik could directly help Gen Zers in need of exposure, and how the app could support young artists who are unsure of which direction to take their work.

Allegra mentions how younger creatives are more open to virtual spaces, a trend that has only magnified with the last year of lockdowns and pandemic social distancing. ‘Social media is playing a big role, not only with your online presence and portfolio but also in terms of access to information, collaboration, flexibility, and we’re hoping to add a reliable source of feedback outside of the schooling system.’

Hadi also hopes that Artik can speed up the creative process. ‘Constant communication means you’re more in tune with other interpretations of your work, and creative practices can develop at a quicker rate than right now.’ Faster feedback means more easily adaptable work, fresh ideas, and a key advantage in a competitive market.

The industry is notorious for its inaccessibility and finding a way to show your work to new people can be a near impossible task.

Allegra recalls that during her time at college in New York she organised ‘a lot of shows that were basically exhibition pop up opportunities.’ Seeing how popular these were ‘proved how young artists were really eager to showcase their stuff, and it’s one of the main hurdles they’re facing today.’

Artik should help many young artists connect and network in new ways, creating a more even playing field for those looking to get a foot through the door.

Photo by: Nathalie Samen

The future of Artik

In terms of future plans, Hadi and Allegra are looking ahead to improve how users can deliver feedback on art inside the app.

Hadi says they’d like to ‘expand the ways in which people can receive comments so that they can choose a method that suits them best.’ He’s also keen to get experts from a variety of fields onto Artik, providing resources and knowledge from the top of the academic ladder. Expert advice is always welcome and hearing it from the best would be an invaluable resource.

Allegra mentions putting together ‘new exhibitions and curating shows in the real world’ via Artik’s brand, but that’ll have to be a ways off when the pandemic calms down and we’re all allowed back into our local galleries.

For now, attention is on improving and refining the Artik experience, which plans to stay within the creative arts but is open to change in the future. ‘We want to develop it in a direction that suits users best so that they can get the most out of it. The fun thing is that we’re already starting to see a few people within private groups posting images of things that have nothing to do with the creative practice.’

It seems the sky is the limit for Artik. Perhaps it could be used for other fields outside of just original artwork – interior decoration, make up styles, anything is possible. So long as you’re open to critique, Artik could be the stepping stone to getting you that next connection or new idea, and is all about advancing you along your individual creative journey.

For more information on Artik and its founders you can visit the official website here and download the app on the App Store.