Artconomy's Purpose

Artconomy.com was launched in 2018. It started as a means to scratch its founder's itch-- wanting to solve the trust problem of commissioning art online by providing a safer means of transaction. It has since grown into something much more-- it has become a community alongside a wide collection of tools. To focus our energies, this page documents the values that we use to guide our decisions.

Mission Statement

Artconomy's mission is to help artists make a living from their work by providing tools that help build good business practices and community to support their journey.

The success of an artist in making a living from their work is strongly dependent on their business skills. We believe that a world with more art and more artists is a better world, and thus helping artists build their business skills makes the world a better place. We also know that the journey is not one to make alone, and we support our artists through community events and offerings.

Values

The following are our highest-held values and beliefs. These are our guiding lights for decision-making.

Openness

We make decisions in the open with our community. We give our source code away freely and make our policies public. We act as a model that others can study, to help them run their own businesses better.

Consistency

We are consistent in our actions. We avoid arbitrary rules enforcement. We focus on dealing fairly to all parties we transact with, at all times.

Alignment

Incentives matter. We build our services to ensure alignment with our clients-- we want to win when they win.

Freedom

We give artists and clients the freedom to make their own decisions and to create as they please, with whatever topics and tools they like. While we advise on best practices, and maintain market standards, we leave decisions to those affected.

Tolerance

Art is myriad and people are messy. We don't expect everyone to adhere to an orthodoxy, and we extend baseline courtesy to all. We keep a 'live and let live' philosophy, and give others space to develop themselves. Meanwhile, we bear in mind that tolerance is a social contract, and those who violate it are excluded from it.