The Kickstarter Alternative for Artists
For artists, Pieces is the Kickstarter alternative where your work stays sealed until fans fund it, you are paid what it is worth up front, and backers are refunded plus a bonus if it falls short.
Artists get hit from both sides of the internet: the work spreads instantly, and the money does not follow it. A piece posted publicly is reposted, scraped, and used as training data within hours, while commissions price a day of work like an hourly errand. Kickstarter helps artists sell physical prints, but it has no answer for the digital work itself. Pieces does.
How funding a work works on Pieces
- Lock the work. Upload the finished piece, series, or collection as a sealed Piece. Nothing is public until it funds, so nothing can be reposted, scraped, or stolen in advance.
- Set your goal, deadline, and kickback. The goal is what the work is worth to your audience as a whole. The kickback rewards bonders who stake money on it funding.
- Fans back it. Backers pool money to unlock the work for everyone. They get the art if it funds, or a refund plus a bonus if it does not.
- It funds, you get paid. The moment the goal is hit, the work is released publicly and you are paid in full.
Why this beats commissions or Kickstarter
- Paid before it is public. The reposting problem inverts. By the time anyone can copy the work, you have already been paid what it is worth. Spread becomes free promotion for the next Piece.
- Your whole audience pays, not one client. A commission prices a work at what one person will pay. A Piece prices it at what your audience will pay together, which is usually a very different number.
- Backing you is risk-free for fans. The pitch to your followers is simple: fund it and everyone gets the work, or get your money back plus a bonus.
- Confidence is visible. Bonders staking on your Piece is a public signal that people with money at risk expect it to fund, which pulls hesitant fans off the fence.
Verdict for artists
Keep commissions and print sales for what they do well. Use Pieces to fund the work itself up front, sealed until it is paid for, priced by your whole audience instead of a single client, with fans who are refunded plus a bonus if it falls short. The mechanism is a dominant assurance contract, explained end to end in how Pieces works.
Frequently asked questions
How is Pieces different from Kickstarter for artists? +
Kickstarter is built around physical rewards like prints and shipping tiers. Pieces is built for the digital work itself: a piece stays sealed until fans fund the goal, the artist is paid the moment it funds, and backers are refunded plus a bonus if it does not.
What kinds of art work on Pieces? +
Digital files of any kind: illustration, concept art, photography, 3D work, animation, comics, design assets, brushes, or a finished series your audience has been waiting for.
How do artists make money on Pieces? +
An artist locks a work or series with a funding goal, deadline, and kickback. Fans back it to unlock it for everyone. When the goal is met, the work is released publicly and the artist is paid in full.
What happens if an art Piece does not fund? +
The work stays sealed and is never released. Backers get a full refund plus a share of the forfeited bonds, so the fans who backed you lose nothing for trying.