Overview

My time at SuperRare was brief but unforgettable—kind of like a viral NFT drop before the market tanks. I joined as a Senior Product Designer in early 2022, excited to merge my background as an eco-fashion creator for Sparkpick with my growing fascination for digital art. For ten months, I designed, strategized, and watched the rollercoaster that was crypto’s last big high before the crash.

Despite the market chaos, SuperRare was a dream gig—a place where fine art met blockchain, where digital curation was just as important as the work itself, and where I had the rare (no pun intended) opportunity to design for a community of artists, collectors, and curators shaping the future of Web3.

Then crypto collapsed, funding dried up, and, well—most of my designs never saw the light of day. But let’s rewind to the fun part. 

Designing for the Art of Collecting

At SuperRare, there were three key players:

• Artists, creating and minting their work

• Collectors, curating their digital galleries

• Curators, shaping the overall aesthetics of the platform

I worked on features that made collecting and discovering art easier, including an updated Explore page with better filtering, search functionality, and UI refinements. This release improved engagement and made the marketplace feel more curated, less like a never-ending stream of JPEGs.

But buying art should be as effortless as admiring it, so we introduced:

• Credit card payments, making crypto-less purchases possible

• Direct sale offers, letting collectors negotiate deals

• RARE token payments, allowing community members to buy and curate with governance-backed digital currency

What Even is a RARE Token?

RARE tokens weren’t just another crypto trend—they gave the SuperRare community decision-making power. Holding RARE tokens meant voting on curation, controlling marketplace parameters, and shaping the future of the platform. I designed the entire RARE token purchasing experience, including dashboards, artwork pages, Spaces pages, and notifications.

Of course, Web3 always comes with surprises. A key challenge? Sorting artwork prices in RARE wasn’t possible, and ETH-to-RARE conversions? Also not instant. Designing in crypto often felt like problem-solving on shifting sands—every feature came with a new, unexpected limitation.

At SuperRare, I created some of the most complex user flows of my career. Every feature required designing for both artists and curators, each with unique needs. What started as simple updates often turned into massive, intricate flows in Figma, mapping out every scenario and Web3 challenge. From setting prices in RARE tokens to curating digital galleries, these designs were anything but small—some Figma files looked more like sprawling city maps than UX flows.

Unreleased but Not Forgotten

While 2022 was all about improving the collector experience, I was most excited about designing for artists and curators. Unfortunately, many of these features never launched, thanks to the crypto downturn.

One of my favorites? The Collab feature, which would have allowed artists to co-create and share earnings seamlessly. It was designed, refined, and tested—only to be shelved when funding disappeared.

Other projects included:

• A redesigned artist application flow to help emerging talent join SuperRare

• An admin tool for Space curators, allowing them to manage their independent galleries

Even though these projects never made it live, the work helped set the stage for future iterations—if and when the market stabilizes.

Key Insights

SuperRare gave me a crash course in designing for Web3, but more importantly, it reignited my love for fine art. Immersing myself in a world of digital creators was so inspiring that I went on to complete an Art Curation course at Sotheby’s—because why stop at just designing for curation when you can fully dive into it?

Looking back, my time at SuperRare was a perfect blend of art, design, and technology—even if it ended sooner than expected. I’m grateful for the experience, the team, and the wild ride that was NFTs in 2022. And hey, at least I didn’t spend my salary on a Bored Ape.