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Maryam Naficy, founder of beauty retailer Eve and design marketplace Minted, has a long history of supporting independent artists and helping them sell their products. Her latest work, Arcade AIis a new type of marketplace that puts creative control directly in the hands of users.
The generative AI platform, which launched its beta version in September, allows customers — referred to as “dreamers” — to input their ideas into a generator that then produces a variety of jewelry design options. They can also upload photos.
Once a “dream” is selected, it is assigned to one of Arcade’s artisans, who bring the digital concepts to life as tangible jewelry pieces, including bracelets, charms, earrings, necklaces, rings and more. There are a number of materials to choose from, including gold, copper, silver, and a variety of gemstones, including diamonds, garnets, rubies, and more.
I’ve tested the new generator myself, which makes use of a mix of third-party models, such as Stable Diffusion and Midjourney. After inputting my personal preferences, especially my love of opals, the AI tool created a delicate gold floral pendant for me (pictured above).
I then submitted the application to Studio Maisette, one of the design studios on the platform, and a few days later, I received a video of the finished product for approval. The entire process, from placing the order to delivering the product, took about two weeks.
Although the necklace may seem basic at first glance, I think it perfectly embodies my aesthetic. Bonus points for the triple opal, which is of good quality, according to my gemologist friend.
However, not all results were up to par, and some obstacles were encountered along the way. For example, the AI creator had difficulty adding multiple charms to a single necklace. He also failed to create complex objects such as a twenty-sided die.
“To make sure everything is manufacturable, we actually have to limit the models a little bit to what the manufacturers give us in terms of data or what they can make,” Nafici told me.
Fortunately, there is an editing tool with which you can add, erase, or adjust certain elements to bring your vision to life. However, it wasn’t always what I envisioned.
Naficy plans to improve the Magic Editor, adding things like Image Prompt (IP) converters, which are small modules that can Allow pre-trained text-to-image propagation models to generate images based on image prompts. Another idea in the works is to allow users to choose a part of the image to edit. Or drag part of the image and move it to another location.
Designing custom jewelry on Arcade can be very expensive, potentially costing $1,000 or more, depending on the complexity of the design. However, if you prefer a simpler piece, you can expect to spend around $100. Shipping ranges from $10 to $30. This is in line with the cost of custom-designed jewelry.
For reference, the piece I designed was $186 plus $10 shipping.
The cost depends on the material used, the size of the piece, and other factors such as the length of the necklace chain or any additional requests you want to add in the comments section to the manufacturer. Manufacturers set their prices and must accept the design and agree on the price before agreeing to make it. They can also reject a design if they think it is too complicated to make.
Even if users can’t purchase their creations on the site, Naficy said they can simply enjoy the process of creating and adding their designs to the “Dream Boards” collection on their profile.
“We just want this to be magical and fun, and we’re going to keep working on these experiences until they become even more magical and super fun. But there’s this part of me that just wants people to be able to create for fun and share their creativity with other people,” she said. They actually have to buy just to experience the site.”
It is worth noting that “dreamers” can benefit from their designs and receive a 2.5% commission on sales. To become a seller, users must have 100 followers and have sold three items or sold $500 worth of products. In the coming weeks, they will be able to set their own price point.
Using an AI generator to allow customers to control the design can be controversial among jewelry designers for several reasons. Designers may be concerned that their unique creations may be duplicated or used without permission, which could violate their intellectual property rights. Additionally, some may fear that automating the design process could reduce opportunities for human designers, putting their livelihoods at risk.
However, Naficy claims that the craftsmen at Arcade feel differently.
“They were very receptive. I wasn’t expecting that… They saw it as a way to increase business, you know, ‘This is great because now I can talk to consumers and understand what they want.'”
According to Naficy, the AI model has been trained not to copy the design exactly as shown in the uploaded image.
“We can prevent the use of certain words in the prompt layer. Also, in our image function, we can see how aggressively we allow the AI to deviate from the source image,” she explained.
“I spent 15 years running Minted, where people were copying our artists all the time, and I could see the pain it caused people. I was very sympathetic to the artists because we were constantly issuing takedown notices to them on our site and trying to protect the artists and the art,” Naficy added. “I think what we do gives us more control than most markets.”
Arcade is considering expanding into other categories in the future, perhaps adding accessories, apparel, leather goods, and more. This would put Arcade in direct competition with Off/Script, another product creation platform that emerged last year to help artists finance their AI-designed items, spanning from clothing and accessories to home decor and furniture.
In terms of features, Naficy wants to add more social features in the coming months. This includes the ability for sellers to thank users who purchase their designs and options for community members to chat with each other. Arcade may also run contests where winners can receive free gems if their design receives the most votes.
Another long-term goal is to partner with major brands, allowing users to purchase products from well-known retailers directly through the platform.
Arcade has received a total of $17 million in funding from Ashton Kutcher (Sound Ventures), Offline Ventures, and Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn). Other notable investors include Colin Kaepernick, founder of Lumi and former NFL quarterback; David Luan, CEO of Adept AI Labs and former VP of Engineering at OpenAI; And model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, among others.
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