DeviantArt

DeviantArt
	File:DeviantArt logo.svg DeviantArt logo (2014–present)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Online art community, social networking service
Founded	August 7, 2000; 26 years ago in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
Founder	Mathew Stephens, Scott Jarkoff, Angelo Sotira
Headquarters	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Angelo Sotira (CEO until June 2022), Moti Levy (CEO since June 2022)
Products	Online platform for art, videography, photography, written works; DeviantArt Muro (discontinued July 2025); DeviantArt Draw
Owner	Wix.com
Parent	Wix.com
Website	www.deviantart.com

DeviantArt—originally known as deviantART—is a United States-based online platform dedicated to showcasing art, videography, photography, and written works. It was established on August 7, 2000, by Mathew Stephens, Scott Jarkoff, and Angelo Sotira.

Operating from its headquarters in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, DeviantArt attracted approximately 36 million visitors annually by 2008. By 2010, daily user activity included around 1.4 million favorites and 1.5 million comments. In 2011, it was ranked as the thirteenth largest social networking site with roughly 3.8 million visits each week. The community expanded significantly over the years, reaching more than 25 million members and accumulating 250 million submissions by 2017, eventually surpassing 100 million registered users by 2025.

In February 2017, the Israeli software firm Wix.com acquired DeviantArt for $36 million. Since 2020, the platform has experienced a decline in user engagement attributed to redesign efforts, the incorporation of AI features, NFT integration, and a rise in fraudulent accounts.

Founding

DeviantArt (initially Deviant Art and later deviantART) debuted on August 7, 2000. It was created by Scott Jarkoff, Matt Stephens, Angelo Sotira, among others as part of the Dmusic Network. Quickly establishing itself as a prominent online art community focused on digital creations and customization, DeviantArt was officially incorporated in 2001. Its growth was driven by a distinct platform model supported heavily by volunteer contributions. Over time, the site’s branding evolved to include its well-known "dA" arc logo.

The founders drew inspiration from skinning communities such as Winamp and customize.org. Leveraging their expertise, they expanded beyond software skins to develop a broader artistic community. Matt Stephens played a key role in steering the platform toward an art-centric vision. Angelo Sotira held the CEO position until June 2022 when Moti Levy succeeded him.

On November 14, 2006, DeviantArt introduced Creative Commons licensing options to give artists greater flexibility over copyright management. The following year saw the addition of a film category designed to support video art submissions with annotation capabilities. In 2007, the company secured $3.5 million in Series A funding and later raised $10 million through a Series B round in 2013.

December 2014 marked the launch of a redesigned logo featuring sharper lines along with official mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms to boost user interaction. On February 23, 2017, Wix.com acquired DeviantArt for $36 million with plans to integrate design tools and broaden its creative ecosystem.

Following sanctions imposed by the US and Israel in early 2017, access to DeviantArt was restricted for users in Syria; however, after community pushback, partial restoration allowed access to non-commercial features.

In late 2018, spambots targeted dormant accounts for profile spamming purposes. Investigations commenced at the start of 2019 and mitigation efforts reduced their impact by late 2021; nevertheless, spam continues to pose challenges.

In November 2022, DeviantArt launched DreamUp—an AI-powered image generation tool utilizing Stable Diffusion technology. This development resulted in DeviantArt being named alongside Stability AI and Midjourney in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

By 2024, the platform reported sales exceeding $14 million generated from more than 220,000 buyers purchasing artworks from upwards of 26,000 sellers—demonstrating significant marketplace growth.

In 2025, Wix announced that DeviantArt Muro would be discontinued on July 15 as users were encouraged to transition to DeviantArt Draw in alignment with ongoing strategic product enhancements.

Copyright and licensing concerns

DeviantArt does not actively monitor submissions for potential copyright or Creative Commons license breaches, which means possible violations often remain undetected until flagged by users. Certain members of the community have encountered copyright issues when unauthorized vendors used their artwork on merchandise without permission. The platform's mechanism for reporting copyright infringements has faced criticism due to delays, with some complaints taking weeks or even months to be resolved.

Corporate and academic contests

Thanks to its extensive global audience, DeviantArt serves as an effective venue for businesses to boost brand awareness through organized contests. For instance, in 2012, the University of California's CoolClimate network hosted a contest focused on climate change, attracting international participation and media attention.

Automobile manufacturers have frequently utilized DeviantArt contests as part of their marketing strategies. Dodge’s 2012 competition for Dodge Dart-themed artwork drew more than 4,000 submissions; winners received monetary awards and had their work displayed at the Dodge-Chrysler headquarters. In 2013, Lexus collaborated on a contest featuring designs for the Lexus IS model, with the top entry exhibited at the SEMA event in Los Angeles.

Entertainment industry players also capitalize on DeviantArt contests to engage fans and promote projects. The film Riddick organized a fan art competition judged by director David Twohy, offering cash prizes and opportunities to create official fan-art posters. Similar initiatives were conducted for Dark Shadows, providing financial rewards and additional incentives. Video game publishers participate as well; a 2013 Tomb Raider contest awarded winners with official prints distributed worldwide alongside cash prizes.

These contests exemplify strategic collaborations that not only increase brand exposure but also actively involve DeviantArt’s creative user base, thereby supporting the platform’s commercial development and influence within the market.

Legal actions

In January 2023, artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz initiated a copyright infringement lawsuit against Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt. The complaint alleged unauthorized use of approximately five billion images scraped from the internet for training artificial intelligence systems. By July 2023, U.S. District Judge William Orrick III showed a tendency to dismiss the majority of the claims but permitted the plaintiffs to submit an amended complaint.

Website

DeviantArt hosts a collection exceeding 550 million images contributed by over 75 million registered users, establishing it as one of the largest online art communities as of 2011. The site encourages members to leave comments and critiques on artworks, promoting peer feedback and interaction. Among its features is DeviantArt Muro, a web-based drawing application that enables users to create art directly in their browsers and share step-by-step creation videos known as film deviations.

Each artwork ("deviation") is presented with detailed statistics, user comments, and options for sharing across social networks. Users can organize their deviations into folders within personal profiles that display uploaded pieces, journals (either personal or focused on art topics), curated favorites collections, and watchers who receive alerts about new content. Communication tools include private Notes (direct messaging), discussion forums for organized conversations, and chat rooms for real-time interaction.

Artist groups centered on specific media or genres (such as Literature, Drawing, or Photography) foster collaboration and increase visibility among members. While DeviantArt restricts pornographic or explicit content, it allows tasteful nudity in photographic works. Accessing mature material requires users to be at least 18 years old and registered on the platform.

These functionalities contribute significantly to DeviantArt’s competitive position within the digital art sector by cultivating a vast, engaged community alongside diverse content offerings that drive business expansion and strengthen its market presence.

Versions

DeviantArt has progressively upgraded its platform through a series of numbered "versions," each bringing a variety of new functionalities. Significantly, versions 3, 4, and 5 were all released on August 7, coinciding with the anniversary of the company's founding.

Version	Release	Updates
1	August 7, 2000	The initial public release of Version 1 occurred as part of the Dmusic Network.
2	February 5, 2002	Version 2 focused on enhancing the site's browsing capabilities.
3	August 7, 2003	Version 3 improved overall speed and stability despite some early glitches; it also featured promotional giveaways.
4	August 7, 2004	This update introduced dAmn, a chat client that broadened tools for user interaction.
5	August 7, 2006	The launch of Prints accounts allowed artists to sell prints and earn revenue shares—standard accounts received 20%, while Premium members enjoyed 50% profit and faster sales approval. Subscription access expanded earning possibilities for users.
6	July 10, 2008	This version featured a redesigned message center, homepage, and footer; it also added a customizable navigation toolbar alongside an updated site layout.
6.1	Early 2009	Enhancements included improved design elements and search functionality; by 2010, profile customization and stacked message centers were introduced.
7	May 18, 2010	A more compact header was implemented and the search bar was initially removed except on the homepage; later updates restored search across the entire site.
8	October 15, 2014 (updated December 4, 2014)	This release brought a refreshed logo, revamped header and streamlined footer, an improved browsing experience, and the addition of a "watch feed" for live updates from followed users.

Eclipse (Version 9)

In November 2018, DeviantArt unveiled a promotional website for 'Eclipse,' an update characterized by a clean minimalist aesthetic, dark mode support, advanced CSS editing options, enhanced filtering powered by a 'Love Meter,' profile headers, and various visual enhancements. The update also removed third-party advertisements and introduced upgraded features for Core subscribers.

A beta release was made available to Core Members on November 14, 2018. By November 21, more than 4,000 users had participated in testing Eclipse, submitting close to 1,700 feedback entries including bug reports and feature suggestions. The full launch occurred on March 6, 2019, with users given the choice to revert to the previous interface until May 2020 when the legacy UI was completely retired.

In July 2021, DeviantArt launched DeviantArt Protect—a tool designed to notify about copyright infringements—which was further expanded in May 2022 to monitor non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across Web3 marketplaces.

From 2022 through 2023, the platform enhanced its monetization capabilities. In September 2022, it introduced a subscription-based service allowing members to receive fan funding while charging commissions ranging from 2.5% to 12% plus processing fees. In March 2023, DeviantArt rolled out Adoptables—a feature permitting users to sell ownership rights of individual artworks—later rebranded as Exclusives in October 2023.

deviantART Summit

DeviantArt hosted its first-ever convention, the deviantART Summit, on June 17–18, 2005, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Approximately 200 booths presented artwork from numerous artscene communities. Massive screens displayed live submissions, highlighting the platform’s swift expansion with 50,000 new images uploaded daily. The summit also offered a variety of workshops and seminars centered on art.

deviantART World Tour

Commencing on May 13, 2009, DeviantArt embarked on an international tour that included major cities such as Sydney, Singapore, Warsaw, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, London, New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles. This tour showcased upcoming features like the "Portfolio," designed to boost user interaction and demonstrate the company’s commitment to product development.

"Birthday Bashes" and deviantMEET

To encourage community engagement, DeviantArt regularly organizes member gatherings. These events include "Birthday Bashes" marking the company’s anniversary and general meetups around the globe. In August 2010, European members hosted a deviantMEET celebrating DeviantArt’s anniversary, which was complemented by festivities at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Such occasions play a key role in strengthening brand loyalty and expanding the community.

External links