A koala dunking a basketball
(This article was issue 1 of Maps, a newsletter on Digital I co-wrote for Base Design from 2022 to 2025.)
NFTs
Alright. Of course. NFTs. We can’t avoid the topic. It seems a new variation of ugly apes, penguins, pigs, punks or bananas gets released every day. Some of them have a clear and true cultural impact. Others are pure and utter scams. Depending on who you talk to, they’re either Crypto’s latest pump and dump scheme, or the future of the Internet.
Hype but vague understanding often equals nervosity. Some brands have seemed to just jump on the bandwagon with absolutely no real story to tell, only creating more e-waste. But I’m much more charmed by a project like Erode. It’s Random Studio’s very own way of experimenting and critiquing NFTs using… NFTs. They released 3D objects that degrade in a visually interesting way every time they get resold, just like physical objects would decay over time. You can see how it works, or read their accompanying article. It’s smart.
That being said, it’s clear something bigger is going on with NFTs as a phenomenon. (Just look at this year’s Super Bowl ads.) Scott Galloway wrote an insightful article on the subject. He tries to look beyond the newest trends and understand the real transformative value of NFTs in today’s society. Or to put it in his words: “How long will Bored Apes remain culturally relevant? Don’t know. They are trees, which live and die. Yet the forest is immortal.”
Did I already lose you?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, or you could need a good refresh (like me every other month), you probably need The New York Times’ Latecomers Guide to Crypto (Paywall though). It reminds us for instance that “NFTs, even the jokey ones, are part of a robust, well-funded ideological movement that has serious implications for our political and economic future.” And that’s important to remember, right?
WOAH!
Enough of NFTs, crypto, Web3 and blockchain. Remember Disney’s Wall•E? Well, now there’s Dall•E! And it is so impressive. (And scary at the same time.) It’s a new artificial intelligence system that can create realistic images from a description in natural language. Meaning you say something like “a koala dunking a basketball” and it will give you a photorealistic image of exactly that. An image that has never existed before! Watch the video (15 seconds is enough to get the idea). Honestly, this is huge. It opens so many possibilities for brands to experiment with. Can’t wait to start playing with Dall•E. (Hit reply if you have an idea!)
Before we go…
→ Mesmerizing: Have a look at Tomohiro Okazaki’s Instagram. Love it. It feels like the most analog form of digital interaction design that I know.
→ Random find: Weirdness alert: visual amusements with code.
→ Self-praise: Someone asked who has the best architects’ website in the UK. Good question. Great answer!
→ Wish we had made this: Frankly, On’s website for its new shoe The Roger is well done.
→ Loud, louder, loudest! Artist Jeff Koons is entering the fray of NFTs. Of course he is. Each unique digital work from his series will correspond to a physical sculpture. Now here’s the thing: later this year, a group of the sculptures will be launched into space from the Kennedy Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. You may wonder what took him so long? Well, he says “I wanted to create a historically meaningful NFT project rooted in humanistic and philosophical thought”. No comment…
→ Smart: There’s only so many pixels in an Instagram post to share your content and still make a branded impression. Now this is a little nerdy maybe, but that white border that disappears to reveal more of the video, then reappears at the end is so simple yet instantly became extremely recognizable “New York Times” in my Instagram stream. Well done!
→ Sorry, can’t do, too busy: All my love to the Busy Simulator.
From my camera roll—April 10th, 20:23, Oostende.
Until next time,