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Inspiration

As a crypto-curious Product Manager, I wanted to learn more about web3 by diving straight into deep-end of Non-Fungible Tokens. I partnered with local miami-based cartoonist @kungfufrogz to create an NFT collection that would educate hackers on both the dynamic space of web3 and the native culture of Miami.

MHW NFT is a Miami-based digital art collection dropping at Miami Hack Week. We want to show everyone visiting for hack week the real 305. We call our art+tech project "the Miamiverse" as we explore the intersection of local culture and web3 trends.

New "capsules" (aka thematic sets of NFTs) set to drop throughout hack week, including: 💧 MIA web2 apps 💧 #miamitechlife memes 💧 local cafetería snax 💧 #onlyinmiamiverse memes 💧 silicone beach babes

What it does

Think of these NFTs as a web3 "souvenir" to commemorate Miami's first official federated hack week. As we explore the #Miamiverse, NFTs are the latest iteration of the universal concept of obtaining physical souvenirs to mark travel and special occasions. as the material world becomes overtaken by our online world, the modalities of memory also transform.

To marry the Miamiverse with MHW, we have paired minted NFTs with physical "NFTees," or T-Shirts that contain an NFT Design. These serve as both marketing materials, but also are an extension of the NFT itself. On-chain ownership is proved via the ledger, but it can be conveyed to the physical world via this NFT-Shirt.

Future applications of our MHW NFTs can serve to uplevel the web3 engagement in next year's MHW. Existing NFTs and future minted ones can serve as entrance tokens for in-person events, or voting mechanisms for the MHW community on things like speaker lineup, activities and more.

How we built it

All pieces were hand drawn on paper with pencil, photographed and then traced in Adobe Illustrator. Illustrations were further built out in illustrator. Exported PNGs were uploaded to OpenSea marketplace, and also connected via metamask wallet to Showtime's NFT gallery.

Challenges we ran into

Gas prices are high in Miami and even more Ethereum! Convincing customers to spend approximately $12-15 in gas fees for a low-priced NFT has been the biggest challenge.

Beyond the technical aspects, successful NFT drops require strong marketing. We assumed going into this project that our user-base would be Miami-savvy techies (like the #MiamiTechLife community) who would understand our inside jokes and want to participate in the fun. Throughout the week though, we realized most hackers were from out of town and while the pieces educated them about Miami culture the meme did not "hit."

Even among hackers, many do not have Crypto Wallets set up, so our Minimum Viable Product for "NFTees" had a QR code that linked to Showtime. Many hackers were not Crypto native and didn't have wallets on their phone, so they were unable to access the main page. QR codes have since been changed to link to a web2 platform like Twitter for frictionless marketing and broader top-of-the-funnel user acquisition.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Notable online personalities like Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Florida-based Filmmaker Billy Corben, and co-founders of Showtime Alex Masmej and Alex Kilkka have interacted with our content on Twitter or Showtime. We're also proud that a small team (with full time jobs!) cranked out so many pieces of content in such a short time AND learned a whole new technology.

What we learned

Hand-drawing a robust collection of NFTs requires more time that a week can allot for. Organic marketing is very hard, especially when you're entering a new space. The current web3 ecosystem is not built out for ordinary consumers, so only early adopters can be our target customer. At this phase, existing NFT collectors tend to be true fans of art, or individuals who see it as a speculative asset -- which rewards high quantity (e.g. thousands of "Bored Apes") and a well-established marketing / hype factor. We learned our product does not neatly fit into either category, so will work towards educating a broader user base of web3 technologies to carve out this middle market.

What's next for MHW NFTs

The minting of these nfts help support local artists in the community. The proceeds from the NFT sale will go toward a future project -- DAOscovery -- building out accessible and exciting content aimed at educating the next generation and non-technical people into the world of web3.

Built With

• adobe-illustrator
• metamask
• nifty
• opensea
• showtime
• twitter