3 Innovative NFT Projects with Promise

With so many NFT collections imitating the big players or following almost identical templates, it’s refreshing to come across innovative NFT projects that are trying out new ideas or have real utility in mind.

It’s also an antidote to the idea of meta. If you’re not familiar with that term, meta basically means the overarching trend or narrative driving the NFT space. It’s useful to identify meta so you can anticipate what’s coming, but meta also results in huge numbers of repetitive copycat projects.

Could the upcoming meta possibly be to ignore the idea of meta altogether, and just develop your own concepts? That might be productive, so on that note, here are three projects that stand out for their originality or because they are centered on specific use cases.

Probably a Label

Image credits: Probably a Label

In January this year, famous restaurant owner and entrepreneur Jeremy Fall launched a web3 media enterprise called Probably Nothing. Fall has already found ways to mix up food, media and music, and is signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation entertainment agency.

Now, in collaboration with music industry giant Warner Records, Probably Nothing is launching its own web3-oriented record label, named Probably a Label. (By the way, that phrase web3 is basically a mainstream-friendly way of saying crypto/NFT/blockchain).

Distinguishing Probably a Label from traditional record labels is its approach to IP and collaboration. What’s known so far is that Probably a Label will release an NFT pass that allows access to Studio A and Studio B.

Studio A is a development incubator that provides resources to help build out new projects, and it will accept submissions utilizing NFTs from several existing projects (currently, that includes Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, Doodles, Women and Weapons, Stickmen Toys, Photosynthesis, Pudgy Penguins and Degen Toonz), allowing holders of those projects to make use of their NFT IP.

Studio B is “a community-driven music library”, allowing pass holders to submit and share tracks. The idea seems to be that within the Probably a Label community, a pool of musical resources will be developed that can be sampled from and used freely across creative projects, while also providing exposure for new artists.

Probably a Label is still developmental and its plans come across as conceptual and open-ended, but that’s in the experimental nature of everything web3. With novel approaches to rights ownership, community and cultural cross-pollination, along with the connections that help to establish a substantial brand, Probably a Label is a no brainer for our innovative NFT projects list, and definitely one to watch.

Tykes

Image credits: Tykes

If you’re interested in how blockchain technology might impact the real estate industry–along with the potential benefits of becoming an early participant in such changes–then take a look at the Tykes project.

It’s the work of real estate investor Ryan Pineda, who is actively pushing forward in finding ways to shift property trading into the blockchain era, utilizing NFTs–which are efficient tools for independently tracking and trading ownership–as part of the process.

Pineda has spoken at length about the Tykes project in many videos and interviews, and the sense is that he wants to completely revolutionize real estate trading to increase market liquidity and accessibility (rebalancing power away from big institutions and into the hands of individual investors), link up crypto capital with real estate, and create a platform where a like-minded community can interact.

The project also takes an interest in metaverse land, and–helping to generate initial hype, NFT holders receive real-life perks including access to a proposed network of luxury properties (one of which, in Las Vegas, already looks ready to go).

Tykes sold out all 5,000 of its NFTs when it minted at the end of August, and grabs attention because it is focused on definable utility within a profitable real world niche, and is led by an upfront founder with a proven track record.

Dented Feels

Image credits: Dented Feels

One issue around NFT collections is how to maintain interest and keep things moving creatively. Many projects release companion collections, with Bored Ape Yacht Club setting the template when it dropped Bored Ape Kennel Club, and the serums to create mutant apes.

This path certainly worked well for BAYC, but for smaller projects there is the risk of simply diluting supply, and it requires a reasonably high level of ongoing demand to be effective.

A collection called Dented Feels is experimenting with other approaches, and has recently revamped its website and introduced a shop section that will dispense customizable trait packs.

These packs are called Mood Swings, and can be bought using Feels Points, which are earned by holding an original NFT from the Dented Feels collection and syncing it in the Feels Shop. There will be a total of 6000 Mood Swings trait packs, of which 1000 have been released so far.

The original Dented Feels collection, which dropped back in February, contains 11,111 NFTs that revolve around emotional themes. Although it’s sometimes flown under the radar, the project is viewed positively in the NFT space, and its creator, Dentin Garret, has a loyal following.

Customizable traits and expansion packs introduce the possibility of NFT personalization, and allow ongoing creativity without dilution. At the very least, it’s something new, and if it works for Dented Feels then expect more projects to pursue similar ideas.