At the top of the NFT tree, there are several projects vying to establish themselves as web3 brands, and the Doodles NFT world is prominent among them. The creators of Doodles have been upfront about creating a name that goes beyond just crypto, and have been busy in the process, so let’s get a grip on what Doodles are and where they might be heading.
At its core, Doodles is a 10,000 item PFP collection showing hyper-cute, cartoonish characters drawn with a bold, clear-lined style, minimal features, and colored with solid, saccharine pastel.
The design is childlike and not for everyone. However, it’s definitely for someone because, for a while, it became one of the most imitated NFT aesthetics around, triggering a slew of copycat mints featuring endless pastel palettes and inoffensive, simply-styled characters.
What’s more, Doodles were heavily in demand on launch, and have remained expensive and collectible, establishing a distinctive foundation from which to build out a brand.
How Doodles Started
Doodles minted in October 2021 at 0.123 ETH. This was relatively expensive, but the collection sold out easily. It was a hyped launch at a time when crypto and NFTs were in full bull-market mode, and Doodles was the work of three creators who were well known in the NFT space: Evan Keast and Jordan Castro had both been part of Dapper Labs and CryptoKitties, while Scott Martin (aka Burnt Toast) was an experienced artist and illustrator.
The mint pulled in 420 ETH for the project treasury, and Doodles owners were allowed to vote on community proposals. In an ecosystem notorious for scams, Doodles gave the welcome impression of being legit, friendly and always honest.
Prices really took off at the beginning of 2022, soaring to an ETH double digits floor in January, and going on to hit a floor price peak of over 21 ETH by May. The largest ever sale occurred in January that year, when influential collector Pranksy picked up a 1/1 for 296.69 ETH (over a million dollars at the time).
Expansion and Partnerships
Doodles 2
Doodles has been in the spotlight recently thanks to its Doodles 2 expansion, the idea of which is to enable the creation of endlessly customizable new Doodles characters, which can then be used as web3 digital identities.
At first, holders of Dooplicator NFTs (which were claimed for free by Doodles holders last May and June) can combine a Dooplicator with a Doodles PFP to receive custom wearables, along with a Beta Pass which will grant early access to the upcoming new Doodles creation tool.
Although Dooplicators can only be used in this way once, they will continue to have further utility in future, so they might be worth keeping hold of.
Interestingly, a Dooplicator can be used in combination with someone else’s Doodle, with the generated wearables then owned by the Dooplicator holder, although–in true NFT style–the Dooplicator holder has to pay the Doodles owner for the favor.
Coming up soon, there will be a similar function utilizing another NFT from the Doodles back catalog called a Genesis Box (released by auction in June 2022), which can be opened to mint a second round of wearables, along, again, with a Beta Pass.
Adding to the innovation, or, arguably, to the complexity, Doodles 2 has migrated to the Flow blockchain and uses the Gaia marketplace to trade wearables. The original Doodles collection was launched on Ethereum, meaning the Doodles universe is now a cross-chain project.
An advantage of using Flow is the relative lack of friction, as buyers can pay with credit cards and create a wallet simply by linking up a Gmail account. If you’re looking to onboard new users, this all makes sense, but on the other hand, veteran NFT natives might not welcome the change.
Space Doodles
Browsing the Doodles empire, you might also come across Space Doodles, which were launched in February 2022. Unlike other famous complimentary collections (such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club), Space Doodles didn’t create an entirely new set of NFTs.
Instead, Doodles holders could wrap their original NFT to create a space version, showing their character navigating across the cosmos. Holders can then unwrap back to the original and wrap back to the space version, as often as they want.
Space Doodles are not a separate collection, but are more like an alternative configuration that Doodles holders can switch in and out of. Keep in mind that if you buy or sell a Space Doodle, you’re actually trading an original Doodle which can then be unwrapped.
Doodles Records
In June 2022, Doodles announced plans to release an album called, straightforwardly enough, Doodles Records: Volume 1. Creating a good record is a tough ask, but the Doodles team knows when to delegate, and recruited A-list producer and musician Pharrell Williams to executive produce the record, which is being made in partnership with Columbia Records.
In addition to his music-focused role, Pharrell was also given the position of Chief Brand Officer at Doodles.
The plan is that music from the album, which will feature artwork by Burnt Toast and limited edition Doodles 2 wearables, can be layered onto Doodles 2 NFTs, but further details (such as what the music will actually sound like) have yet to be released.
Golden Wolf Animation
At the end of January, Doodles announced an agreement to acquire the award-winning animation studio Golden Wolf. The CEO and founder of Golden Wolf, Ingi Erlingsson, will act as Chief Content Officer at Doodles, and the two teams will work closely together.
The strategy is to produce original animated content for Doodles, adding a narrative element to the brand. Doodles will also be able to utilize Active Ingredient, which is a joint venture between Golden Wolf and another creative studio named Psyop. Active Ingredient aims to take new approaches to storytelling through innovations such as AI and blockchain technology.
What Does the Future Hold for Doodles?
It’s a tough call making predictions in the volatile world of NFTs, but what we can say for sure is that there are very few projects executing plans as wide-ranging and ambitious as Doodles’.
What’s really striking is the apparent desire to reach beyond NFTs, while staying at the forefront of the possibilities emerging around web3.
Doodles has OG status, a unique style that’s been highly influential, and plans that take in (long list coming up): PFPs and digital identity, personal customization, onboarding new users, music production with Pharrell Williams, animation with Golden Wolf, storytelling, character development, brand expansion, and, ultimately, the creation of a pastel-splashed web3 playground.
There are plenty of risks involved and no guarantees, but whatever the outcome, it looks set to be a colorful ride.
