The NFT conversation may be dominated by the big three—CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, and Pudgy Penguins—but there’s a fourth series that deserves and arguably has now received equal recognition.
The NFT collection is Graffiti.
This cast of 10,000 colorful and vibrant characters has turned a fun, creative and exciting experiment into one of the premier transmedia entertainment brands of our time – but what are they and what should you know about them, And how did they grow into one of the largest NFT collections today?
Here’s our complete guide to graffiti in 2024.
What is graffiti?
Doodles is a collection of 10,000 line-drawn NFT characters. Each doodle is drawn by co-founder Burn Toast and features a fun combination of vibrant colors and rich personality. Launched before the NFT craze reached its peak in 2021, Doodles quickly gained popularity due to their unique artistic style, professional outlook, and loyal holders.
The three creative minds behind Doodles are:
- Evan Keast (“Tulip”): A marketing and product expert who played an important role in the success of Dapper Labs’ CryptoKitties.
- Jordan Castro (“Poopie”): A master of blockchain technology who also contributed to the success of CryptoKitties.
- Scott Martin (“Burnt Toast”): A Canadian illustrator and animator whose artwork has been featured by brands such as Google, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
In 2022, Doodles made two big name hires. First, they hired former Billboard president Julian Holguin as Doodles CEO. Later that year, they announced that Pharrell Williams would serve as chief brand officer.
Doodles has expanded beyond digital collectibles into music, animation, physical products and more, with high-profile partnerships, appearances and references in mainstream properties such as Adidas, The Simpsons and many more. These make Doodles one of the most well-known NFT series in the world.
The history of graffiti
Doodles debuted on October 17, 2021, with a minting price of 0.123 ETH per NFT. The collection sold out quickly and community interest surged. Collectors are drawn not only to the art, but also to Doodles’ ingenious approach to cultivating community engagement.
Over time, Doodles has introduced many new series and features:
- Space graffiti: This is the official companion line of Doodles, allowing holders to send their Doodles into space for a range of digital experiences.
- Replicator: The NFT tool, launched in the summer of 2022, allows holders to create wearable items using clothes on Doodles NFT.
- Genesis Box: Doodles’ first NFT loot box was released in June 2022 and included wearable items that could be equipped by Doodles characters.
Doodles welcomed Pharrell Williams as chief brand officer in June 2022, announcing his appointment at a Genesis Factory IRL side event at NFT.NYC 2022. paving the way and beginning a period of increasing recognition for the series.
The series acquired award-winning animation studio Golden Wolf in January 2023, enhancing their storytelling and content creation output and making S-class brand building and animation their clear focus.
In April 2023, “The Stoodio” entered the testing phase on the Flow blockchain. The result is Doodles 2, a free-to-join platform that allows anyone to create a Doodles-style character and equip it with a variety of digital wearables, including those from Doodles NFTs and loot boxes.
Doodles Inkubator launches in July 2023. The connection between a brand and its owner.
In August 2023, Doodles partnered with CAMP to create a 3,500-foot-tall pop-up experience in Chicago featuring the real-life world of Stoodio, offering visitors a way to experience the world of Doodles first-hand.
The remainder of 2023 and the first half of 2024 see a flurry of activity. Forming partnerships and driving new initiatives with brands like Crocs, Casio G-SHOCK, Adidas, and AriZona, Castro launched the $POOP token, announced the launch of record label Doodles Records, and announced the launch of their first animation Short film, “Dullsville and the Doodleverse” starring Pharrell Williams, Lil Wayne and Coi Leray.
The animation will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024, attracting mainstream media coverage as Doodles enters the world stage.
As with any NFT collection, Doodles has faced some controversy.
In March 2023, Castro drew criticism for saying that Doodles was “no longer an NFT project.” This raised concerns that the series would turn its back on its web3 roots in pursuit of mainstream success – although since then, Doodles seems to have been treated in the same way as other series that have attracted mainstream attention, such as Bored Apes Links to web3 and pudgy penguins.
What’s next for Graffiti?
The team has ambitious plans to expand their reach, reach and mainstream credibility.
Following the success of Dullsville and the Doodleverse, Doodles will be doubling down on the talents of Golden Wolf and Burnt Toast to create more animated content. This will likely revolve around the recently launched DoodlesTV, an online pay-per-view platform for viewing content created by Doodles.
On the blockchain side, Doodles is moving Stoodio (and Doodles 2) from the Flow blockchain to the Base blockchain. Designed to improve usability and scalability while reducing costs, Doodles 2 will become the primary way mainstream audiences interact with the Doodles brand.
After the success of Dullsville and the Doodleverse, with mainstream attention and collaborations with many big name brands, we can expect to see more collaborations like this. The 2023 release of the Pharrell Pack—a series of digital wearables from Pharrell and adidas—is a clear example.
Doodles has become one of the true pioneers of the NFT industry. By continually pushing boundaries while staying true to its web3 origins, the series has gained recognition and attention among both web3 and mainstream audiences—a rare feat for a blockchain-based project.
As Doodles continues to grow, they continue to pursue ambitious plans to become an entertainment powerhouse – and from what we’ve seen so far, they have every chance of succeeding.
