My last post discussed the end of ‘Flat Art’ and how NFTs (as an artistic medium not just a technology) offer the chance to do things differently.
Enter Template.
*Engage advertising brain*
The template based NFT project that *ahem* breaks the template.
In their own words…
In my own words…
8,888 blank canvases minted at 0.06 each. You can apply ‘templates’ to your blank NFT for free (plus gas), which transform the blank NFT into something else. Currently there is one template available which transforms your blank NFT into a generative VR cube with audio.
For example mine started life as the blank slate on the left, and once I applied Template #1 to it my NFT became a generative cube which I can walk around in 3d.
Whilst the project launched with only this one template available, in the future there will be multiple templates - with new templates being added, and older templates being ‘retired’.
Now here’s where things get interesting.
You can change your template at any time for free to any template currently active in the pool, but once a template is retired - you can’t go back to it. I’m going to use a crude Art Blocks metaphor to explain this (sorry to Art Blocks and metaphor fans).
Imagine owning an ‘Art Blocks’ canvas. An NFT that allows you to apply any Art Blocks drop to it, for free. You can choose any current AB project and apply it to your canvas (with rarity/ generative qualities linked to your token ID) - but once a project is ‘retired’ you can never switch back to it.
So let’s imagine all 8,888 canvas holders apply the Chromie Squiggle template to their canvas. The Chromie Squiggle template is then retired, meaning any future changes to your canvas will lose the Chromie Squiggle for good - forcing you into an interesting choice to keep or change. If you have a rare Chromie Squiggle you may want to never upgrade, however if you love the look of the new Fidenza template… you’ve got a tough decision to make.
This unique model creates all sorts of deflationary, game theory fun. Being able to upgrade, but never downgrade your Template means the choice to upgrade carries a risk (that you’ll miss the former artwork, or if that former template blows up in value).
We can expect the supply for any given template to steadily decrease over time as owners upgrade to future templates.
This project feels like a genuinely new use of the NFT medium, one that could grow into a much larger platform.
Of course, the success of this project will be entirely dictated by the quality of future Templates. But in terms of creating an innovative NFT platform that is mostly definitely not ‘flat art’ I’m extremely interested to see where this one goes.
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