NFT Art Style Panorama: Starting from the Explosion of GoblinTown
As the NFT market gradually develops and matures, the collision of more cultural integrations will also bring about more independent and outstanding projects.Author: NFTGo
Introduction: A unique artistic style is a promotional method that combines creativity and organicity from the project team. The presentation of PFP NFTs not only provides holders with a sense of belonging to a community; it also serves as a hub for communication between the project and players through the artistic style of the artist's work, reflecting the distinct identities and, most importantly, attitudes of each holder, much like "GoblinMode."
As of May 30, Goblintown's trading volume increased by approximately 355% in the first seven days, reaching over three times the total trading volume compared to the peak of 4.4K ETH on the 26th. Goblintown also topped the trading leaderboard on Opensea on the 26th.
Data Source: NFTGo.io
In the past seven days, Goblintown's trading volume peaked on the 25th, with a 300% increase compared to the previous 24 hours, totaling approximately 3,500 transactions within that timeframe.
Data Source: NFTGo.io
On May 21, 2022, Goblintown NFT was launched on the Ethereum chain through a free public sale, with a total issuance of 9,999 pieces. Behind the explosive popularity of Goblintown NFT, its style is a key factor. The combination of its artistic style and meme characteristics allowed the project to become a dark horse in the bear market within just a week.
High Recognition of 1/1 NFTs
Aside from various quirky creatures, Goblintown's 1/1 collectibles "poked fun" at many famous figures, giving the images a high degree of recognition. These include Kevin from Pixelmon, the famous electronic dance musician Steve Aoki known for his "anti-finger" gesture on Twitter, and characters resembling the headmaster from Harry Potter and Clint Barton from Marvel's "Hawkeye."
Data Source: NFTGo.io
Notably, among all completed transactions, Goblintown #8995, #7944, and #5948 achieved the highest transaction amounts at 69.42e, 30.3e, and 26e respectively. Additionally, seven 1/1 pieces were sold for at least 9e among the top ten highest transaction amounts, with an average turnover rate of 2.1 times. This indicates that the project team has put considerable thought into the design of rarity, ensuring that high-rarity collectibles each possess their own unique characteristics.
Data Source: NFTGo.io
Style Factors in the Meme Wave
Linguistic Style
Since the project sold out, the Goblintown team has promoted Goblin language through official social media and Twitter Spaces. Observations show that the online discussion on the 26th lasted for three and a half hours, with a peak of over 1,700 simultaneous listeners. Interestingly, each holder who spoke incorporated the atmosphere of goblin role-playing and enjoyed it.
Data Source: Twitter
AUUGHHH! This phrase itself is a meme. According to reports from TikTok, as of May 30, 2022, the total views of short videos associated with #auuughh have reached 32.2M.
Data Source: TikTok discover
Bizarre Artistic Style
When first encountering this project, some people may be attracted by its uniquely styled official website and dialogue text, adding an extra layer of mystery and curiosity to Goblintown. Notably, Goblin Town, in its literal English translation, also represents the current market atmosphere—an ironic description and sigh, with "ugly" and "bizarre" hinting at the current market cooling and the overall price correction of blue-chip assets. At the same time, it reflects the negative and repressed emotions and mindset of people in the economic downturn following the pandemic.
Image Source: Twitter
Today, more and more project teams hope to create a wave of excitement through unique and innovative artistic styles. So, how do we evaluate the artistic style of a project? "Impression" is crucial. This is also reflected in the execution of the overall artistic style, leaving a deep impression on viewers.
From exorbitantly priced avatars to subcultures to bizarre artistic styles, NFTs have repeatedly surprised the market. Goblintown is undoubtedly an interesting attempt in terms of artistic style. So, what role and position does artistic style occupy in NFT projects? How does it become the outer garment for people to express emotions and attitudes?
Artistic Style as the Carrier of NFT Presentation and the Hub
Looking across the entire NFT market, each project's artistic style has its own characteristics. Especially during the explosive period of the NFT market's total market value in the past year, many styles, including Japanese manga style, mecha style, cute style, and minimalist style, have gradually joined the entire NFT ecosystem. Below are some NFT market projects categorized by artistic style.
Data Source: NFTGo.io
Artistic style is not only the cornerstone of each NFT project at the beginning but also the hub that connects different nodes along the project's subsequent journey. To the left, it serves as a bridge for artists transitioning from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, continuing the artists' previous creative styles and providing early fan bases and aesthetic value consensus; to the right, it can become a carrier that stitches and connects the cultures of different groups, spreading cross-national and cross-ethnic genes in Web 3.0. Under this vast decentralized dome, the concepts of artist/project - artistic style - culture are interconnected and intertwined.
Image Source: NFTGo.io
Aesthetic Artistic Consensus
The artistic style of NFTs is a continuation of the early styles of painters and artists. Taking Doodles as an example, it originates from the work of illustrator Scott Martin. In Scott's early illustration works, one can see his love for bold outlines and warm forms, which provide a visual experience that is both simple and somewhat endearing. Additionally, before transitioning to a freelance commercial illustrator, Scott was already an internationally renowned artist, having collaborated with numerous publications and events globally, including companies like Google, Facebook, Dropbox, and Red Bull.
Data Source: Early illustrations by Scott Martin
It is not difficult to see that Scott's outstanding past experience has given Doodles' character design a certain level of fan base from the very beginning. The aesthetic value of its unique artistic style also serves as a bridge for Scott's transition from Web 2 to Web 3, laying a foundation for subsequent success and providing aesthetic assurance.
Data Source: NFT Education
GENESIS SENSHI is also an example of continuing the artist's creative style. Ghaly, the creator of the GENESIS SENSHI project, started as a game concept artist and was one of the collaborating artists for Dungeon Fighter Online 2 at Nexon. Before starting the GENE_SIS SENSHI project, Ghaly had over three years of experience in creating with the same artistic style. After officially leaving his job in 2019 to become a freelance illustrator, he gradually established the "Mecha Girl" apocalyptic worldview style.
Data Source: Foundation.app
Identity Personality and Cultural Fusion
Whether it is the spirit from Japanese animation in Azuki or the collision of nihilism and free money culture in mfers and BAYC, the common narrative purpose behind different artistic styles is connected to breaking centralized structures and establishing a decentralized, member-managed community concept in the future universe. Once people integrate into the world of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse through NFTs, shedding the national, ethnic, and even gender characteristics defined by Web 2.0, the concepts of equality and inclusivity will allow every participant to autonomously choose their identity and growth path in Web 3.0. Different themed and styled PFP NFTs undoubtedly become intuitive choices for personalization in the Web 3.0 world.
Data Source: CryptoPotato
The artistic style of Azuki has very obvious and strong Japanese characteristics in its artistic composition. By employing the artistic style of mainstream Japanese manga and combining it with American-style bold outlines, it cleverly merges the two-dimensional route with Western styles. Additionally, due to the background of the Japanese animation industry's history and the mutual integration of Western culture, Azuki amplifies and spreads this culturally mixed concept through the artistic style of its project NFTs within the realm of Web 3.0.
Data Source: Blocktempo, Zipmex
Furthermore, in the NFT PFP projects mfers and BAYC, the characters connect with the "nihilistic cultural trend" through this unembellished, raw artistic style. This reflects the psychological state of people in today's society who harbor negative and escapist sentiments, as well as their boredom with the world of money. The minimalist and rough artistic style of mfers allows many individuals with similar experiences to resonate and empathize with the bodily actions described in its characters.
Conclusion
The seemingly simple artistic style of each NFT project carries and accommodates a significant amount of depth. As the NFT market gradually develops and matures, the collisions of more cultural integrations will bring about more independent and outstanding projects. However, the unchanging fact is that this cornerstone of artistic style builds bridges of communication for artists, participants, and Web 3.0. The future NFT market will continue to grow on the path of diversification and inclusivity.
