Brief Introduction Of Metame and Our Guest, Ape94
My name is Apes 94, and I’m part of the Metame team as a co-founder, illustrator, and con artist—essentially handling all the artistic aspects of the project. Our team consists of four members: Adam manages marketing, Bill is our head developer, and Demitro handles front-end development alongside being a developer. Metame is essentially an anime project on Solana, and we’re working on various aspects. Apart from the art itself, we’re building technology behind it and aiming to onboard people from web 2 by offering merchandise.
My background in web 2 involved working with the merch industry and branding, and I want to incorporate that experience into Metame. We’ve already shared a sneak peek of our upcoming Metame hoodie, drawing inspiration directly from the anime trade. We’ve been busy building a lot of things, including a custom whitelist tool and some exciting tech projects. I’m genuinely excited about the future of the project because we’re still in the process of building and expanding.
I’ve been in this space for about two and a half years. Usually, when artists join a project, they might end up working in the shadows, not involved in communication or mod stuff. As an artist, I’m fortunate to have a role that allows me to be completely free and engage with many people. My journey into Solana from Ethereum was partly motivated by the high gas fees for NFTs. Solana’s speed was a game-changer for me.
Balancing tasks depends on the given role. If I’m just an artist, creating art for a project, that’s fine. But I’m a people person, and I enjoy talking about things. For Metame, I have the freedom to decide my role. The advantage is that Metame wanted an anime project, aligning perfectly with my love for anime. So, I have the freedom to contribute ideas and put what I want into the collection. It’s a collaborative process where we brainstormed ideas, looked at other projects like degods, and decided on the style and visibility for our PFP. We wanted our characters to be recognizable even in a small image, ensuring visibility and avoiding a cluttered background. We iterated on the PFP to strike the right balance and make the character stand out. We aimed to set a standard where every Metame PFP is distinct and recognizable, similar to how degods achieved it. It’s gratifying to know we’re creating a unique identity for the project.
Key Principles For Building
Certainly, it’s quite common to face difficulties and challenges when creating a project or engaging in art. In fact, encountering errors during the production stage can be advantageous as it highlights areas for improvement. Despite my perfectionist tendencies, the team has found ways to address issues along the way. Our aim is to maintain simplicity while allowing creativity to flourish in the collection.
One of the challenges we encountered was with the intricate details of hair. You may notice that some of our Metamis don’t have head traits or hats due to the complexity involved. To avoid clashes within the generation of traits, we decided to initially omit head traits from the concept. We also faced challenges with certain background traits not complementing the character and special effects that seemed out of place. Through a test generation of all the Metamis as sketches, we ensured that every element fits harmoniously. This step allowed us to identify and eliminate elements that didn’t work.
Even with quality assurance measures in place, minor adjustments were necessary during the rendering of each trait. These difficulties are integral to the creative process, and we constantly strive to enhance our work. The entire collection, comprising 5,000 NFTs, underwent careful curation by Adam and Bill to ensure a cohesive and high-quality feel, even for the floor pieces.
I believe that if we satisfy our current community, it would be our biggest success. Whether the floor price fluctuates or not, the satisfaction of collectors and holders is our primary measure of success. Our focus is on fostering a hunger for growth and development every day. While acknowledging the importance of financial viability in a project, our main goal is delivering content that leaves our collectors satisfied. We value their insights and inputs, incorporating them into the project.
We understand that the floor price can be influenced by various factors, including bots and external pressures. However, as long as people appreciate and enjoy our project, willingly participate, and express happiness with our work, that is what truly matters. We are bullish on our community because, without them, no project can achieve significant success. A supportive community is a driving force even in challenging situations, as evident with projects like Degods.
Building a community is crucial, and it becomes a source of strength during both good and challenging times. Taking care of the community ensures they stand by you through thick and thin. Transparency and trust are key; for instance, members of the community are willing to support the project, even in the face of potential challenges or fud.
Now, addressing the challenges we faced while building the project, one of the initial hurdles was dealing with misconceptions about the project’s focus. Some people assumed it was solely about art, expecting quick returns. However, our intention was to concentrate on the art while building other elements gradually. Managing expectations and not over-promising became a crucial aspect of our approach.
The notion of roadmaps also posed a challenge, as we believe in delivering tangible results rather than making promises. We prefer to announce plans only when we are confident in our ability to execute them. For instance, the upcoming game was not pre-announced because we wanted to assess community interest and ensure adequate funds. This approach helps us avoid overcommitting to plans that may not materialize as expected.
In summary, our strategy revolves around setting fewer expectations and focusing on consistent delivery. We prioritize building a robust community and delivering tangible results rather than making promises without concrete plans.
On A Final Note
My biggest advice would be to have a strong foundation in your art, regardless of the style you choose. If you’re into anime, watch a bunch of amines to understand the style better. For human PFPS, learning anatomy is crucial. Most aspects of creating art, especially with human or anime characters, depend on your knowledge. So, having a good grasp of anatomy is essential.
I recommend watching professionals on platforms like YouTube to observe their techniques. Confidence is key when creating art, so believe in yourself and your abilities. For project founders, it’s important to find an artist you vibe with. I’ve seen situations where the artist and founders don’t connect, leading to conflicts, and sometimes even legal battles. To avoid this, founders should ensure a good connection with the artist, compensate them fairly, and take care of them. This way, artists can elevate the art to a whole new level.
