Doodles have retained its position as one of the most significant and well-liked NFT collection initiatives in existence among the innumerable PFP (profile-picture) projects that have long dominated the larger NFT market. There is much more to these ostensibly straightforward Doodles than meets the eye, even if the collection of vibrant line-drawn characters that has practically swept the world ranks highly on the list of top PFPs in terms of popularity and sales volume.

Doodles have navigated the highs and lows of the NFT ecosystem and emerged as one of the most prosperous Web3 brands available. This includes groundbreaking token dynamics, high-profile collaborations, expensive in-person events, and much more. While it may be impossible to fully detail all of the ups and downs that contributed to the project’s climb to fame, this guide will provide you with all of the information you need to comprehend Doodles.

The Doodles NFT collection

The 10,000 generative NFTs in Doodles were produced by Jordan Castro, Scott Martin, and Evan Keast. The group goes by the aliases Tulip, Burnt Toast, and Poopie when using “working aliases.” Keast and Castro were well known in the NFT world prior to Doodles since they assisted in the 2017 debut of the renowned NFT project known as CryptoKitties. For over a year, Martin has been creating his own works and developing his creative brand within the NFT industry.

Martin generated original artwork for Doodles, which includes hundreds of distinct visual elements. The initiative ultimately combined these distinct characteristics at random to produce the entire Doodles collection, following the lead of predecessors like CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, and Cool Cats.

Humans, cats, pickles, apes, sentient flames, skeletons, aliens, and more can be found in the Doodles environment. Like almost all collections of generative avatars, Doodles NFTs are available in a range of rarities determined by their features. You can find RaritySniffer’s unofficial rankings here, even though the Doodles team has never formally published a list of which attributes are the rarest and most prevalent. The most expensive items to date to be resold were mascots, cats, aliens, apes, and skeletons.

On October 17, 2021, Keast, Castro, and Martin introduced Doodles, and priced their offering at 0.123 ETH per mint. The mint price was seen as being fairly expensive at the time. The majority of PFP projects had mint prices below 0.1 ETH prior to Doodles. However, the founding team of Doodles chose this higher price point to guarantee an initial treasury of 420 ETH.

Doodles tried something during the project’s deployment that seems to have never been done by a PFP project. The Doodles team shut down the Discord when membership reached a little over 1,000, around a month before the project went live for minting. As a result, the project’s community became even more exclusive because no new members could join.

This choice was controversial since it basically granted a small number of people whitelist access (also known as priority minting). But as the Doodles mint date approached, the project’s fan base grew, and the choice to shut down the Discord began to be viewed as a creative way to thank early NFT project backers.

wen doodstock 22′

let’s celebrate @doodles hitting 100k with 1 free doodle.

tell us wer the doodles & frens should party next.

♥️@HeartNFTs @moonpay @electricfeelent
🎵 @heyamine pic.twitter.com/u4AmHmbHDg

— doodles (@doodles) December 17, 2021

Establishing a Doodles NFTs community

The Discord server was relaunched soon after the whole stock of Doodles had run out, attracting a large number of new collectors and aficionados to the group. The project’s reputation as one of the hottest PFP NFT communities was further cemented in the months that followed when a wide range of NFT influencers and well-known celebrities joined Doodles as collectors.

Doodles appear to have been all about empowering their community from the beginning, in contrast to many avatar projects who advertise themselves as being community-centred. Owning a Doodle and casting a vote on community suggestions, as stated on the Doodles website, “makes the roadmap collaborative.” Thanks in large part to the project’s voting mechanism and pro-artist/anti-scam culture, this aspect of the project has only recently been more apparent.

our goal is to make a product that’s sticky.

– primary sales revenue % into DAO Treasury
– secondary sales revenue % into DAO Treasury
– 1 @doodledaonfts = 1 vote on how to put that capital to work
– what will we create together this year and the years to come? #doodledao pic.twitter.com/dNfb0gFZFj

— doodles (@doodles) August 23, 2021

Public voting

Every Doodles owner has a voice in the operation of the single DAO that serves as the foundation of the whole Doodles ecosystem. Keast outlined the DoodleDAO treasury’s operation early on, claiming that 1 Doodle Equals 1 Vote for any and all DoodleBank-related decisions.

Members of Doodles have so far had the opportunity to cast votes on issues, including sponsoring a 3D Doodles project, live events, and team sizing. Each idea is given the opportunity for more discussion on the Doodles Forum and Doodles Discord.

As the project has grown, ideas have decreased in frequency, but initiatives have increased in importance to the future and general success of Doodles as a brand. This is probably attributable to the project’s management, which has appeared to keep an eye on the horizon.

Anti-Scam/Pro-Artist

Doodles, one of the most well-liked products on the market, soon sparked a large number of imitation and derivative works. Keast and the Doodles crew had already put in place a type of derivative permission system within their Discord, so it appears that they anticipated this problem. The main Doodles collection served as a source of inspiration for the projects that developers were encouraged to submit as formal proposals. The 1 Doodle = 1 Vote system has been used to vote on a number of projects put up by the Doodles community, leading to collections including Noodles and Pukenza.

Additionally, a scam alert channel was added to the Doodles server, encouraging a kind of “see something, say something” attitude. There have been numerous reports of fraudulent projects and accounts, and it appears that the channel has prevented a number of unofficial Doodles imitations and potential scams.

Doodles: Up to the moon

we like it here, but let’s explore what’s next. pic.twitter.com/2HwEDicKf8

— doodles (@doodles) February 2, 2022

For several months after its debut, the Doodles floor price stayed around between 1 and 5 ETH, but near the end of 2021, things began to pick up. Around this time, Keast and the rest of the Doodles team started to publish little animations that hinted at upcoming content. This caused secondary sales to soar and some of the biggest Doodles sales ever.

While a project team usually experiences a brief increase in sales and trades (referred to as a “pump”) after making significant news (such as Nike buying RTFKT) or releasing a collector’s item, Doodles’ was able to maintain the momentum even a month after making their announcement. What’s new? Doodles in Space. Space Doodles, which are only available to Doodles holders, were described by Castro as “non-dilutive extended content for Doodles.” Castro even provided a technical breakdown in a Twitter conversation.

Launches of Cool Pets, Bored Ape Kennel Club, KingFrogs, and other products have demonstrated how popular projects may take advantage of the demand and grow their collector bases. But Space Doodles operates in a unique way. The Doodles team created a method that allowed owners to switch their NFT for a new, spaceship-themed one rather than releasing an extra collection of NFTs to match their initial 10,000. To distinguish them from the originals, these spaceship-themed NFTs are stored in a distinct collection on the Ethereum blockchain.

Space Doodles, which are only available to Doodles holders, were described by Castro as “non-dilutive extended content for Doodles.” Castro even provided a technical breakdown in a Twitter conversation.

Doodles as a platform for entertainment

The Doodles project’s integration of the actual world with the blockchain is one of its most intriguing features. This is so that Doodles may be much more than a straightforward PFP project. The crew at Doodles has already taken a number of actions to help realise this goal. As co-founder Keast has stated countless times, the firm’s ultimate goal is to develop into a comprehensive Web3 entertainment company.

In partnership with world class organizations, expect the magic of the Doodles brand to manifest in music, animation, collectibles, games and live events. pic.twitter.com/rh9HwAKZsz

— doodles (@doodles) June 28, 2022

Doodles have now produced immersive in-person experiences that coincide with yearly NFT events twice. The Doodles team first collaborated with The Heart Project in December 2021 to host a sizable event during Art Basel Miami. The NFT community got its first taste of what to anticipate from Doodles as an entertainment company during Heart Basel Miami, as they dubbed it. The event included a gallery, exclusive merchandise, live music performances, and more. According to the expenditure proposal, it was organised and carried out in a short amount of time.

The event seemed to be a success; shortly after, Keast even mentioned that some well-known talent agents had expressed interest in Doodles. However, it appears that the Doodles team is planning more than just events. The founders’ ultimate goal, as stated in an interview with HYPEBEAST, is to “Connect Web3 and the real world and unite NFT enthusiasts through community activities like as installations, concert merchandising, and more,” according to the founders.

gmiami heart basel@HeartNFTs @moonpay @electricfeelent & frens pic.twitter.com/lEgus2ziSi

— doodles (@doodles) December 2, 2021

The Doodles Genesis Factory, the second event, debuted in June 2022 in conjunction with NFT.NYC. The activation served as a platform for a number of planned Doodles initiatives, including Doodles’ first fundraising effort, Doodles 2, Doodles Records, and others. It also served to emphasise Doodles’ goal further to show up and show out.

Doodles took a decision in 2023 that strengthened its resolve to develop into a web3 entertainment business. Tweeting about how “narrative storytelling, world-building, and character development will be at the centre of all we do,” the team revealed that Doodles would be purchasing award-winning animation studio Golden Wolf.

The entire extent to which a Web3 corporation might use a PFP project to achieve all of this is still unknown. However, the Bored Ape Yacht Club and World of Women, both of which are currently controlled by Madonna and U2’s manager, Guy Oseary, have expressed similar views in the past. Doodles appear to be reiterating that cry right now.

Future plans for Doodles

Given how new the Doodles project is, it is astounding to see the development and successes that it and its three creators have achieved. The collection now has about 155,000 ETH in secondaries. While Doodles still has a long way to go before they’re considered a legitimate challenger to the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which has so far earned more than 711,000 ETH for the PFP NFT crown, the collection of colourful characters has clearly captured the hearts of many NFT aficionados.

Furthermore, the Doodles project is still moving forward despite the fact that cryptocurrency prices have been fluctuating significantly since its inception. The organisation has brought on a variety of expertise to the team, including none other than Pharrell Williams as Chief Branding Officer and former President of Billboard Julian Holguin as CEO, from live, immersive events to distinctive, inventive project development.

Additionally, as the Doodles Web3 entertainment business expands, so do its initiatives. The Doodles community has the following things to look forward to.

Doodles Raise Money

The first round of funding for Doodles was revealed to be led by 776 Management, a venture capital company founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, in the summer of 2022. The amount of funding was not mentioned, but the partnership looked solid by nature, given that it was also revealed that Katelin Holloway, co-founder of 776, will join the Doodles board of directors.

And it was, in fact. It was made plain in a September 2022 statement that Doodles’ initial round of investment was a resounding success. Aside from 776, $54 million in finance for Doodles was gathered by 10T Holdings, Acrew Capital, and FTX Ventures. According to the September announcement, Holloway thinks that Doodles now has the resources necessary to “[build] the next digital frontier of how we experience and create content, unlocking the real value underlying NFTs.”

Following the completion of its investment round, Doodles appears ready to use “ventures in the music, cultural, and entertainment industries” to establish itself as a genuinely global IP. Of course, the blockchain, which first made Doodles possible, continues to be at the core of everything. In the press release, Holloway stated, “Doodles is reimagining narrative through the blockchain, transforming the way the world communicates and interacts.”

Doodles 2

Doodles 2 is the most intriguing advancement on the Doodles’ extensive and dynamic path. Once more, Doodles appears to be eschewing the path of a companion project in favour of launching a novel new endeavour designed to attract additional people to Doodles and the larger NFT ecosystem. How? Doodles 2’s hosting on the Flow blockchain was revealed at the start of 2023. The prominent project’s staff is hoping that the choice will help the Doodles project get wider public support and more effectively convey their belief that the future will be multi-chain.

The focus of Doodles 2’s “A Doodle for Everyone” marketing campaign, which follows Doodles’ acquisition of Golden Wolf, an esteemed animation studio, is dynamic NFTs constructed on Flow. With the new project, Doodle users will be able to customise their NFTs to match their online personas.

“When we refer to Doodles 2, we actually mean a bespoke Doodle. In an interview with nft, Castro stated that Doodles 2 features two separate sorts of NFTs in contrast to the first collection. “The Doodle is the first one. Consider it a mannequin or a stock figure. Different Doodle properties can be customised. And each of these is an on-chain property. The wearable category of NFT is the second. And you may combine those wearables with your Doodle to achieve the look you want.

A letter to our community pic.twitter.com/M9kp0LK0Gq

— doodles (@doodles) January 25, 2023

While the focus of Doodles 2 will initially be on customisable wearables, owners can anticipate the release of additional wearable collections through marquee drops, some of which will include in-line items and brand collaborations with partners, musicians, and creators. In essence, this will establish a new Doodles microeconomy in which anyone may buy, sell, and exchange wearable NFTs. The ability to switch between a full-body or PFP perspective and unlock an animated version of an owned NFT with original music are additional features.

The Dooplicator, an invention, will be crucial to the release of Doodles 2. The Doodles team claims that the tool, which has been described in the past as one of the most mysterious aspects of the Doodles ecosystem, has “perpetual utility beyond Doodles 2.” The initial step in the Doodles 2 journey, via which owners can mint first edition Doodles 2 wearables, will be activating the Dooplicator.

The Doodles Doodles Genesis Box will then be used to launch the subsequent phase a month later. This collection of 24,000 NFTs, which was unveiled at the Genesis Factory, includes NFT boxes that house second-edition wearables. Additionally, any edition of wearables unlocked throughout the Doodles 2 release period (from either Dooplication or Genesis Box) will come with a Doodles 2 Beta Pass, giving owners access to a forthcoming private beta of the make-your-own-Doodle tool.

Also, read – The Meebits Guide: More Than Just 3D CryptoPunks

Records by Doodles

Doodles Records is a new division of the main Doodles brand that Doodles fans may anticipate. Little is known about the alleged record label, although it has been revealed that Doodles Records: Volume 1 will feature original music with Pharrell serving as executive producer, hand-drawn album art from lead Doodles artist Scott Martin, and limited-edition wearables for Doodles 2. Owners of Doodles 2 will be able to layer the first volume’s music into their new animated NFTs thanks to cooperation with Columbia Records. It combines the best of NFTs and music.

The gradual rise of Doodles

Beyond the standard hype cycle of price rises and famous people joining the Doodles group, Doodles has occasionally been known to abandon their community. This hasn’t necessarily been a negative thing as the Doodles crew seems content to keep quiet until they have anything to say, in contrast to the larger NFT community, which has become accustomed to biweekly teasers and announcements.

Regardless of sentiment, it is obvious that Doodles intends to give their community a crazy trip over the coming several years. With millions of dollars in money already in the Doodle bank and a significant fundraising campaign about to begin, the Doodles team has more than made up for its initial treasury holding, which was worth more than $1.5 million at the time the project was launched.