The significance of story development in NFTs
The non-fungible renaissance, experiential creative design, and the power of storytelling
“In every culture all around the world, storytelling is how people connect with one another. State-of-the-art technology will change, but state-of-the-heart storytelling will always be the same.” — Sid Ganis
NFT adoption has exploded globally in the last three months, and despite comparisons to the 2017 crypto bubble, there are no signs that it will slow down. While it’s partly a result of financial institutions catching onto the crypto industry, as well as celebrities, and professional athletes, the crypto industry is also getting the attention it deserves from the general public.
Surprisingly, the last time something of this magnitude impacted the entire world and upended the fundamentals of society in the way that we are seeing today occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries, and was marked by an innate desire among the public, and eventually, all citizens of the world, to restore natural balance, transcend conventional ideas, and surpass the wisdom of their “royal” or “political” eloquence.
Today, the NFT market is becoming increasingly crowded by the day. New projects are entering the space, while established projects are looking to expand their unique user base and grow beyond the profile picture utility or merch drop roadmaps. At present, there are over 20 NFT trading platforms, each one fighting for its own niche. And it’s just the beginning — more will come in the next few months.
The key to achieving success in the long run within the NFT market is engaging content that resonates with collectors and your community, facilitating tiered value through project partnerships or exclusive collabs, building an active community that isn’t solely financially derived, and structuring a well-designed ecosystem that offers affordable and consistent entry points for the public to have the opportunity to be apart of what you’re building.
As a rule of thumb during project development or early building days, you should be thinking through ways to create content, draft threads, and being curating and developing a story that not only resonates with your collectors and culture as a whole but is true to the roots of the project itself.
But what makes a story genuine and how do artists or projects perfect this?
Starting with the negative, let’s talk about what storytelling isn’t. It’s not about your project’s name, value, partners, or utility when it comes to telling the story. In fact, your collectors or customers are unlikely to be interested in these items at all, they’re looking for whether or not the project resonates with their belief systems, social values, interests, or passions, all of which are intrinsically found and essentially what brings them to life.
Making your project’s story come alive requires more than just writing on your website, Twitter page, Discord server, Instagram profile, or blog; in fact, anyone can do it. Empathy, trust, shared experiences, and a deep understanding of community from the founders, server moderators, and developers are the valuable components that incite effective storytelling. Being of the human species, we know that great storytelling involves emotion, fosters empathy, and is typically comprised of characters engaged in conflict and ultimately resolving their differences, elements that we all encounter in our daily lives. Over time the result is a long-lasting magnetic effect on the members and is further magnified externally to the public.
Why your brand or project needs a story?
Humanity is becoming the new premium in today’s fast-paced, overly automated, and digitally-driven society. The internet constantly rewards us with convenience and instant gratification, increasing the scarcity and value of the human touch. We believe brands or projects can no longer afford to be anonymous in this environment. Founders, project teams, and artists must connect with their community directly, tug at their heartstrings genuinely through storytelling, and engage with them on a much deeper level than ever before in order to survive.
This is where brand storytelling enters the picture…
As digital designers, We often analyze components like style, layout, mark-up, usability, and the flow of content in our quest to create the perfect design, and it’s easy to overlook a key element of design: storytelling. The cohesive narrative that weaves together the facts and emotions that your brand evokes is known as brand storytelling. Brand and NFT Community Projects must begin sharing the story behind their brand, why it exists, and why this matters, consistently across all communications.
