Origins: NFT Design

Do you know what NFT means?

Yes?

No?

If not, then we’re here. NFTs or Non-Fungible (sounds endearing) Tokens are unreplicable digital assets people can buy or sell. NFT by itself is a type of cryptocurrency but more associated with art.

We’ll give an example found in the physical world to contrast with an NFT. Think about a painting on canvas with high value because of its rarity. An NFT is an original copy of a digital piece that has the signature of its author in its blockchain.

This blog is an NFT. The song playing on your phone or laptop is an NFT. Even the meme you laugh at as you scroll through your social media is an NFT.

But the real question is, why should we care about these Non-Fungible Tokens, and why should we understand their function in society today?

The Origins

Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash created the Quantum in May 2014 for McCoy’s wife. Thus, NFT has long been in circulation since 2014, but it entered the mainstream just last year, 2021. 

But what truly takes the cake for NFT design is monegraph. Monegraph uses the same technology as bitcoin to help graphic artists and designers certify that each piece is authentically, solely from them.

Both McCoy and Dash co-founded the technology because as pieces get marketed, it loses their value due to copy-pasting. Thus, monegraph came into existence to do just that.

Later on, in 2017, CryptoKitties came into existence. The first blockchain game allowed users to breed, collect, and trade kitties. Each kitty was an NFT that users kept in their e-wallets.

Continuing forward, around 2018 up to today, we now have what we call NFT Marketplaces. Opensa, created in December 2017, is the first of all NFT marketplaces with a complete list of NFT you can buy for yourself.

Aside from that, in 2020, the NBA is selling top shots of game highlights that you could own virtually. Depending on which video snippet you want, you can now save it and enjoy it.

And the most recent NFT is the art exhibition of Beeple that sold for $69 million. Everydays – First 5000 Days, a compilation of artworks by Mike Winkelmann for the past 14 years.

Now, if you think about those facts, it’s a great idea to create one for yourself, but at what cost?

Design Implications

Despite NFT sounding like a great idea for extra cash, let’s take a look at what its existence means for the whole art, design, and environmental scenes.

1. Revolutionary Design
2. Catastrophic Environment

Revolutionary Design

Since the release of Bleepe’s piece just this January 14, it has changed everything about the art industry’s direction–how we see ownership of digital art.

People can just copy and paste works of art nowadays. But now, NFT technology allows the authentication of artworks under your name. As long as the peace has a blockchain that says it’s the NFT of a specific piece, then you’re good to go.

Much like art, designing has become much more valuable with NFT technology. You can authenticate business-related pieces like articles, GIFs, JPGs, and more.

Catastrophic Environment

Sure, we have the new method of authenticating digital pieces, but what cost?

It takes around  14,400kWh per day to mine ether. Now think about this: it only takes 1kWh to power a household with 3 to 4 people.

That 14,400kWh per day of mining bitcoin or ether contributes to the carbon footprint that contributes to climate change. It’s unavoidable if you want to sell an NFT despite that alarming fact.

But that’s still up to the designer and artist’s discretion.

Craft an NFT

Implications aside, you can create your own NFT if you want some side hustle or as an occupation. Follow these 5 to steps create your authentic blockchain art:

1. Purchase a Strong Mining Device (CPU, GPU, ASIC, Cloud, Solar, Pool)

• Suggested Specs:

• GPU with 3GB RAM
• Desktop
• Operating System should be Windows 10(64bit)

1. Create a Crypto Wallet for Storing Purchases
2. Look for NFT Market Place to Sell Pieces
3. Upload Art or Design Pieces with Blockchain Format
4. Wait for Client to Buy Pieces

Try It Our For Yourself!

Weigh your options when it comes to NFT. It could be trending now, but what happens after the hype dies down? If it dies down anyway.

Ensure that you have all the details on NFTs before purchasing or creating one to aid you in making an informed decision. You have most of the information you need right here for an NFT.

Let’s recap. Non-Fungible Tokens are design and or art pieces sold online with their blockchain program embedded in them much, like bitcoin and ethereum.

It’s basically like a certificate of authenticity for online pieces since it is easy to replicate online art and design. But there are implications. Consider your resources and how NFTs impacts you as a content creator.

We hope you learned something from us in our new Origins series. See you in our next segment, reader!

Read More on Design Here:

Written by DesignCrowd on Wednesday, February 2, 2022

DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.