The NFT conversation may be dominated by the big three – CryptoPunks, Bored Apes and Pudgy Penguins – but there’s a fourth collection that deserves, and arguably now receives, equal recognition.
That NFT collection is the Doodles.
This group of 10,000 colourful, vibrant characters have turned a fun, creative and excitement-filled experiment into one of the premier transmedia entertainment brands of our time – but what are they, what should you know about them, and how did they grow into one of the biggest NFT collections around today?
Here’s our complete 2024 guide to Doodles.
What are Doodles?
Doodles is a collection of 10,000 line-drawn NFT characters. Each Doodle – drawn by co-founder Burn Toast – features a playful combination of vibrant colours and bountiful personality. Launching just before the zenith of the NFT craze in 2021, Doodles quickly gained popularity for their distinctive art style, professional outlook, and committed holders.
The trio of creative minds behind Doodles are:
- Evan Keast (“Tulip”): A marketing and product expert who played a significant role in the success of CryptoKitties at Dapper Labs.
- Jordan Castro (“Poopie”): A blockchain technology guru who also contributed to the success of CryptoKitties.
- Scott Martin (“Burnt Toast”): A Canadian illustrator and animator whose art has been featured by brands such as Google, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
2022 saw Doodles make two big name hires. First, they brought in Julian Holguin, former President of Billboard, as the CEO of Doodles. Later that year, they announced that Pharrell Williams would become Chief Brand Officer.
Doodles have moved beyond digital collectibles into music, animation, physical products and more, with high-profile partnerships, appearances and references within many mainstream properties, such as Adidas, The Simpsons and more. These have led Doodles to become one of the most recognisable NFT collections in the world.
The history of Doodles
Doodles debuted on October 17, 2021, with each NFT minted at a price of 0.123 ETH. The collection sold out quickly, with community interest exploding. Collectors were drawn not just to the art but also to Doodles’ clever approach to nurturing its community engagement.
As time went by, Doodles introduced a number of new collections and features:
- Space Doodles: This is the official companion collection to Doodles, allowing holders to send their Doodles into space for a range of digital experiences.
- Dooplicator: An NFT tool launched in summer 2022, allowing holders to create wearable items from the clothing on their Doodles NFTs.
- Genesis Box: Doodles’ inaugural NFT lootbox released in June 2022, including wearable items that could be equipped by Doodles characters.
Doodles welcomed Pharrell Williams as Chief Brand Officer in June 2022, announcing his appointment at their Genesis Factory IRL side-event at NFT.NYC 2022. Pharrrell’s involvement drew widespread attention, paving the way for collaborations in music, fashion, and entertainment domains, and kick-starting a period of growing recognition for the collection.
The collection acquired award-winning animation studio Golden Wolf in January 2023, bolstering their storytelling and content creation output and making S-tier brand-building and animation their clear goal.
In April 2023, ‘The Stoodio’ entered beta on the Flow blockchain. This introduced Doodles 2, a free-to-join platform that allowed anyone to create a Doodles-esque character and equip it with a variety of digital wearables, both from Doodles NFTs and from lootboxes.
The Doodles Inkubator was introduced in July 2023. This platform served as a place for community-driven initiatives to be highlighted to Doodles holders, with funding and assistance given to bring these creative extensions to the Doodles brand to life – with the soon-to-form Community Council fostering stronger ties between the Doodles brand and its holders.
August 2023 saw Doodles collaborate with CAMP to create a 3,500ft pop-up experience in Chicago, featuring real-world representation of the Stoodio, and giving visitors a way to physically dive into the world of Doodles.
The remainder of 2023 and the first half of 2024 saw a flurry of activity. Brand partnerships were created with the likes of Crocs, Casio G-SHOCK, Adidas and AriZona, and new initiatives were pushed, with Castro releasing the $POOP token, the announcement of record label Doodles Records, and the announcement of their inaugural animated short, “Dullsville and the Doodleverse”, featuring the likes of Pharrell Williams, Lil Wayne, and Coi Leray.
This animation would premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2024, attracting mainstream media coverage as Doodles burst onto the world stage.
Like any NFT collection, Doodles has faced some controversy.
Castro attracted criticism in March 2023 for stating that Doodles was “no longer an NFT project”. This caused concerns that the collection would turn its back on its web3 roots to pursue mainstream success – although since then, Doodles seems to have treated its connections to web3 in much the same way as other collections that have attracted mainstream eyes, such as Bored Apes and Pudgy Penguins.
What’s next for Doodles?
The team has laid out ambitious plans to extend their presence, reach, and mainstream credibility.
With the success of “Dullsville and the Doodleverse”, Doodles will be doubling-down on the talent of Golden Wolf and Burnt Toast to produce additional animated content. This will likely revolve around the recently-released DoodlesTV, an online pay-per-view platform for watching Doodles-created content.
On the blockchain front, Doodles is shifting The Stoodio – and hence Doodles 2 – away from the Flow blockchain to the Base blockchain. This aims to improve usability and scalability whilst reduce costs, with Doodles 2 set to become the primary way for mainstream audiences to interact with the Doodles brand.
With mainstream eyes and many big-name brand partnerships under their belt, after the success of “Dullsville and the Doodleverse”, we can expect to see many more of these collaborations down the line. The 2023 release of the Pharrell Pack – a collaboration between Pharrell and Adidas for a line of digital wearables – was a clear example of this.
Doodles has emerged as one of the true pioneers of the NFT industry. By continuously pushing boundaries whilst staying true to their web3 origins, the collection has achieved recognition and fanfare both across web3 and with mainstream audiences – a rare feat for a blockchain-based project.
As Doodles continues to grow, they continue to pursue their ambitious plan to become an entertainment powerhouse – and from what we’ve seen so far, they have every chance at succeeding.
