Just got off a call with @Sloppypencil about artwork for Grounds, we’re going to use this thread to work through the draft artwork. Would love community feedback through this process.
What we’re thinking is noun-inspired characters, deterministically generated with a variety of coffee-cups for heads: espressos, lattes, pour overs, iced, etc.
Sloppypencil does some really awesome animations, so I think we’ll also look to have subtle animations on the collection as well.
Would be nice to have different style mugs / drinks and maybe even extraction methods (pour over espresso, cold brew) along with the usual mix of traits…very much looking forward and open to collaborate sketch if needed !
Oh yeah, I had only really thought about this in terms of preparation methods, but you’re right that there are many different cup styles that might be used for any given preparation: ceramics (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, etc), glass (single wall, double wall, etc), stainless steel, paper/to-go cups. Each of which has many different styles and colours. There’s endless potential diversity here.
For the sake of constraining things initially, let’s say we had to pick 5 preparations, each with two to three cup styles each. We can always add more in later.
How does something like this sound?
| Preparation | Cup Style options |
|---|---|
| Espresso | ceramic, glass |
| Latte | ceramic, glass, paper to-go cup |
| Iced Latte | glass. plastic to-go cup |
| Pour over | ceramic, glass |
| Nitro cold brew | glass |
Later, we could also add heads for the different extraction devices: espresso machine, aeropress, V60 pourover, etc.
i personally like the nouns style, non-foam options as the main image bc they can be easily swapped with or represented by this ⌐⬓. i do like the layers for nft traits ie. for nfts we could have iterations of the cup/contents.
(this comment will make more sense when colin adds the drafts)
Hey guys!
So I got a couple of early sketches on how they could look like.
My current asset layers would be
-Coffee Cup (Ceramic, glass, etc)
-Body (Shirts, suits, etc)
-Noggles (Different colors and eyes, tired eyes, super awake, normal, jittery, etc)
-Inside coffee (Coffe, milk, foam, matcha etc)
-Top Accessory (Foam, straw, spoon, cookies, etc)
Also with the animation I was exploring a more “everything is moving” Style but it would maybe fall into “everything moves a bit the same” category.
Could also just make liquid and some cups move, same with the eyes. So more room for uniqueness this way but a bit harder to make.
Let me know your thoughts! I know this is something we should all propose and create together.
Cheers! Pleasure to be able to create here.
Oh, I like the shirt style on the bottom two illustrations!
Could also just make liquid and some cups move, same with the eyes.
Yeah, I think I prefer this route. The style where there are just a few animated elements seems like it will give more visual variation.
Ok awesome me too, like that they are more humanlike that way.
Let me start with around 5-6 bodies let me know what you think about
-Barista
-Chef
-Hipster
-Suit (Blue, Black)
-Pajamas
I wonder if it should be a handful of different sweaters/hoodies, rather than specific personas?
One thing this made me realize is that we can actually rotate the selection of available traits over time. They can be somewhat seasonal. So, for example, a specific sweater might only be available for one season, then it’s gone forever and can no longer be minted.
I like that idea. Its ugly Christmas sweater season right now. Paired with an Irish coffee head? 
Do we stick with just one head for now, or is the plan still to have different glasses / cups?
I still think a couple of different cups and preparations is a good idea.
I can’t wait to see the super rare tweaked out crumbled jittery to go cup head thats 37 coffees deep into the day.
Here is a more grounded version of a “Mocha” Head, chill blink eyes and a nice cozy Christmas sweater!
Gonna do another type of head now.
Hey these are really nice!
Thanks for sharing them
I would also be curious to see some pixel style cryptopunk / nouns style ? Maybe it’s too played out for certain people but I like the economy of it.
Also instead of noggles (groggles?) Maybe they could have the cup in their hand?
I can also imagine the main form factor being this
⌐⬓
rendered in glass or ceramic, more or less full , with or without milk. Some could be chipped or fat lava style or have a flare on the bottom diner style, and the handle could be holding diff things like a coffee or a book or something. Or the arms could be on the body. Then classic variations with bodies and doff color BG etc.
Or maybe the cup is in the hand of a body and the BG is like the body / sweater, etc
Just throwing some things out 
if it’s not clear I could also sketch some stuff
I think the noggles and overall proportions are a nice reference to Nouns, but having a distinct art and animation style makes them feel like less of a derivative.
Would definitely love to see sketches!
Here is another test for the cup, solid ceramics, could have some etchings and details to complement it as well, also playing with some smoke for the top!
Can also make custom cups, make them glass, ceramic, metal etc.
Playing with more animated tops.
Longer cups are going to be a bit rough to match but will upload an example in a second.
Here’s an example of how a longer cup would work.
Would need to re purpose all tops animations so they match this shape and we would have to establish different rules in the generation of the NFTS.
