I have an interesting creative proposal I’d like to share involving the utilization of another historical pixel-based project; let’s call this Proposal and the outcome: Doge Squares!
It is important that we have some community discussion to refine this proposal. That is my intention from the outset.
Note: I do know the creator of the project personally but I don’t own any assets nor do I have a financial stake in it. At the time of this writing the creator isn’t aware I am proposing this. I am putting the idea out here independently because I really do like both projects (I am a Doge Pixel hodler) and see a powerful synergizing opportunity between the two within the theme of NFT pixels.
Main Idea:
The main idea of this Proposal is around using Su Squares (the foundational ERC-721 project alongside CryptoKitties that catalyzed the birth of NFT eco-system) as a creative platform for OwnTheDoge purposes and fun community engagement opportunities. This would involve OwnTheDoge acquiring a set of proximal NFT pixel “Squares” sufficient to form a variety of possible images when uploading pixels to those Squares… Doge Squares!
Elaboration:
Similar to virtual real estate, the vision for Su Squares is like it’s a Times Square pixel canvas where owners can own populate their publicly visible space with their choice of artwork, ads, messages, buildings or other creations… formed by a small amount of pixels! There’s a limited amount of only 10,000 squares/pixels in total on the canvas to be owned and publicly displayed.
OwnTheDoge is known for its Doge memers, creative hearts and collectors who love and know how to engage with blockchain. The difference in spirit between simply posting content on twitter or on discord vs placing it visibly on (Su) Doge Squares is essentially like distributing pixels of the Doge picture as JPEG files instead of as NFTs. The difference is profound. Claiming a place in Su Squares for Doge Squares gives the community a dedicated blockchain space to utilize for activities and creative content creation in a meaningful way with a historic backdrop. We could also display the Su Squares canvas into an OwnTheDoge webpage with custom branding to really make it Doge Squares, perhaps with a unique URL.
The history of Su Squares is as the first full implementation of the ERC-721 standard, spearheaded by William Entriken in the wake of CryptoKitties’ success, underscoring the project’s pioneering role in shaping the NFT landscape. This background positions Doge Squares as a continuation of innovation within the NFT space. However, Su Squares can also only ever be as interesting as the owners’ content populating it, so having Doge Squares actively participating in its space on the platform would add a very dynamic and welcomed flavor to it.
Some Possible Use Cases:
Weekly Creative Showcases: Launch weekly showcases of Doge-themed content on Doge Squares, featuring a vibrant mix of memes, artwork, and community news. This ongoing event will keep the community engaged and looking forward to new, creative displays.
AI-Generated Art Surprises: Schedule regular uploads of AI-generated Doge pixel art to offer community members delightful and unexpected artistic creations. This initiative combines technology and creativity, maintaining a sense of wonder within the Doge Squares space.
Exclusive NFT Giveaways: After debuting new content on Doge Squares, offer it as a unique NFT giveaway. This could include a one-of-a-kind NFT of the entire image, as well as individual pixel NFTs linked to the original artwork, enriching the ownership experience by connecting it to the larger community creation.
Community Raffles for Doge Square Use: Organize raffles that offer winners temporary control over the entire Doge Squares space to display content of their choice. This engaging opportunity incentivizes participation and fosters a sense of community ownership and involvement.
Collaborative Pixel Art Projects: Encourage community collaboration in creating large-scale pixel art projects. This activity not only leverages the collective creativity of the OwnTheDoge community but also highlights the communal nature of the blockchain and NFT space.
A Separate Doge-customized Homepage: normally the public canvas is viewed from the Su Squares homepage website, but we could opt to have it displayed in a custom designed Doge-themed homepage that imports all of the pixel information in real time. This could be a way to integrate the display on OwnTheDoge webpages.
Costs and Financing:
Boiling down the exact costs is going to require some community discussion as it would depend on a few factors including how many pixels are desired as well as the ability to get consecutive Squares in the secondary market based on that amount, and if there is a desire for a custom homepage which I imagine there might be.
-I’m not asking for any funds for myself.
-I’m not sure what the costs would be to display the (Su) Doge Squares canvas on a separate webpage than the official Su Squares website, but it is likely a replicable solution from how it’s done on the official site, perhaps Will could share this.
-I’m also not sure what the costs would be for something like implementing the AI generative use-case; I’d imagine it being possible some pixel hodlers could probably set that up with minimal overhead if they already work with relevant open source solutions.
-I do think considering the cost of most other ongoing use-cases may be outside the scope of this proposal.
I think the first set of questions for the community to address would be:
How many Su Squares would be desired to claim for Doge Squares? Or reframed as: how many pixels do we want to use for images? 10x10, 40x40, 100x100 etc…
On the secondary market (according to OpenSea) I’ve seen prices range from .033 ETH up to .5 ETH for Squares. There are also unclaimed Squares so it is possible that William (the project creator) could offer some deal for a bulk acquisition. If there is interest here, I reach out and bring him to the table to discuss making a deal for the desired quantity. And if there are any suggestions for new features to the Su Squares homepage (that publicly displays the canvas) to support Doge Squares, maybe we could discuss a plan to implement that too.
I’m attaching some links related to the project including a wiki about it, the official homepage, the secondary market on OpenSea and Will’s Wikipedia page as it relates to his history with ERC-721 and launching Su Squares.
That’s the main bulk of the proposal, I’m adding some additional context below for anyone interested in learning more about Su Squares’ history and how it works to better understand the synergy present.
Background Story of Historical Digital Asset, Su Squares:
Everyone’s pretty much clued into the ERC-721 standard by now, right? It formalized the definition and use cases of NFTs and laid the groundwork for the eco-system built around it. The story starts with Dieter Shirley planning to launch CryptoKitties. He drafted the initial version of ERC-721 while figuring out how to prove ownership of these digital cats because he didn’t want to rely on a fungible standard like ERC-20 like CryptoPunks did. He then implemented an early alpha version of ERC-721 into CryptoKitties and at launch the game exploded in popularity. Dieter got swamped around the buzz and success of the game, leaving the ERC-721 draft in limbo and at risk of not being published at a time where there was no established NFT standard for the Ethereum community to consolidate around.
Enter William Entriken, a civic hacker and big time open-source advocate. He was tinkering with Su Squares, a personal project in honor of his wife Su that’s basically blockchain’s version of the Million Dollar Homepage. In his search for a solid foundation for Su Squares, he stumbled upon the draft for ERC-721 and saw its potential amidst the CryptoKitties craze. At that time, the space was cluttered with all sorts of competing ERC drafts of different potential NFT standards that were more or less comparable; he saw the lack of unity as threatening to split the community and complicate the development of a cohesive ecosystem and infrastructure.
Will stepped up, becoming Lead Author of the paper and rallying the community to unify behind ERC-721. He played a crucial role in refining and finalizing the standard for publication, and made Su Squares the first project to fully implement ERC-721 according its final published form. This move to pioneer it not only validated the standard but also paved the way for others to follow, leading to the emergence of NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible, and setting the stage for the next wave of NFT innovation with standards like ERC-1155.
How Su Squares works:
If your familiar with the Million Dollar homepage project, it’s just like it, being a shared canvas or mural. Here’s a breakdown:
Basically there’s a shared canvas of Squares, essentially pixels, for a total 10,000 Squares
Each Square in that canvas comes with an NFT deed that allows the owner to upload whatever pixel/image they want into the square and it will appear when looking at the canvas.
If you own multiple Squares next to each other, you can coordinate to upload to each and form an image when looking at the canvas.
Owners can swap in images/pixels into their Squares at any time, and can rent out their squares to others.
Everyone can publicly see the shared canvas in real-time when viewed on a homepage configured to display it; all the Squares/pixels connecting proximally form images.