NFTUK: Edition 4, Community, Artist and OG builder Spotlight
Discover Community Happenings and Exciting New Features! Founder Spotlight and Artist Spotlight - A Double Dose of Inspiration!
What's New and Exciting?
Since the previous newsletter we’ve been busy organising the yearly agenda for NFTUK through setting up exciting collaborations and partnerships, we have been engaging in both in-person meetings and daily calls to ensure the optimal growth of the community, as well as planning our NFT Parisian adventure. There is a lot happening this year and we are so excited and we will be sharing more soon so stick around.
We are heading to NFT Paris find us to claim a NFTUK POAP during the event
As previously mentioned, NFTUK is one of the international curators among MOCA, Claire Silver, NFT African Club, MOCDA, ObscuraDAO, Vertical Crypto, OBJKT and NFT Asia, to bring 10 incredibly talented artists from the community at NFT Paris event.
You can view the winners of our Open Call on Joyn.xyz ➡️ here
➡️ If you are joining us at NFT Paris, the team was very kind to give us a 20% discount code for tickets through this link
What’s happening with CR3W?
CR3W - our upcoming Web3 career platform on chain which will enable our community and others globally to post job listings and apply for exciting roles within the ecosystem. We have hosted a series of full day workshops with our engineering team and we are currently in a development phase. We have a lot to unfold with CR3W, so we will be sharing more trough the next newsletter editions. Launching a signup page this coming week, in the meantime be sure to follow the twitter account for any updates.
Founders Spotlight - Richerd co- founder
We're starting a series of founder interviews to highlight the people behind the scenes of the web3 ecosystem. And to get us started, we had a chat with Richerd, the mastermind and co-founder of Manifold. We wanted to learn about the story behind Manifold and what they have in store. As you may know, Manifold launched an innovative platform last year, making it easier for creators to deploy their contracts on the blockchain without having to pay high fees.
Interview:⬇️
NFTUK: Hello Richerd, it's fantastic to have you as our first featured founder in our spotlight series! Would you mind introducing yourself to our readers and giving them a brief overview of who you are
Since its inception, Manifold has made a significant impact on the creator's journey by providing ample support. The growth of Manifold has been exponential and impressive.
Can you tell us about the origin story of Manifold and what inspired you to create it?
Manifold was started to enable creative sovereignty in web3. When we first started working with artists it was was very apparent that most artist didn't understand the underlying technology that they were using mint and sell their work. There were a number of philosophical and technological tradeoffs and most artists didn't quite realize some of the implications of what they were doing when they entered the space. In working with artists, we sought to create tools that artists could easily understand and that gave them as much control over their works as possible.
NFTUK: What does the growth look like from a data point of view?
Growth at Manifold means more creators creating more things, not just creating and selling NFTs but also creating engaging and compelling experiences for their communities. A common metric that most people use is volume of things sold, but for us it's all about creation. If we can help facilitate more creators entering web3 and creating new things of all shapes and sizes than we consider that a win.
Is Manifold considering the possibility of developing cross-chain functionality and potentially exploring integration with Bitcoin?
Yes, of course, There are lots of interesting mechanics that can be explored when you introduce the idea of cross-chain interactions. We have always considered other adding features that integrate with other chains but we haven't had the time or resources to do so properly. At the end of the day we want to offers creators maximum optionality with how they create things in web3 and other chains do play a part in creating interesting opportunities for creators to explore.
What exciting developments can we expect from Manifold in the near future?
We're all about helping artists create things, we have a number of applications that are in the works that will help artists create interesting on-chain experiences. The next thing that is coming out is our updated Burn-Redeem app which will allow creators to burn ERC-721 tokens, theres a lot of additions to this app that will give creators more control over what they can do with the tokens they create.
NFTUK: We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today. Keep creating outstanding products in the space!
Artist Spotlight: Graceland London
Since our last newsletter, we've started showcasing some amazing artists in our Artists Spotlight series. Previously we featured the talented toomuchlag you can read the interview here.
We want to feature the incredible creators who put their heart and soul into their work and we're so excited to share their stories with you. This time, we had the pleasure to chat with Graceland London.
Interview ⬇️
NFTUK: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background as an artist and how you would describe your artistic style.
I’m Graceland London, a contemporary artist from London. I started drawing and painting from a very young age and then went to art school. I also have a degree in 3D design and animation. I would say my use of color is bold and bright. The color in my work is juxtaposed by the darker themes I explore. I load my artwork with an array of symbols, I want my audience to really look at my work closely. Operating on the basis that the more you look the better you can see, my artwork is full of surprises.
NFTUK: Can you discuss any upcoming projects or exhibitions you have planned?
I have been selected to show in New York and London with the NFT gallery x Vertical crypto art in an all women’s show called ‘you-topia‘ in February and I am working on a collection of paintings for a potential show. Also my PFP project Lady Lileth is still being worked on behind the scenes.
NFTUK: Are there any specific projects or pieces that hold a special significance to you?
I really love my painting called ‘Cwarantine’ as I created that in the covid lockdown. It was shown in a group exhibition called ‘isolation mastered’. I also love my piece ‘World Light’ it’s got so much meaning to it. Lastly.
NFTUK: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
It may be cliche but focusing on creating a style that uniquely you is the most important. If you want to be noticed as an artist stay consistent with your style. I would also say have a vision of where you want to be in your career, nothing is ever to far fetched. If you can visualize it you can get there.
Thank you Grace, we love your art and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this year.
In other news
We are planning a series of educational panels for the community where we bring important topics and create a healthy conversation with some of the top leaders of the space starting from next coming months.
Two big events: we are in conversations to put up two big events this year, where we foster immersive art, playful AR and VR experience, music, and vast collaboration with brands. We will share more in the upcoming newsletters.
NFTUK expansion is still one of our priorities, this year we will be opening events in cities as Manchester, Oxford, Bristol etc.
Co-working spaces: We are in conversations to open up spaces for our community to gather and network across London
NFTUK clothing, we have received some samples and still in the process of testing the right supplier once we are happy we will open the shop to the public.
IRL Podcast: This is an idea we had with our team to meet founders and creators and interview them while filming and have a good time, depending on the timeline we are aiming to test a session this summer
Mila’s Open Edition: I published one of my immersive worlds as a pledge to raise funds for NFTUK, it will be closing this Friday so if you are keen to support the growth of the community, consider collecting an edition here I will donate half of the proceedes to the community wallet and repurpose the funds into bigger and better experiences this year.
Thank you for sticking around and if you enjoy reading our letters, please share with your contacts. Our aim is to continually expand the culture and community by utilizing various methods such as in-person events, educational workshops, art exhibitions, networking, partnerships, and virtual interactions.
With a promising year ahead, we are actively planning and preparing to do even more.
Our newsletters offer sponsored spotlights to founders and projects that may need more visibility, please contact us via our email gm@nftuk.club and send us a proposal if you are looking to showcase your project to our members.
Another great newsletter!! Well done Mila
Very good