NFT CryptoArt Collection by KarBel Multimedia
Case study by Karsten Ivey / KarBel Multimedia (Illustrator and Co-creator of the CryptoPeops NFT project)
What are CryptoPeops?
CryptoPeops are digital collectible characters created by Karsten and Belinda Ivey – founders of KarBel Multimedia.
Each unique character is individually illustrated by Karsten and represents a diverse group of Peops, with diverse traits, colors, backgrounds and items. Our characters include everyday Peops and historical figures, and they all have a story to tell. Our collection also includes themed CryptoPeops that show up from time-to-time, as well as other rare traits, such as hand gestures and facial expressions. If you look closely, there’s a bit of love peace and happiness spread throughout our entire collection.
There are 205 Gen 1 Cryptopeops minted and released at random. Add our characters to your collection and become a part of our CryptoPeops community. Then start sharing the story of your own CryptoPeop!
What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?
Each collectible character is minted as a non-fungible token or NFT. An NFT is a secure network that records a sale on a digital ledger, known as blockchain. This gives buyers proof of authenticity and ownership of digital items. This assures that the digital item is one-of-a-kind and can’t be replicated.
For example, if a physical item is sold at an auction, it will have a receipt certifying its authenticity. NFTs serve as a certifying receipt, but for digital items.
How it all began
The journey of our CryptoPeops project began a few years ago. I wanted to illustrate a diverse group of characters we could use in graphics for our own enterprise projects. Diversity in art is very important to me. I strive to create not just fun images, but images where people can see themselves in the art. I believe this can inspire, while also creating sense of self importance – especially for kids.
I wanted the base of the characters to be the same (eyes, face, mouth, feet, ears, etc.), but the hair, clothes, shoes, skin tone, etc., would all change to create a different character. I sat down at my computer and began to illustrate and develop the initial group of characters.
The first time I used one of these characters was for our Mother’s Day Spending enterprise graphic in 2019. I followed up with another character for Father’s Day, and made new characters (based on my family) for a Fourth of July graphic.
The pandemic holidays
I continued to have fun developing these characters, thinking of new ways to use them. But I didn’t get an opportunity to use them again until more than a year later in November 2020. I wanted to do a graphic on Covid 19 safety for the holidays and needed masked people for the graphic. I decided the characters would be perfect.
The NFT boom
In March of 2021, everything changed. A story about an artist known as Beeple sold an NFT of his work for $69 million dollars. This was my first time ever hearing about an NFT, so I started researching and learning about other NFT projects, including Cryptopunks. The more I learned, the more I wanted to be involved. I thought about those characters I had been developing over the years and what a great opportunity this would be to further develop them and sell as digital art.
CryptoPeops are introduced
Moving forward, I needed a name for my characters and my collection and decided on CrytpoPeops. It was only fitting since my collection was all about diverse, digital people. I get most of the ideas from my wife and kids, and some inspiration while people watching.
Once I made the initial set of characters (the first CryptoPeops character was inspired by my mom), I needed to choose a platform to use for listing the CryptoPeops and chose the OpenSea marketplace. The OpenSea process for starting an account and minting was pretty straight forward and they had a great Help Center. After going through the set-up process, I began minting NFTs for my new collection.
