Art Direction, 3D Design, Animation
TikTok
2021
During the darkest of times being locked up in the pandemic, I wanted to bring to life the power of expression that made this top moment be embraced by the masses.
Inspired by the creativity and innovation of the TikTok creator community, TikTok wanted to explore the world of NFTs as a new creator empowerment tool. NFTs were a new way for creators to be recognized and rewarded for their content and for fans to own culturally-significant moments on TikTok.
Few things define early lockdown like Curtis Roach’s “Bored in the House.” The viral video was sampled by millions on TikTok and launched the Detroit rapper into internet stardom (and a well deserved music career). Intensely catchy and refreshingly light, “Bored in the House” became a global anthem for dealing with isolation.
The viral video itself was set in a simple room with not much going on. To get into Curtis' head, and imagine what inspired him to create such a compelling cultural moment led me to take a deep dive into where he was from and what house he was being bored in during 2020. I quickly learned that he was from Detroit, and started exploring his neighborhood to inform my process of building out the hometown that he was missing out on during lockdown.
Now that i understood from the R&D process where Curtis was from and what he was into, it birthed the idea of how I could expand this viral moment in a larger than life way.
Before jumping into building out his world, it was apparent that I needed to capture the heart beat of this Top Moment, which was Curtis' fist pounding on the table.
I would then sync every element within the visual story to this beat. The fist pounding on the desk would ultimately become the driving force behind the overall animation.
I then explored all the nooks and crannies in detail and built out the entire world.
Then I wrapped it up by bringing us back to where it all started...an anthem of hope. This would drive excitement to bid on this super ETH’d out NFT.
NFT sales created meaningful revenue for participating creators. TikTok's foray into NFTs was largely well-received by the NFT-native community and mainstream media, garnering significant inbound interest from existing and new potential partners. TikTok made a clear impact on real-world behavior through partnership with the Museum of the Moving Image, which would lead to the doubling of museum attendance.
Creators minted their own NFTs and received 100% of the final auction amount - Curtis Roach - $126k (28ETH)