In an era where creators should be the ultimate proprietors over their craft, conventional online media infrastructure falls short. The current framework is marred by fragmented attribution and a lack of transparency, interconnectedness and composability. This broken system blocks creators from connecting with their audience and accessing transparent payment rails, while tethering them to the confines of platform-dictated discovery methods — ultimately limiting them from reaching the full potential of their intellectual property.

This unbalanced structure creates digital limits and confines to the realm of world-building.

The solution lies in establishing a creator-first infrastructure that empowers them to reclaim authority over their digital creations across all mediums. This paradigm shift not only redefines ownership but also reinvigorates the creative landscape, breathing life into a future where creators thrive on their own terms.

Preserving the Chain of Creation ⑊

The true beauty of the blockchain lies in its public nature. Attribution and provenance of content play pivotal roles in a creative landscape. This landscape is not only heavily saturated but also composable, remixable, and now enhanced by AI-powered tools that expedite the creative process and improve accessibility.

With every transformation of a piece whether from one hand or one medium to another, it's imperative to maintain a clear record of its origin and evolution.

This ensures that each iteration is a testament to the collective effort of artists and collaborators, a digital diary or timeline that showcases authorship and ownership.

Alchemizing Attribution ⌼

The digital nature of blockchain assets allows for easy reproduction, remixing, and traceable adaptation, allowing media to expand into new spaces.

Attribution in this case for a creative work is foundational, serving not only as a timeline for tracking the chain of creation but an immutable record. In the physical world, a mirror of attribution is seen in the creation of Certificates of Authenticity, or “COAs”, for invaluable works of art. These certificates not only authenticate the origin and authorship of the piece but also imbue it with a distinct value. In the current digital landscape, however, a strong equivalent to a tangible COA is somewhat absent or is better phrased as half-baked. This gap here represents a shortcoming and an opportunity.

And there are many projects that are building to realize this incredible potential.

Story protocol: Story protocol is building an open repository that enables creative IPs — prose, images, audio, and more — to record their journey from inception through the infinite combinations and possibilities of digital co-creation. Story Protocol aims to become the provenance layer for creative IP.

Crowdmuse: Crowdmuse is a protocol for creators to collaborate on multiplayer products with brands, makers, and communities while maintaining ownership over their creative assets with a targeted focus on tracking and rewarding attribution. The team is building onchain coordination rails that lower the barrier for creators to build digi-physical products across fashion, consumer goods, print, media, and other multiplayer products.

Nouns DAO: Nouns is an NFT collection, whose owners are part of Nouns DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization. Every Noun holder can sponsor and vote on proposals for the treasury to fund. The more unique and interesting these project proposals are, the more likely they are to get funded, resulting in further expansion of Nouns media. Nouns is open-source and is released under a Creative Commons CC0 “No Rights Reserved” license. Anyone can use the Nouns name and imagery to create anything, because it is in the public domain.

Pudgy Penguins: Pudgy Penguins comprises a limited collection of digital profile pictures (PFPs). The Pudgy brand offers a range of content, merchandise, toys, and collectibles, which has recently expanded beyond the web3 ecosystem. Last year, on August 11th, a public announcement was made regarding the licensing of select Pudgy Penguins directly from the community for sale as physical toys. This was followed by a strong surge of sales upon their direct launch on Amazon. In recent updates, the Pudgy brand's reach has further expanded, with Pudgy products now available for purchase in over 2,000 Walmart stores.

KORUS: KORUS is PIXELYNX’s (music gaming company co-founded by deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin), flagship creation platform that combines blockchain, AI, gaming and music production. KORUS allows players to play, create, and remix music from a network of artists and labels, ultimately democratizing access to creations that stem from others.

Traversing Worlds & Digital Real Estate 🀃

In the landscape of onchain media, artists are presented with an opportunity to explore and expand their creative horizons across diverse mediums. With content being composable and attributable, creatives have the opportunity to see their work take a life of its own, allowing their digital footprint and identity to effectively reach new audiences and digital real estate they may not have considered reachable.

Right now, the landlords of digital real estate are platforms. A prime slot on the front page of an influential platform, be it Rolling Stone or a featured spot in a prestigious publication like The New York Times isn't just virtual real estate; it's a gateway to a global audience. A placement in a film or TV series can break an artist. A brand collaboration can serve as a new revenue stream and audience reach. These are all strategic multimodal expansions that can catapult an artist’s work into the limelight.

New onchain platforms offer artists a fresh opportunity to stake their claims in digital and physical spaces that will continue to accrue value and expand its reach.

Examples of Multimodal World Building

Doodles: Doodles is a strong example of a media franchise that has integrated their creative and brand into the physical world. On the tail of the highly successful NFT centric launch, Doodles has bridged and evolved their identity into other fonts from popups across the US to brand collaborations with the likes of Crocs. While doodles carries its roots in blockchain they continue to expand beyond it, making it a collaborative tool in their much larger creative vision.

A Kid Called Beast: The “A Kid Called Beast” collection features 10,000 unique 3D collectibles, divided into 20 distinct “Beast Modes”. Each Beast Mode has its own set of personality traits and interests, including culinary preferences, art, living, cryptography, and coding. The project encourages the characters to take on a life of their own, allowing its collectors to expand the media they own into their own worlds and identities.

Parallel: Parallel is a sci-fi trading card game (TGC) empowering collectors to own their cards and other in game assets. These cards can eventually be used to build a deck and play in an online client that is under development. The game not only leverages AI for in game NPCs but also uses 6551 token bound accounts (TBAs) to hold all in-game assets.

Krista Kim: Krista Kim is a pioneering digital artist and founder who’s work has traversed powerful brand collaborations and notable digital and physical spaces. Notably, in 2022 Krista Kim launched “0” an innovation lab and creative studio that develops the future of realistic digital humans and immersive experiences—to create a more open, interoperable metaverse. Rooted in her belief that the metaverse offers democratized access to health & wellness resources and experiences, Krista is merging her digital footprint, belief system and identity into a much larger world.

Collectors & Active Participants - An Emerging Class

Putting content on the blockchain introduces a new paradigm in the art world: the rise of collectors and consumers as active participants. These collectors become custodians of digital media, contributing to the ecosystem's vitality and expansion. They are not merely observers, but integral players in the expansion and preservation of an artist's legacy. This is not a new concept by any means.

The benefits of this system extend beyond the creative realm. In some cases, collectors are stakeholders that can participate in the success of a project in a tangible and quantifiable manner. This transparent and automated process instills trust and accountability within the co-ownership structure. With all onchain activity being publicly accessible, this is highly valuable data that can be used to track and understand contributions from community members.

Role Playing Governance (RPG): Fans as Builders

Blurring the line between fandom and creation, Role Playing Governance (RPG) emerges as a new and groundbreaking concept, rooted in blockchain. Here, fans aren't just passive consumers; they step into an active realm, role-playing within a world being sculpted in real-time. This goes beyond mere engagement—fans make actionable decisions affecting the project's entire ecosystem. Imagine a musician crafting a lore-rich concept album. With RPG, fans can vote on narrative turns, character developments, or even visual aesthetics for accompanying content. Their decisions, recorded securely on the blockchain, shape the direction and outcome of the project.

This gamified model of fan engagement carries tangible stakes. Decisions made by fans can influence the value of tokens or assets associated with the project. This is an evolution of fandom—where passion meets responsibility, and fans become a vital part of the project's governance and success. This concept democratizes creative direction. While artists lay the foundational vision, the community, bound together by blockchain's transparent and immutable nature, collaboratively refines and directs its evolution.

We envision a future in which a novel blend of technical and 
philosophical foundations give rise to inventive approaches for the 
proliferation of media and the experiences it produces. 

We see new ways in which media stems can be used, reused
& monetized across mediums & worlds.

Our holistic vision aims to completely rethink the creative process,
from stage one of an idea's "Aha" moment to the point of it reaching 
the physical world and infinite digital ones.

                                                       - GARDEN X