Dr. Chuddie · Follow
12 min read · Jul 6, 2023
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https://www.scatter.art/chuddies?tab=mint
Chapter 1: Industrial Society And Its Future
As they say on crypto twitter for an early morning engagement boost to their analytics, “gm”!
We’re going to go through and break down some of the design decisions and intentions behind this little collection called ‘Chuddies’ if that’s okay with you.. unless ur mad at me then i’ll stop.,, idk its fine..,
Firstly, the crucial initial intention of design on Chuddies was to tap into the inherent personal wealth of memory and nostalgia residing in each one of us that grew up with themselves embedded on the internet, with a controller in hand, or both. By forming an amalgamation of memetic and digitial cultural elements, almost every aspect(or trait) of each Chuddie could possibly resonante with someone, somewhere. A fond memory, a warm feeling, a light chuckle, or a soft smile, I wanted them to illicit a positive reaction in some shape or form.
There is no other subset of the population that has had more exposure to the power and influence of the internet than Gamers. So gaming clearly became the focal point of the design elements, and while that is evidence of a personal bias and connection, it still leans on a broad appeal. But with the source inspiration of the Chuddie itself stemming from internet memetics, I felt those two aspectsof culture shared a very wide bridge, and that became the launchpad for populating the traits.
Chapter 2: Erm.. personally….
The birth of Chuddies was not something immediate, and there was quite a long gestation period. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do another NFT collection (my first foray was in 2021) as creative inspiration for me personally seems to come and go in long, time-lapsed waves. Not only that, the entire sector as a whole always seemed a bit off putting, at least until Remilia Corp. injected life, tact, beautiful art, and a different tinge of culture into the space, which is why there are a few traits that honor the work that they have done for the space as a whole included in the Chuddies collection, it’s always good to show a bit of reverence.
But regardless, once it was settled internally that gaming, and the internet (two subjects I was very familiar with) would be focal points of design, the rest sort of starting snowballing naturally. Traits were coming to mind too fast for me to even keep up at points, and I'd have to stop working on whatever layer it currently was and add it to the notepad.
Initially, the metric of success was “Hey, if five people enjoy these and get a kick out of them, i’ll be happy.” As most of the fulfilment was coming from the process of creating and being productive. But to my surprise, a lot of people have been really enjoying them, and connecting with a lot of the traits and design aspects. As of writing this, we are 91% minted out, which is incredible. Formulating Chuddies and putting pen to tablet was a great amount of fun, I found myself laughing and smiling throughout most of the process, and if you’re going to put out a collection, my advice is to please have fun.
I will be the first to tell you though, there is no falsified wool to pull over your eyes for the sake of engagement or riches. This isn’t a cultural revolution, it’s not an esoteric statement of superiority. I don’t think Chuddies are going to permanently alter the NFT space and I won’t personally push that narrative, of course the community is free to do as they please, which is part of the beauty of this space and the internet itself. Speaking of..
Chapter 3: Parallel Meaning
Without the internet, there would be no Chuddies, and you and I wouldn’t be here reading this. So real quick let’s touch on a fascinating aspect of the web and memetics as a whole which is ‘parallel meaning’. The brightest relevant example I can think of that demonstrates this would be Pepe The Frog. Pepe had a rather innocent origin as a webcomic character, that quickly spiraled out of the creators control and became a symbol of many different things. Once the genie was out of the bottle, there was no chance of ever putting it back in. Pepe became ownerless in a sense, and ultimately formless in it’s meaning. While many labels were attempted to be attached to him, none truly stuck as a permanent identifier. You see pepe everywhere online. Sure, certain groups of people have appropriated the meme in a multitude of ways, but so many different walks of life now utilize him that he is undefined.
Essentially, Pepe has many parallel meanings to many different groups of people, and now the same goes for Chuddies. The ‘Chudjak’ itself has an unsavory origin story, and from that base, many different variations were formed. The ‘Chuddie’ itself, with its chibi adjascent aesthetic and crude proportions had an undeniable element of cuteness to it that wasn’t demonstrated in other derivatives of the meme. The intention wasn’t to ‘appropriate’ Chuddies as a symbol for love, nostalgia, and videogames, but allow it to share and create a parallel meaning for itself along with the other influential memes that have came and done so before it. Like I said, once the genie is out of the bottle there is no putting it back in.
Chapter 4: Defining parent groups
Let’s dive into the main design elements of the collection now, the traits. The traits themselves had to be categorized into parent groups in order to establish a layer hierarchy, and define rarities, this is typical for NFT collections. Some of the names for these weren’t decided on initially, and would change and become defined during the creation process, which was part of the fun. I tried to put a little cultural and personal touch into the naming convention of some of them, but let’s go through them one by one.
Here they are below:
- Memory
- BG FX
- Stars
- Trance
- PSA Mint
- Trance EX
- Rear Accessories
- Skin (body base)
- Faces
- Bottoms
- Tops
- Artifacts
- Hair
- Facewear
- Headwear
- Speech Bubble
- GUI
- Screen Effect
Memory was the name I decided to give to the backgrounds of the collection, as to me, and hopefully other people, that’s what they would be besides just simple gradient or paint bucket filled backdrops for the Chuddies. Each one, typically a location in a game, is a recollection of a time, better or worse, in our lives. Being chased by the GUN truck in the opening act of Sonic Adventure 2, the hours you spent on the couch with your friends in Blood Gulch, or the first time you entered the Dark Portal to Outland, I wanted a memory to bubble up and resonate with the owner. Some are a little more esoteric, and a “you had to be there” moment. I’ll let you decide which ones.
BG FX is one of the more self explanatory parent groups. These are colorful and somewhat rare elements I wanted to appear behind our Chuddies. Things like the DDR Notes, or the town portal. Again, things you might have seen a lot while infront of a computer screen or at the arcade. 100% of Chuddies have this trait.
Stars are what they are, a simple way to indicate another aspect of the Chuddies rarity. These are also elements from a mobile game, and were put in to give each a sort of “gacha” feeling when minting. They were also randomized, so if you have a Chuddie with legendary traits, but only one star, that’s just the luck of the draw. Don’t worry about it too much, okay? 75% of Chuddies have this trait.
Trance is also a reference to Final Fantasy IX, one of my favorites in the series. It’s basically a state of being that allows each character to unleash an ultimate attack, which is why traits like ‘super meter’ were included in the category. I also knew that I wanted a bigger pool of elements to start appearing and make the collection look ‘busier’ so even if you didn’t get a hat, or clothes, there would still be something to look at and go “Oh!” 45% of Chuddies have this trait.
PSA Mint falls in line with Stars, as in another random aspect to indicate a form of rarity. PSA is one of the most commonly used organizations for getting trading cards graded, a PSA Mint 10 is a card considered in perfect condition. The naming convention felt relevant as NFTs are sort of like digital trading cards. These are the elements you see on the bottom right corner of a Chuddie, things like the Runescape coal, the ESRB ratings, and others. 100% of Chuddies have this trait.
Trance EX were a later addition during the creation process. I knew I wanted some more elements to have a chance to appear above the Chuddie but I wasn’t sure what at first. These are rarer than regular Trance elements, and are only a handful of things, such as the Killstreak from CoD, and the HyperCam 2 logo. These ended up being half internet nostalgia, half gaming nostalgia. Only 20% of Chuddies have these elements.
Rear Accessories were initially named ‘companions’ as they featured sidekicks and other characters that would assist the main character on their journey. But as more elements were added, such as wings and the Keyblade, it was given a more generic name. I also wanted them to appear alongside other background elements, so they were given their own category. These are some of my personal favorite elements of the collection. 70% of Chuddies have this trait.
Skin is the base of the Chuddie. There was an initial debate on wether or not to include different skin colors, as the pure white original is simple and iconic. Obviously, it was decided there would be additional ones for broader appeal, and also gave the chance to include some rare ones, such as the pink skin (which felt appropriate for the crypto market given its memetic origin) and the ethereal. 100% of Chuddies have this trait.
Faces are simply the facial expressions that a Chuddie can be generated with. Some fun ideas came to life with these, such as the Black Mage face from Final Fantasy. This is also where reverence was given with the Remilio and Milady faces, which subsequently end up being some of the rarest expressions in the collection. The rest are various emotions seen in Chudjak/Soyjak/Wojak memes around online, while two are common anime tropes. 100% of Chuddies have this trait.
Bottoms suffered the most as parent group for trait elements. Most ended up being cut, as jeans and shorts and other things were added, I started to feel as if I was falling into something that was more akin to a “Dress Up A Chibi Character” collection. Ultimately I decided to keep only two, and cut the rest, as the Chuddie is almost always in his birthday suit, enjoying a life of freedom. Only 5% of Chuddies have this trait.
Tops are where the chronically online memetic elements got to shine the most out of the collection, and also have the most options. Halfway through creating the shirts, I worked on creating a hoodie as an alternate generative option. This subsequently altered where a Chuddies hand would be, and therefore any Chuddie with a hoodie was not allowed to have an ‘Artifact’ trait. 85% of Chuddies have this trait.
Artifacts were the final parent group added, and it seems like a no brainer now looking back on it. With a collection so focued on gaming, why wouldn’t the Chuddies be holding a controller? There is a double meaning here too with the name, one is simply age as some peripherals are from generations ago, and the other is them being these foreign tools that open up other worlds and allow you to control elements within that world.
Hair is what is it. Hair. There were internal debates again here with hairstyles. Initially a few alternates were created but cut due to once again feeling as if it was altering the Chuddie DNA and began to lean into “dress up a chibi character.” So the default hairstyle was kept, and given alternate colors instead. 100% of Chuddies have this trait, no norwoods here.
Facewear is not an entirely accurate description, as it includes the various necklaces of the Collection as well, but nevertheless was a fun group to create. There are a few more anime references within here, such as the Majin head mark from DBZ, along with other gaming and internet memes. 60% of Chuddies have this trait.
Headwear is one of my favorite groups, and one of the most varied and expressive as well. A combination of memes, and gaming references I hope people enjoy. My personal favorites are the Gray Fox helmet, and the throwbacks to an old website/forum/webgame called Gaia Online. Real oldheads will know when they see it. Also, there is one ultra rare combo of hats in the collection, as pictured above. 65% of Chuddies have this trait.
Speech Bubbles are also another favorite, and one of the rarer elements of the collection. These are filled with quotes from various memes, internet personalities, or from games. From what I've seen, these also seem to be one of the favorites of the community as well. If you can recognize them all, it might be time to log off for a bit. 40% of Chuddies have this trait.
GUI stands for ‘Graphic User Interface’ and these are the elements you see toward the upper right of the collection. Things like the Uber meter from SSX, or the various weapons from Grand Theft Auto. Some are obviously more rare than others, but 100% of Chuddies have this trait.
Screen Effect might have a plain description, but these are rare overlay elements to make the Chuddies pop. Things like glitched effects, and the CRT screen. Just a little something extra that had a chance to roll on a Chuddie to make someone say “wow ❤”
Chapter 5: In Closing
Thanks for reading all the way through. I’m proud to say that this project has come far without any paid marketing or paid influencers. Just love, and organic community growth. A majority of the collection was given away for free, or at a discount, to get them out there to as many people as possible and be an accessible collection. Chuddies has been an interesting and fulfilling experience so far, and I hope for those that have minted or bought, you enjoy your piece in someway shape or form. Again, the intention was to evoke a positive emotion using memories or laughter as a conduit, and I hope it succeeded there.
It goes without saying, but i’ll say it regardless, NFTs are a luxury item, not a necessity. You should only ever jump into the space if you are comfortable with doing so, as there is never a guarantee of any sort of financial return, especially in a volatile market with bearish sentiment.
The message Chuddies has been preaching is ‘Love Wins’ and it’s something I fully believe and want to continue to promote, and I hope you feel it too at the end of the day. As for the future, I try not to look too far ahead. Will the Chuddieverse expand? It’s certainly possible, there are ideas, but they are just that presently, and anyone wanting to create a derivative is of course free to do so.
Take care!
- Dr. Chuddie
