The Infinite Machine

2022 will put Cryptocurrency one step closer to mass adoption. 10 major global companies are already accepting crypto payments. Whether you’re buying food, tech, or even furniture: decentralized, secure, and fast payments are now an everyday reality.

Likewise, crypto wallets are offering their users debit cards with which they can pay in both fiat and crypto and use their crypto wallets like any virtual wallet we know and love. After all, convenience leads to mass adoption.

And the art industry? More and more renowned artists, designers, and musicians are launching their successful and innovative NFT projects, decentralizing ownership and opening a historic niche field to millions of art-lovers worldwide.

That's the thing with DeFi: audiences are no longer mere observers but can become active participants in projects that they are passionate about. And that’s exactly what we did in late 2021, along with 3.5k people from all around around the world.

The Challenge

The Infinite Machine, Camila Russo’s best-selling book on the history of Ethereum (TIM) tells an inspiring story about the future to come and the people who are building it. And when you have such a compelling story in your hands, bringing it to the big screen is the natural next step. But how? With a project that honors the very core of Ethereum: transparency, efficiency & decentralization.

A collection of 10,499 NTFs, designed by emerging artists from countries where DeFi has changed the game rules, will in part fund Vitalik Buterin’s and its crew first-ever film appearance. This art project represented a cultural windshield moment in itself and didn’t come without its challenges:

• The first challenge was to establish a communication strategy that properly framed TIM as a highly culturally relevant project. After all, An Ethereum movie can be seen as DeFi's entry into the mainstream
• Then, we had to build a brand identity that represented both the art project and the movie, during its earliest stages
• The third challenge was to apply that identity to an intuitive, stand-alone website, which included a landing page and an NFT shop
• Later, we thought of our media channels (Twitter, Telegram & Discord), not only as communicational but also as community-building platforms
• The fifth challenge was to set the project foundations in under 30 days

The Solution

At Postdigitalist we design holistic solutions that have a domino effect throughout a project. As we solved the first challenge, the rest began falling into place.

During our first month working with TIM, we crafted its brand image, one that followed the aesthetic essence of Ethereum: with its characteristic soft-vaporwave illustrations and pastel tones. These visual assets would be the binder element across every channel, from the website, the minting page, and social media platforms.

Simultaneously, our communications and marketing team worked on the brand's tone and voice. Their goal? Making this innovative, avant-garde language available to millions of people, so it can be spoken by everyone, everywhere. We understood that this stage was crucial, as it tested the film’s message, even before production began.

In 30 days, we managed to design and develop a website that was intuitive, fluid, and on-brand, as well as creating the brand’s image, tone, and voice: disruptive, but relatable.

For the website, we used a lightweight and versatile low-code stack. That way, stakeholders can make content and structure changes with low developer reliance. Our development team also collaborated with TIM’s DeFi specialists, to create a simple and functional minting page, hosted in a decentralized way, and seamlessly connected to a custom smart contract.

The Momentum

And then what? Then you go public.

Our first month online was an adventure. Throughout November 2021 we managed to grow our community to 3.5k on Twitter & Discord.

Every day, new people came to our channels sharing their enthusiasm and curiosity for the project. Proving that at the heart of decentralization lies cooperation.

And so we come to December 20, 2021, 00:00 UTC, our first OG Sale. With a price of 0.08 ETH, we sold all 2,100 NFT minted on this first sale, in less than 28 hours, resulting in an initial fundraising of U$D 640k that will go towards financing The Infinite Machine Movie.

Results

In the first two months of our collaboration, we achieved:

• A 205,8% growth rate in our social media channels, with 445k interactions with our content in the last month.
• 474 backlinks from 104 referring domains.
• Laying the foundations for a community-driven project, disrupting the way in which film productions are thought and made.
• An immediate sell-out on the first OG Sale from the NFT Collection, raising 168 ETH (U$D 640k).

‍