T-Shirt design and token media, commissioned by Cardano Foundation.
The graphic and media are abstract representations the Cardano genesis block and the 14,505 transactions within it.
When discussing this project with the CF team, we decided to use Cardano’s Genesis Block as an influence for the design.
The genesis block held 14,505 transactions, the original voucher transactions on the chain. These are represented as a 3D animated cloud of 14,505 slips that vary in size based on the amount in the transaction.
Cardano is generally known for it’s technical-conscious audience, I believe it’s what attracts people to the ecosystem. This abstract graphic is intended to appeal to that crypto-punk vibe in a cool and subtle manner — a nerdy conversation starter but it doesn’t scream “Crypto-Bro.”
To vary the size of the slips based amount of ADA in each transaction, the blocks metadata was used to create a ~120×120 pixel PNG with the value of each pixel corresponding to the amount.
This PNG was then mapped onto the emission object and set with a constraint that adjusts the size of each particle.
I wanted to give a sense of scale to the block, showcasing the amount of transactions eternalized within it, a visual representation of the blocks metadata.
The small emblem on the back contains the Cardano logo and “Est.” with the genesis block ID, a nerdy-joke since the ID can be quired to find the exact start of the chain, down to the second.
Hopefully the start of a tradition with CF merch, these t-shirts are accompanied with NFTs to serve as a digital proof-of-purchase. Whether lost, or faded after years of wash cycles, this token was created to live on past a shirt’s natural/finite lifespan — a digital memento.
The media included inside the token is the animation used to create the graphic.