Category: Core: Brand Decision
Submitted by: Forever Apes (Team:@12GAUGE,@atareh.eth, @Brazy,rtan,@speedracer)
ABSTRACT
This proposal presents the idea of Forever Apes as the storytelling platform of the BAYC - that will help capture the culture, ethos, history and story, through a mix of digital and physical products.
The inaugural products and experiences we’re building includes
A luxury Coffee Table Book (Vol 1.) which captures the rise of BAYC and the community (with 150 OG Apes stories and more content)
A digital portal showcasing these unique stories and
A social canvas app for Apes + Mutants called the Wall (our extension of the BAYC bathroom).
MOTIVATION
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a once in a lifetime experience - there has been nothing like this before and NFTs will never be the same again. While we might be meme’ing and shitposting on Twitter all day, we’re creating history (even if we don’t know it). These are the days and experiences so many of us will look back on as we move forward, and the BAYC is in dire need of someone to capture the ethos, community, and energy. BAYC is what it is because of the individual stories and experiences we’ve had and continue to share - there should be a place to document all this to look back on and to share with the new community as we grow and expand the BAYC and APE ecosystem. We want to create a platform to showcase the incredible journey that Yuga, BAYC, Ape holders through physical and digital mediums. It’s a story worth telling that shouldn’t be lost in the onslaught of Discord and Twitter.
RATIONALE
On purpose or not, the founders changed everything in web3. Two roadmaps, 2 NFT drops and 10 months was all it took for BAYC to become the most sought after NFT collection. The Ape community, the heart and soul of this movement, have brought an incredible amount of diversity, culture, and thought to the club. Some use their IP to build brands, some shitpost and build massive audiences, some help onboard celebrities like Steph Curry, Timbaland or Eminem. On walls across the world, from Argentina to Australia, BAYC apes are emblazoned with graffiti. BAYC is a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
In the digital world, the BAYC discord is one of the most active and hilarious places on the internet. The BAYC community regularly comes together there or on Twitter Spaces to tell their story, reveal mega mutants, or get the founders to speak about the early days. While all of this pushes on, we think there is a real opportunity to capture and tell these stories, and not have them lost in the ether. It’s with these stories that ApeCoin can realize its true potential to become the preferred token of web3. New entrants into the metaverse need to understand the historical + cultural significance and impact of BAYC. What better way than to read it for themselves.
Forever Apes wants to help tell these stories with a mix of URL + IRL platforms with the goal of taking the APE ecosystem more mainstream. After launching a preview of the stories portal, we are now focused on the Wall. The Wall will further help capture the social and meme dynamics of the club. An extension of the BAYC Bathroom, each BAYC + MAYC holder gets their own wall on which anyone can draw and share messages. The coffee table book is the BAYC yearbook. A collection of stories (curated from 150 OG Apes), art, and moments from the BAYC first year.
We have proven demand for this platform to this date through the wonderful support and hand crafted stories we have received from some of the most famous OG Apes including Tropo, Herb, BoredBecky, DillyDilly, JeffNicholas, ApeFather Krunch, PPMan, CapetainTrippy, DFarmer, Snuggster, Schiller, Drebin, FreekyCrypto, BoredSpaceApe, Franklin, ETHNick, 1K, Asherah and many many more. Check out a sneak peek of some of these stories here.
TheSandBox CEO (Sebastien)’s tweet along with their story of “How The Sandbox Found Its Captain” is another example of how much pent up demand there is to tell their story through us. This shows faith and validation in the ForeverApes as a brand and stewards to accurately showcase these stories in the highest possible quality.
SPECIFICATIONS
Refer website - https://Foreverapes.io
The Forever Apes Project will include 3 products to begin.
- Vol. 1 Coffee Table Book -
○ Teaser - FOREVER APES on Vimeo
○ A high quality IRL Coffee Table Book which will capture the history, ethos and the community experiences of the BAYC.
○ Proposed Specs (subject to change)
■ ~400 pages
■ 11x13” page size ■ 12-15 lbs weight
○ Below is a rough idea on the contents within the book (subject to change).
■ The history and the evolution of NFTs
■ BAYC Founding history and mythology
■ BAYC early art sketches with Founder stories
■ 150 OG BAYC Stories - Author Apes (this has already been received by and curated by the team - includes stories from Tropo, Herb, theSandbox, JeffNicholas,
BoredBecky, BoredSpaceApe, Justin Taylor, BoredElon, Franklin, Crystal Hefner and many more!)
■ Derivative artists features along with how Ape IP is being utilized in the real world
■ Community Section (Photos from BAYC’s first ApeFest and features from around the world - crowdsourced) ■ What Next?
Otherside
APECoin DAO
■ Tribute to authors and team
Rough samples (subject to change)
Digital Stories Portal - https://stories.foreverapes.io/
Teaser - FOREVER APES // STORY PORTAL on Vimeo
○ A portal for digital access of the featured stories and more community engagement features. We will rotate 16 stories at a time through our library of 150. ○ This portal will also include the Wall (see below.)
The Wall -
Promotional Video - FOREVER APES // THE WALL on Vimeo
○ Website Landing Page - https://wall.foreverapes.io/
○ Our take on the Bathroom that will further improve community engagement within BAYC and outside.
○ Friends can leave a message or draw a picture on the Wall.
○ When the Coffee Table book is redeemed, we’ll print these in the copy!
Rough designs (subject to change)
STEPS TO IMPLEMENT
Forever Apes has already made significant progress in accomplishing the stated goals, has completed many milestones and launched them.
Website launch - https://ForeverApes.io [COMPLETE]
Curate 150 BAYC stories [COMPLETE]
New Products
Digital Stories Portal - https://stories.foreverapes.io/
Launch Featured Stories [COMPLETE]
Open up Digital Portal to all Apes to submit stories [NOT STARTED]
Future updates to include social features [NOT STARTED]
The WALL -
Launch MVP of The Wall [TESTING] - https://wall.foreverapes.io/
Coffee Table Book
Lock in Publishing Partner [COMPLETE]
Complete Contents [IN PROGRESS]
Production and Shipping [NOT STARTED]
TIMELINE
The estimated timeline for the above steps is as following 1. Website Launch [LIVE]
The Wall [4 Weeks]
In progress with MVP
Digital Stories Portal
Phase I [LIVE]
Phase II - Accept stories from BAYC/MAYC/BAKC [4 Weeks]
Coffee Table Book Vol. 1
Table of Contents Lock [1 Week]
Book purchase flow [2 Weeks]
Vol. 1 Book print and shipping [16 Weeks]
OVERALL COST
This section highlights the rough cost structure for Vol 1. Forever Apes Coffee Table Book which includes design, print and production. We are currently working on order specifics with our print manufacturer.
Avg. cost per book = $105 USD
4000 Books @ $105
Estimate: $420,000
FAQ’s
1.What is the reason the ApeCoin DAO has been asked for the funds to publish the book?
Forever Apes is looking to build a universal storytelling platform. The first Phase in accomplishing this vision will be to build one for the BAYC. Starting production on a high quality book has large initial costs. This will help bootstrap the ForeverApes team to realize our core vision.
2.How does this benefit the APECoin DAO and what is the ROI?
a.Right now, BAYC’s cultural impact and contribution to web3 is mostly contained to a small niche of NFT collectors - meaning, the importance of APECoin isn’t fully understood by newcomers to the NFT space. To onboard the next generation of apes, builders, and APE coin holders, someone needs to capture and tell the story of BAYC and its cultural impact - without the story, people won’t resonate and the platform will not grow.
b.Forever Apes wants to document the history and rise of BAYC as it’s happening with a series of physical books (starting with: Forever Apes - Year One) and digital experiences (the wall and stories portal). Capturing this history in a physical collectible enables people to share the stories of the club with and build the ethos of BAYC.
c.In the medium to longer term, the Forever Apes team will expand to include other notable NFT projects (including Doodles, Azuki, Cool Cats, World Of Women, etc.). In the same way that Yuga Labs The Otherside is building an inclusive metaverse, Forever Apes will be the storytelling platform for NFTs that will build on APECoin, expanding the brand and coin’s reach beyond the
BAYC ecosystem.
d.The benefits for the DAO will be derived from recording these with a unified platform and a universal DAO - APECoin.
3.What have the project funds been spent on so far?
a.So far, the majority of project funds remain in the Forever Apes wallet.
b.Remaining amount has been spent towards design and development of the products highlighted in the proposal.
c.We will continue to use these funds towards building out the products highlighted in the proposal.
- What’s the core benefit of this proposal to the DAO in addition to the current funding request to print books?
a.Forever Apes is a small team of dedicated product builders and apes but with large aspirations. We have built a lot of what is listed in the proposal with minimal use of funds. We hope to utilize the credibility of being an AIP approved project to build on our next storytelling products. We seek this approval only to give us this authenticity to continue to follow through on the products highlighted in the proposal.
