💠Philosophy
Community, art, giving back, and remembering to spend time with family and friends. Life is surprisingly short and precious. Work, produce and create value.
Deck of Dark Dreams is in many ways different in comparison to other NFT-projects. I’ll try to explain the philosophy here.
I often feel like referring to social media as unsocial media. We feel like we're being social, when actually it's an illusion: It's communication, but it's not really social unless you are in proximity to a real human being with all that entails, the comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Community
Community first. Serving the community will always be my top priority, without the community there is no Deck of Dark Dreams. Listening to ideas and suggestions, taking care of collectors and not growing too fast or becoming too large is a pillar of the project. This is an exclusive, tight-knit community of people who know and trust each other, diamond hands who are being supportive. There is no room for big egos or treating others with disrespect.
This is also a part of a long term strategy where I want to cultivate a culture of long term thinking and patience. In that, trying to avoid making a space where there is a constant stream of people coming in and out hoping to make a quick buck.
If you're a collector and don't feel I'm doing enough, I want you to let me know. I will never shy away from criticism, but always listen intently and learn — this is my promise to you.
Giving Back
I've always wanted this project to be about more than just art, and as part of the mission statement I've said that part of the proceeds from each season will be donated to charity. I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating which cause to align with, and as this project is focused around dark dreams I’ve decided that suicide prevention work and mental health is the issue closest to heart.
In Scandinavia, neither drug overdoses, traffic accidents nor cancer claim more lives than suicides — which is such a sad fact, especially seeing as it is fully preventable. Three out of four are men, which is also why I believe it’s so important that we help each other find courage to talk about these things and promote openness. Toxic bullshit like “being depressed just means you got to get your shit together” is incredibly damaging for so many, and I believe that if we were better at seeking help and reaching out the statistics wouldn't be so grim.
This is why I'm intent on giving part of the proceeds from each season to a charity that works specifically with this topic and I'll also from time to time hold 1/1 art auctions where 100% of the sales sum will go to a selected organization who I've researched.
Social
Our Discord is the place where most communication takes place. It's reserved for holders and those with special roles, and it's 100% free of all types of grinds, levels, treasure hunts and other things that encourage you to spend too much time online for special reason. Spending time with family and friends in real life is probably the most important thing we do. If I was to ever reward grinding, that would be the grind I’d ask you all to do. Treasure hunts, puzzles and other games to keep you engaged in my server seem like the absolute opposite of what I want my community to be doing. We need to stop spending all our time on social media and our phones, and focus on the time we have been given here. Time goes by so incredibly fast. When you’re young, you don't really understand this to the full extent. If you’re older you know this all too well. If grinding and solving meaningless tasks is what you define as utility, then I’d rather stop this right now and shut everything down. Sure, this is fun and exciting — we get to know other people, feel the excitement of building and gaining, I get to create art. But that’s not to say we shouldn’t limit how much time we spend doing it. This is one of the most important principles that I want to live by, and if you disagree then this community is not for you.
Art & Utility
Deck of Dark Dreams is first and foremost an art project. There's always a discussion on the definition of "utility" — for this project, it's mainly about collecting rare artworks and building a community that's rewarded. There are special perks, airdrops, whitelists and opportunities from being a holder — and holding a DDD NFT will in time open special opportunities — but there will most likely be no staking, no metaverse, no VR experiences. Again, I'd always choose to under-promise and over-deliver. I don't know what the future might hold, maybe there's a game that holders will get beta-access to and special discounts. Rest assure holders will be taken care of, but I have always been upfront: this is art first, and I will always think of new ways to reward those who have invested, but if you're looking for a utility-based project, this probably isn't it.
Given that Season 01 with 52 unique artworks sells out, I’ve been toying with ideas around how a full deck of cards could be used. A card game? Telling the future? Interpreting your dreams? The possibilities are many, and hopefully a community will chime in on these ideas.
Manifesto
-> I will never increase supply simply to meet demand and never dilute an existing collection by increasing the number of artworks
-> I will take care of the community and holders
-> I will spend a portion of earnings on suicide prevention work each season and through special auctions
-> I will ensure the community is friendly and supportive
-> I will never force my community to go through meaningless grinds
-> I will always choose to under-promise and over-deliver, rather than the other way around
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