I have a gift, and that gift is loving the process of learning. If there is an idea, a concept that I want to execute, no matter how hard it is, I will learn. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I can't help but see it as a challenge. The nuance, though, is that often, not many people actually see the final result.

Whether it's because it was for a pitch we didn't win, the final product is not quite production ready, or the moment it was created for passes, it's a bit of a shame that it doesn't get put out into the world.

With that in mind, I'm starting this thoughts series to bring light to some of that work. Regardless of the reason it didn't get seen by many, I'm proud of what I created, so why not share it with the world?

In this thought, I want to show you what I made for Adaki while we were still making the dashboard game. Let me set the scene.

It's 2023, our NFT collection had been out for over a year, it had been released for free, and we were regularly releasing game updates but had no way to generate revenue. This was killing us. The work schedule was brutal. Working the day job all day and building Adaki by night. We needed a way to get some kind of compensation for all the hard work we were doing.

Our idea was to release a new NFT collection, similar to our OG pass. It would be a small collection aimed at people who wanted more from the game. It was called 'The Battlepass'. The idea was that getting one of these NFTs would give access to an extra set of missions within the game. In addition, you would get extra resources in-game, a Crunchyroll subscription, and early access to any new game features.

To make this worth what we wanted to charge, I didn't want to use some pre-existing template from Envato. I wanted a custom 3D render of an object, bespoke for Adaki within our lore. A card with its own device to read it, as if you could pick it up and plug it in to get access to the realm we were creating. With a dream that we might be able to actually make the physical thing one day.

As I said at the beginning, I love learning, so the next step was obvious. Download Blender, start watching tutorials to get the basics, and get a foundational knowledge of how to create what was so clear in my mind.

Three dimensions is very different from two. I didn't realise it at the time, but adding that extra dimension had a profound impact on my design approach as a whole. Thinking about how this device would work in the real world, how it would be held together, the weight of it, what feedback the owner would get from the screen, how it tied into the world of Adaki.

All of this kind of thinking wasn't new to me. It's how I'd approached my digital practice for years. But thinking about the space it could take in the physical world was brand new. This project refined my broader understanding of customer experience across digital and physical. It had a big impact on how I approached the Let's Go project in my case studies. A more nuanced understanding of the in-person experience.

Unfortunately, the market wasn't ready for another NFT collection on Cardano, so it never saw the light of day once it was completed. I'm still so stoked with how it came out though, I couldn't resist writing this thought about it and giving it some love. For my first foray into 3D, I think it came out incredibly well. It took me about four weeks to go from no knowledge to this creation. I'm sure if a 3D artist jumped into the file they would have a heart attack, but we all have to start somewhere.

If you take only one thing away from reading this, don't be scared to try something new, even if it doesn't see the light of day. The process will always give you a new perspective to apply all over your life and craft.

Anyway, ramblings done, here is the creation. Drop me an email and tell me what you think, or if you've ever tried something like this and learned way more than you bargained for.