Every now and then a project emerges where the art is so…fun, it’s hard to not get one in your wallet. That’s how I feel about Regulars, a 10k PFP collection that’s bucking the bear market with placid smirks and ambiguous dispositions. I met up with p0pps to talk about Regulars and what the future holds for these everyday heroes.
Who are you, and what’s your background in Web3?
I go by p0pps and I’ve been interested in crypto for a few years. A while ago I read a ‘solidity for dummies’ type of book, and it blew my mind! I have a mixed background – bounced between technical and creative since I can remember. I got into NFTs because it’s the perfect mix of the two. Of course, I was on OpenSea very early (2019, ha) but was only doing ENS stuff.
It’s funny that I watched a lot of blue-chip and classic projects pass by, without understanding what they were.
It is impossible to look at Regulars and not smile. What made you want to come up with Regulars? What was the inspiration?
I have been interested in procedural design for a while and had done a lot of exploration in Blender that didn’t really go anywhere. During COVID, I had an opportunity to spend more time at home, so I made a transition from one type of CGI software to a powerful app with a steep learning curve called Houdini. Houdini itself was an inspiration, and to figure out how to make a 10k collection as good as it can be. For visual reference, I was struck by Botero’s paintings because they have a real mass to them, and they also embrace imperfection + asymmetry. Also, inspired by high school yearbooks, and the theme is something I’ve been exploring for a long time in other mediums.
It sounds like you’re the artist and the dev. Did you do this all by yourself?
I was fortunate to find amazing help during every step of the process. The more we worked, the more possibilities appeared, and before long, my ‘3-week experiment’ became a 5-6 month project with nearly 15 people helping in different capacities. I’m accustomed to working with a team from my day job and put together a group of specialists to help carry out tasks that could be delegated or required specific experience. I have been hands-on with some of our contracts like our Ugly Pool Swap mechanism but found an incredible contract developer to build our initial contract and provide much-needed guidance along the way.
Let’s talk about Ugly Pool Swap. I haven’t seen that before. How does that work?
It’s very simple. It’s a pool of Regular NFTs that I provided (when our floor price was super low) and any Regular holder can swap out their Regular for another one, for very little gas. We had some bells and whistles on there, but removed them to keep gas costs at a minimum (and make the contract easier to vet). It’s a simple idea but turned out to be a hit with the community. I look at it as a plus because holders can swap their Regs easily and cheaply and may end up with something they are happier with. Also, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and we worked so hard to make all the Regulars unique, this idea seems to have held up.
We had major marketing issues in the beginning. Not from lack of trying or ideas, we just didn’t know what to do. We tried to overcome this by building. The thought was that if we could provide some value to both the Regular project and the NFT community at large, we might get more exposure for the Regulars. It didn’t exactly work out like that but trying things out and building only helped us on the path we’re on.
I hear there are jobs and salaries coming soon. What’s that about?
We are indeed launching Regular jobs soon, and all Regs will earn a salary. I’m excited about the possibilities of the regular economy, and we’re designing it with a lot of flexibility for future ideas.
What else do you see for the future for Regulars?
We’ll continue to build and continue to explore possibilities in this strange and exciting landscape. I see room for abstraction, interactivity, cross-over into the physical world, and layers of world-building. I don’t have clarity on all of these items, but I suspect the answers will present themselves.
Was there anything else that you specifically wanted to talk about that I haven’t mentioned yet?
I just want to say that we had an unusual path. We didn’t mint out for 6 months, and only because of our small but passionate community was the Regular spirit kept alive. It has been quite a journey and over the last few weeks, seeing the theme hit a larger audience and the high level of creative output from the community – the future of the Regulars looks promising.
