Discover The Art & Creative Direction Behind GCC
Every NFT project is powered by its art. In fact, art is often the catalyst that propels each project forward into the Web 3.0 era, giving the brand a unique distinction and personality.
At the Global Citizen Club, we take pride in our artwork, designed after the multiple people groups in our world.
Housed on the Ethereum blockchain, our art-aesthetics combine 2D minimalism and timelessness, with each unique Citizen from our recent genesis “Gentlemen” edition programmatically generated from over 380 possible traits. We sold out our first 8,888 collection within 24 hours at a mint price of 0.08 ETH, during which we made headlines on OpenSea!
But what really fueled the creative direction? And what was the design process for our classic 8,888 NFTs?
Join us as we explore the art behind GCC in further detail below. We chatted with Driv — the creative genius responsible for designing our NFTs and Driv-ing it forward as blockchain-based assets in the digital space — along with our co-founder Vincent, who explains the creative direction of the brand from a business perspective.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Vincent (co-founder): I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Multimedia from RMIT University, Melbourne. Shortly after graduating, I began my career in the creative industry revolving around branding, marketing and new media design.
In 2011, I kickstarted my entrepreneurial journey and co-founded Container Hotel Group, Capsule Transit, Cocomomo Pets Hotel along with my business partners. I’ve always taken up the role of Chief Creative Officer in each of these businesses.
Driv (artist): I’m a graphic designer and founder of LIE (wearenotlie.com), an independent design studio headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia since 2011. I graduated from a local college and went to work in Singapore and Shanghai before starting my own design company.
How did you decide to venture into NFT art?
Vincent: Art, new media and technology have always been my biggest passions. I just love discovering the latest technology trends, so naturally when I was first exposed to NFTs back in 2021, I saw a huge opportunity in this space, especially from the perspective of someone being in the creative industry.
In order for me to dive into the rabbit hole, I decided to venture into an experimental project, and this is how GCC was first conceived.
To be honest, GCC is a revived and improved version of an idea that I abandoned 3 years ago. At that time, my initial concept for GCC was for it to be a travel merchandise brand. This idea stemmed from the days of my transit hotel business ventures at airports, and that was how I was originally inspired to create a global exclusive membership club in the Web 3.0 era.
What was your creative direction for GCC’s art, coming from a business perspective?
Vincent: Before we started working on the art style and direction, there were a few things that needed to be taken into consideration, such as the audience/target market and the needs for GCC holders.
For instance, regarding the target market, I researched and studied the NFT market by deep-diving into some successful projects to try and understand the audience’s needs.
NFTs are like collectable watches or any other collectable assets. By having a cool and exclusive NFT, it will allow the individual/ holder to communicate with the society through displaying their status simply by changing their profile picture (PFP). When a person is willing to replace his/her profile picture on social media with your NFT, it could mean that they are going to be your loyal fan.
In respect to the art direction, we needed to design something that was really cool, timeless, exclusive, complete with high-end elements, while being relative to a luxury image.
I have been working with Driv on multiple projects, especially when I was running my hotel business. Driv’s art style is 100% suitable for what we wanted to do.
What was the artistic inspiration behind GCC’s minimalism art?
Vincent: Designed after the various people groups in our world, our art combines vibrant colors and clean finishes. Our creative direction for the recent NFT collection focuses largely on luxury and timeless 2D minimalism. It features the “classy gentlemen” style, with our Citizens’ traits & outfits inspired by high-fashion & iconic movie characters.
In your opinion, what makes GCC’s art style special?
Driv: Coming from a graphic design background, we really wanted to introduce the minimal graphical style into this market. We think the clean and classy look will stand out from the current cluttered trend, and it carries out the essence of GCC nicely too.
How long do you usually spend designing one GCC NFT?
Driv: It took us about a month to determine the art style and nail down the basic structure. After getting my hands on it, each NFT took me roughly 1 or 2 hours to execute in general.
How does the design process for GCC differ from your other graphic design projects?
Driv: Our design studio mainly focuses on visual identity, editorial and print designs — just like most graphic design studios out there. On the other hand, GCC involves a lot of illustrations and artistic expressions, which I really enjoyed, especially after working on commercial projects for years. It was a fresh change.
Last question. If you could travel the world, where would you go, and why?
Driv: I’ve always been fascinated by New York. So I’d love to explore the city that nurtured so many inspiring artists and designers.
Vincent: Anywhere in the world where I can meet up and party with GCC members!
For more information on our project, check out our website and social profiles:
Website: https://gccnft.xyz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gccnft
Instagram: https://instagram.com/globalcitizenclub
Opensea: https://opensea.io/collection/globalcitizenclub
