A passion project that no longer feels like a passion project.
A passion project that no longer feels like a passion project, and begins to feel more like a job, is a sign it’s time to put the brakes on. For that reason, we have made the difficult decision to put a stop to the Interfaces collection.
Anybody who has followed our journey since the beginning will have hopefully seen the genuine energy, passion, and integrity that we’ve put into forming a community and creating artwork that resonates with you all. Unfortunately, it’s spiraled into something that’s so far away from the initial vision we had and where we wanted the project to be, that we’re no longer comfortable that it’s something we want to pursue.
It’s taken stepping back and taking some time away to come to this realization. We’ve been blinkered by spending every spare moment on the collection itself. Please bear in mind that this project is something we’ve been doing whilst keeping up our full-time and freelance commitments, so getting the necessary time to reflect, even momentarily, had become almost impossible because our focus had always been on creating, building, and managing.
It’s bittersweet to write but ultimately we feel it’s necessary to update you all on our position and thoughts about the project going forward, and alleviate some of the pressures we’ve been experiencing. Bitter because this is something we’ve put so much into and we can see the genuine love and appreciation from the wider community for both ourselves and the project, but sweet because we can now start to feel the weight lifting and begin to start feeling like ourselves again.
Whilst the finish line was almost in sight, in the past few months the speculation and hype has truly taken all of the enjoyment out of what we’ve been trying to do. This has only added to the mental and emotional burden of trying to bring the project to fruition. We have always prided ourselves on the ability to work to deadlines and challenging briefs, but this is of a different magnitude. There are no additional details or rumors to unpack, just three very tired humans that are overwhelmed and burnt out dealing with an immense amount of stress.
Although we’ve never made any commitments and advocated transparently for a project that was solely art focused, we still can’t escape the pressure and expectations that are slowly creeping up on us externally. It just makes us feel more uncomfortable about the idea of releasing a collection that will quickly become something away from the vision we had. We’re conscious that this comes hand in hand with the nature of web3 but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer the same cycle. It’s taken us a while to come to this understanding, and as cliche as it may sound, sometimes you really do have to tread the path and get close to the destination in order to recognize it’s not where you want to be.
Internally the mindset of finishing the artwork and minting was something that we thought would start to signify the end of this mounting pressure. Upon reflection, it would just be the start of more. Maybe this was naive of us to believe, but it’s something that we wanted to. If the same feelings we’re currently experiencing would go on to intensify, it’s very clear that it wouldn’t be healthy or manageable long term. Dedicating all of your time to your own project seems like a great way to work, and it might be doable with the right approach. However, respectfully it’s not something we see ourselves being capable of, nor wanting to feel responsible for. Setting these boundaries and creating a healthy work life balance only becomes more difficult after launching a project like this.
We’ve seen the toll running a project has taken on other founders and whilst we appreciate everything comes with its ups and downs, in hindsight the uncertainty of which way the balance will tip isn’t something we’re prepared to take the risk on, nor would we want that to affect anybody else. We’ve tried to think about how to tackle some of the problems we’ve been facing by extending the team beyond the three of us, but sharing our burdens may ease them temporarily, but it definitely doesn’t solve the bigger issues at hand.
Losing the ability to create outside of Interfaces is also a fundamental concern of ours. We’re designers first and foremost and we’ve been working on side projects solely for enjoyment and to hone our craft for the best part of 12+ years. We don’t want our own personal commitments, individual skill sets, and interests being absorbed into one, where it then becomes harder to experiment, create and produce without the expectation of focusing all of our time and energy into one project. We’re not saying this is impossible to do, but it would be naive to think that it wouldn’t affect the work we do as individuals moving forward.
We can understand this will be disappointing to read, but we hope you can appreciate our sentiments, struggles, and where we’re coming from. It wasn’t an easy decision for us to make, we’ve poured our hearts and 6 months into building what you see, but ultimately we feel like it’s the right and responsible thing to do that aligns with our values. The NFT space doesn’t stop regardless of whether another PFP collection exists or not, and it will continue to keep on keeping on as it always does. The space can be incredibly positive and we remain bullish on the future of NFT’s. We’ll continue to enjoy participating as creators and collectors by supporting the artists, teams, and projects we feel most passionate about.
Whether you joined our pre-sale through entering a quiz, submitted a piece of artwork, helped correct a spelling mistake, or made a meme, we appreciate any time you have shared with us. We can only deeply apologize for any of that time that was invested. Although we don’t feel this needs justification, we want to be completely clear, none of the presale spots were ever purchased nor have we sold any NFT’s that would have granted access to it.
We’re drawing a line under Interfaces and plan on taking some time away. The last 6 months have been a rollercoaster and we’re happy to be getting off to catch our breath. We might not ever revisit the project and we’re at peace with that, but if we do, we can categorically say that it will never return as a 10K collection. It’s not a viable route for us.
We’ve achieved some incredible things over the last 6 months:
- As a community, we raised over 16 ETH to help aid in Devon’s surgery recovery, whilst also onboarding hundreds of new artists onto the 3D for Designers course. All of the ETH, including any future royalties, will always go to Devon. It’s written into the smart contract.
- Interfaces was one of the first projects to pioneer a no discord approach.
- Made and gave away over 35 custom hats and a bunch of stickers to our supporters and community.
- AND brought together what feels like one of the most creative communities within the space.
For whatever reason you were interested in and followed the project, we’re incredibly grateful that you came on the journey with us. For that we sincerely thank you. It’s really opened our eyes to what can be achieved, but more importantly, made us aware of what matters most. If there’s anything we’ve learned and can take away from this experience, it would be to always put your health and wellbeing first and take time to reflect along the way, to ensure where you’re going still aligns with your initial values and vision.
We’d also like to thank our development partners WestCoastNFT, they have been so supportive throughout the duration of the project, helping us to understand the technical side of web3 as new creators within the space and being there for any of our concerns.
As a final note, please take a moment to check in on the founders, moderators and other members of the projects and communities you’re a part of. This space moves so fast it’s easy to forget there are people behind every project. You never know what each person is dealing with behind the GM’s and PFP’s.
We’ll be logging out of @WGMInterfaces in 24 hours.
Thank you once again for all of the support.
Interfaces ◕◡◕
