Punk Quadrants
A Visual Construct for AltPunk NFT Avatar Classification
TL;DR
With the recent excitement and dramatic price increases in the CryptoPunks space, it shouldn’t be surprising to see a variety of derivative, inspired-by NFT avatar projects surfacing around the original CryptoPunks aesthetic. This article aspires to offer some perspective to consider while assessing these collections. Similar to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant approach that provides insight into a market’s direction and participants, a new visual construct (Punk Quadrants) is introduced against which various “altpunk” collections can be plotted. The application of this visual construct to classify altpunk collections is intended to offer the marketplace with a differentiated perspective on the underlying assets for better decision making. With the market construct in place, the focus turns to the ExpansionPunks collection as a uniquely positioned collection based both on its differentiated position within the Punk Quadrants construct, as well as the ecosystem commitments to the entire Punkverse.
Key Consideration: Not Investment Advice
A quick look at on-chain transactions will support the argument that the original CryptoPunks collection is easily the best store-of-value investment in the NFT avatar space. Historical provenance (influence on the non-fungible token standard), scarcity (only 10K Punks) and notoriety are all key factors in driving such demand. However, such demand also drives prices in tandem, resulting in entry prices (33 ETH floor at time of publish) that take Punk ownership out of the realm of possible for many. New paradigms of “fractional” ownership are emerging and should be considerations for pure investors in this space. But fractionalized ownership isn’t for everyone; for many collectors, the full ownership of a unique token is important. For those looking beyond the original CryptoPunks collection, there is value in a construct to support the assessment of the altpunk ecosystem. With that being said — queue the disclaimer: the information and recommendations in this article should not be considered as investment advice.
Scoping the AltPunk Ecosystem for Classification
Before we introduce a visual construct, it’s important to first delineate the scope of this classification exercise. The range of existing and emerging projects and collections in this space is quite extensive. There are a variety of unique approaches projects are taking to establish their differentiation, including for example:
● Hand-drawn, small batch collections
● Basic horizontal flips/reflections
● 3D re-interpretations
● Filter transformations
● Deep-learning re-mixes
and more recently…
● Generative collections seeking to capture the ethos of the original CryptoPunks magic by introducing new, previously non-existing Punks
For basic organization, we first group these various projects into one of two categories per Figure 1 below: Derivative vs. Transformative.
Most altpunk collections to date fall in the Derivative category. Recently, we’re seeing an increasing number of Transformative Punks collections starting to surface, confirming the need for a classification framework to help provide market structure and differentiation.
Punk Quadrants — Overview
Punk Quadrants is a framework against which NFT avatar altpunk collections can be positioned relative to one another across a two-dimensional matrix. The construct’s dimensions are based on decision-criteria often cited as most critical in assessing NFT collections: Aesthetics and Rarity. The Punk Quadrants evaluates projects based on their “Adherence to CryptoPunks Aesthetic” (x-axis) and “Adherence to CryptoPunks Trait Assignment Logic” (y-axis) — a correlate for Rarity. The two dimensions result in 4 mutually-exclusive and collectively-exhaustive Punk Quadrants, each named to summarize the outcome of the unique combination of the two dimensions:
● Re-Cast Quadrant — Collections that adhere primarily to trait assignment rules by “re-casting” trait logic on new traits, resulting in Punks that may be rarity-coherent, but lack visual cohesion.
● Re-Imagine Quadrant — Collections that diverge from both trait assignment rules and aesthetic properties, resulting in a “re-imagination” of Punks that lack visual cohesion and rarity coherence.
● Re-Mix Quadrant— Collections that adhere primarily to aesthetic properties by “re-mixing” traits, while departing from trait assignment rules, resulting in Punks that are visually-cohesive, but not rarity-coherent.
● Expand Quadrant — Collections that adheres to both trait assignment logic and aesthetic. Such collections serve to “expand” the CryptoPunks collection with new visually cohesive and rarity-coherent Punks.
No one quadrant is necessarily better than another; the quadrants simply serve as a classification tool to differentiate projects. Investors and collectors should decide the merits of each quadrant based on their own intentions, which may also be subjective.
Let’s take a closer look at each dimension (axis) that determines a collection‘s position within the 4 distinct quadrants:
When measuring Adherence to CryptoPunks Aesthetic (x-axis), we consider a variety of visual factors, including RGB color accuracy, trait pixel-level accuracy, and trait layer sequencing accuracy. The more a collection adheres to such factors, the greater the aesthetic cohesion with the original CryptoPunks collection. We wrote in detail about the complexities involved with RGB color accuracy in our first article, Creating a 10K NFT Avatar Collection — Step-by-Step.
First, multiple traits (Rosy Cheeks, Mole, Horned Rim Glasses, all 3 Eye Shadow colors, plus others) are semi-transparent, and when layered atop other traits (e.g. a skin tone) they blend to create a new third color based on a mix of the two RGB values as a function of the transparent layer’s opacity value.
To accurately capture the original RGB colors of the CryptoPunks collection, several semi-transparent trait layers must be deduced based on multi-variable mathematical functions. And given the variable blending outcomes of semi-transparent layers atop different skin tones, non-linear simulation/optimization functions were needed to accurately deduce RGB and opacity values for such semi-transparent layers. Sampling pixel-level RGB values across various altpunk collections often reveals miniscule RGB value-differences on specific traits, indicating RGB color accuracy was not a particular focus for the collection. Trait pixel-level accuracy is also a factor when assessing aesthetic adherence. Collections differ widely in adherence to specific traits — some even introducing entirely new traits for their collection. Finally — trait-layer sequencing accuracy is also a factor in determining cohesion with the CryptoPunks aesthetic. Altpunk collections vary widely in their ability to accurately capture the nuances of how specific traits may “hide“ other underlying traits when composited in the correct sequencing order. Broadly speaking, most collections will ultimately fall to the left of the x-axis mid-point due to the complexities involved in reproducing the CryptoPunks aesthetic in pixel-perfect detail.
In assessing a collection’s Adherence to CryptoPunks Trait Assignment Logic (y-axis), we measure a collection’s precision in honoring the rules that govern the assignment of traits to Punk “Types“ in the original CryptoPunks collection. There are a variety of trait-combination rules in the original CryptoPunks logic that are often overlooked in altpunk projects. One such glaring example is the Pilot Helmet + Eye Trait glitch — whereby a Punk has both a Pilot Helmet trait and any of the Eye traits (e.g. Eye Shadow or any type of Glasses). We call this a glitch, because the Pilot Helmet already has an integrated set of Goggles, and the original Larva Labs trait assignment logic ensured that no Punk with Pilot Helmet would ever have an Eye trait that conflicts with the pilot’s goggles. Multiple such hidden trait assignment rules exist in the original CryptoPunks collection, and most transformative altpunk collections have not accounted for this logic in their generative approach. That may not necessarily be an oversight by the project — in such cases adherence to trait assignment logic might not have been a focus of the collection. Honoring the original CryptoPunks trait probabilities is another function of a collection’s adherence to Trait Assignment Logic. Specific traits in the original collection are intended as rare, e.g. Beanies, Welding Goggles, etc. Multiple transformative collections disregard such rarity factors in their generative process, resulting in collections that suffer from a lack of rarity coherence with the original CryptoPunks collection. Ultimately, reverse engineering, documenting, and then programming this level of trait assignment logic into a collection’s generative process is complex, so it’s not surprising to see most transformative altpunk projects fall below the y-axis mid-point into the Re-Imagine/Re-Mix categories.
Punk Quadrants: Examples
Author’s Note: We decided not to call out specific altpunk collections by name in this section, but encourage you to apply the Punk Quadrant dimensions in your own assessment of existing and forthcoming collections.
Re-Cast Quadrant:
In general, most “Derivative Punks“ collections can be found in the Re-Cast Quadrant, as they generally inherit the original Punk collection as the primary input, and thereby inherently respect all the trait assignment logic, placing them high on the y-axis dimension of the Punk Quadrants construct. However, such derivative collections depart heavily from the CryptoPunks aesthetic through visual modifications such as filters, perspective flips, and GAN modeling, which results in lower placement against the x-axis dimension of aesthetic fit. Currently, this is the most heavily populated quadrant in the altpunk space.
Re-Imagine Quadrant:
With the growth in NFT avatar space, many collections are now coming to market that build on the 24x24 pixel punk concept. To differentiate, they are leveraging components of the original CryptoPunks collection (e.g. base face archetypes, hats, hairsytles) and introducing a variety of new traits, which places them left-of-center on the x-axis dimension of aesthetic adherence. Given the variety of new traits, often replacing other CryptoPunks traits, the collection’s ability to adhere to the original trait assignment rules (y-axis) is also inherently low, resulting in placement of such collections in the lower-left Re-Imagine Quadrant.
Re-Mix Quadrant:
Recently, new projects are launching attempting to use only original CryptoPunks traits to reconstruct new punks, placing them right-of-center on the aesthetic x-axis dimension. On surface, such projects feel very similar to our own ExpansionPunks effort. However, on closer inspection of these collections, it’s apparent that their focus indexes more on the aesthetic dimension than the trait assignment dimension, as multiple trait logic misses are evident throughout their collections. This places such collections below the y-axis mid-point, in the lower-right Re-Mix Quadrant. In reality, most collectors may never recognize these trait assignment disparities, as they’re subtle. But the more time spent looking at trait rarity and combination data, the more evident these misses will become over time. Again — such collections are valid in their own right — and low adherence to trait assignment logic isn’t a negative if the collection is not aspiring for rarity coherency with the original population.
Expand Quadrant:
We posit that the ExpansionPunks collection is the sole example of a collection in the Expand Quadrant, successfully achieving a high degree of fit across both dimensions of the Punk Quadrants construct. As detailed in our first article, we’ve fully validated the aesthetic accuracy of our trait layer library by proving through perceptual hashing algorithms that we can re-produce all 10K original CryptoPunks to be pixel-for-pixel exact clones of the originals. That’s 5.76M (24x24x10K) exact pixel matches on RGB and opacity values! Fun fact — the Punks you see in the CryptoPunks Explorer are actually the pixel-perfect clones we generated to validate our engine. Beyond aesthetics — we’ve also reverse engineered the hidden trait assignment logic inherent to the original CryptoPunks collection. Latent trait combination restrictions buried in the CryptoPunks logic have been documented and applied to the ExpansionPunks collection to ensure such trait restrictions are precluded.
Expanding the Punkverse
As evidenced by the multiple existing and emerging altpunk collections, the Punkverse is growing in the form of new collections spanning Re-Mix, Re-Cast, Re-Imagine and now Expand Quadrants. As the blockchain and NFT landscapes continue to evolve, more individuals will be entering this space. The expansion of the Punkverse is inevitable.
Owning the “Expansion” modifier comes with a great sense of responsibility to the CryptoPunks community. Through an expansion approach that respects and honors the ethos of the original, ExpansionPunks feature unique trait combinations without sacrificing aesthetic cohesiveness and trait rarity coherence with the original CryptoPunks collection. Managing the balance of these dimensions is foundational to launching an expanded collection that honors and advances the original collection.
Responsible expansion involves selecting limited aesthetic and trait combination departures with intention and purpose that aligns with the CryptoPunks Zeitgeist. The ExpansionPunks collection seeks to expand the Punkverse to be a more representative, diverse and inclusive community by addressing the subtle biases in the original CryptoPunks collection that unintentionally lead to exclusion. Examples include empowering Females to show emotion with Smiles/Frowns, democratizing access to traits across genders, and importantly, introducing new, diverse Non-Binary Punks to be more inclusive for the growing population of individuals (or even organizations) that choose not to identify with a binary gender. We believe the CryptoPunks community will support this mission to empower everyone to feel welcome, valued and represented in this new blockchain technology frontier.
The ExpansionPunks commitment goes beyond the individual Punks to also include platforms and experiences for the entire Punkverse. As new capabilities like the PunkExplorer are built to support the ExpansionPunks collection, they will be retroactively configured to support the CryptoPunks collection as well. This approach will ensure an active, ongoing focus on advancing the Punkverse as a whole. Ultimately, it is our hope that through an expanded Punkverse that is more diverse and inclusive, coupled with a new experiences for dynamically exploring the broader Punkverse, ExpansionPunks will be received as additive to the community, bringing more awareness and demand to the space as a whole.
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