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Web3 has seen many instances of Bored Ape holders monetizing their NFTs<\/a>, taking full advantage of their IP rights through ape-branded clothing brands<\/a>, food retailers<\/a>, or other ventures. While there are 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs<\/a>, some have gained more popularity than others due to these creative business endeavors.<\/p>\n A prime example is Jenkins the Valet, a fictional character created by Tally Labs<\/a> and dramatized around Bored Ape #1798<\/a>, who acts as the Head Valet of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. But Jenkins\u2019 story isn\u2019t that straightforward. To help tell it, along with the story of Tally Labs\u2019 subsequent controversial Azurbala project, we spoke with co-founders Valet Jones<\/a> (VJ) and Safa<\/a>. We discussed the lessons they\u2019ve learned over the past six months, how they intend to rebuild trust with their community, and the beta launch of their software platform, Avenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jenkins the Valet<\/a> started as an internet personality who shared stories about other apes and current events on Twitter. After growing a big following and a community, Jenkins\u2019 creators decided to launch their own collection, The Writer\u2019s Room<\/a>. Holders of the genesis NFT<\/a> could contribute to Jenkins\u2019 storyline in the metaverse and vote on the creative direction of Jenkins\u2019s debut novel. <\/p>\n After launch, the Writer\u2019s Room began to rise in prominence as an example of a successful literary NFT project<\/a> known for utilizing its community\u2019s imaginative resources to cultivate fictional metaverse narratives. In 2021, Jenkins became the first NFT to sign with Creative Arts Agency<\/a> to be represented across mediums of books, TV, film, and podcasts. CAA\u2019s A-list roster of Hollywood talent boasts the likes of Steven Spielberg, Ariana Grande, and Ryan Gosling.<\/p>\n In July 2022, the Tally Labs team digitally published Bored & Dangerous<\/a><\/em>, a community-generative NFT novel set within the fictional world of Azurbala written by ten-time New York Times<\/em> bestselling author Neil Strauss. The project attracted 4,075 Ape and Mutant holders to license their characters and was positively received by the community, selling 14,800 NFTs upon mint.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tally Labs saw this as a proof-of-concept for mass-scale licensing of NFT intellectual property and as an opportunity to launch a profile picture project (PFP) called Azurians. The project would center around Azurians, an innate species within the jungle capital of Azurbala, a fictional destination located on the other side of the BAYC metaverse. Given the team\u2019s past accomplishments, expectation was high for the project\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, in September of 2023, when the Azurian PFP art was revealed, fanfare quickly faded.\u00a0The Azurian characters were immediately met with widespread criticism from the community and the larger NFT space. It was a near-unanimous disapproval.<\/p>\n The artistic quality of Azurians became the brunt of memes and public mockery. \u201cHow on earth is this not a prank,\u201d replied one Twitter user<\/a>. Another wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe art is even better when I close my screen.\u201d As a result, the floor prices of Jenkins the Valet Writer\u2019s Room assets plummeted by hundreds of dollars as investors scrambled to exit the project.<\/p>\n Reflecting on the communities reaction to the Azurian PFP reveal, VJ told nft now that in the month that followed, the pair felt \u201ca massive mix of emotions \u2013 a ton of embarrassment, a lot of regret,\u201d and found it \u201creally hard to figure out what went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs challenging as it was for us, it was probably more challenging for our community,\u201d added Safa. \u201cThey put a lot of trust in us, had spent countless hours engaging, and were super excited for the reveal. We can only imagine what it felt like for the wind to be taken out of their sails.\u201d<\/p>\n In the immediate aftermath of the reveal, VJ and Safa hosted<\/a> a two-hour Twitter Spaces, allowing their community to openly share criticisms and concerns around the quality of the art.<\/p>\n Feedback on the art included dissatisfaction with the Azurians\u2019 expressionless faces<\/a>, an absence of 3D perspective<\/a> and proportion, and a visual mismatch<\/a> between their reptilian humanoid form and photorealistic clothing. Additionally, some observed that the creatures lacked a sense of aspirational familiarity, often called the uncanny valley effect. Without this quality, they argued that people would be less inclined to purchase an Azurian and display it as their PFP.<\/p>\n After collating vast community and council feedback, the team returned to the drawing board and started from scratch. \u201cWe were in the war room that night looking at actionable next steps,\u201d Safa explained. In the following weeks, the founders adopted a democratized approach, opening up a token-gated portal for Writer\u2019s Room holders to share written feedback with the desire to reimagine the innate design and thematic influences of the Azurians.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recognizing the strategy of brands such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, and Pudgy Penguins in using their static PFPs as a foundation to expand into derivative markets of animation, film, and music, VJ and Safa said that they understood they must follow a similar path.<\/p>\n \u201cWe underestimated the importance of the PFP,\u201d admitted VJ. \u201cWe were originally making characters to bring to life in all these different animated ways, but we didn\u2019t test them in the way that everybody was going to use them \u2014 in the [Twitter] circle.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, holders were able to upload images that creatively inspired them. VJ revealed that though some participants opted to share hand-drawn works, around 75 percent of the art uploaded was sourced from AI image-generating platforms Midjourney and Open AI\u2019s DALL-E 2.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal wasn\u2019t necessarily to use AI,\u201d said VJ. \u201cBut we\u2019ve certainly been impressed with how many people used that medium as a way to express the direction they think things should go.\u201d<\/p>\n Following this, the team established an art council<\/a> consisting of Waheed (AllSmilesss), Bryan Brinkman, Mando, and OSF to advise the team\u2019s new Creative Director, Ty Carter<\/a>, an Art Director at Netflix Animation with previous experience at Disney and Pixar. Additionally, an eight-member community council was brought together in November and tasked to oversee the redevelopment of the Azurian PFPs.<\/p>\nWho is Jenkins the Valet? <\/h2>\n
Azurbala: A world within a world <\/h2>\n
Rebuilding from the ground up <\/h2>\n