Yesterday, Porsche revealed plans to launch a 7,500-piece NFT collection based on the classic Porsche 911 in January 2023, with Hamburg-based designer and 3D artist Patrick Vogel set to create each piece in the collection. Today at nft now and Mana Common’s The Gateway at Art Basel, Porsche revealed the details of its upcoming release.

“If a project wants to be successful, it has to bring people together,” explained Deniz Keskin, Director of Brand Management and Partnerships at Porsche, while speaking on the panel. “Web3 is in exactly the same spirit. Porsche is not going into space for some economic reason. We go there because we want to engage with you to build something.”

In fact, the German automaker aims to make its NFT designs a decentralized proposition, allowing consumers to participate in the blockchain asset curation of tomorrow.

Porsche’s emphasis on community co-creation

People who buy a Porsche NFT will be able to help shape the design of their digital token by choosing a “path” for it, selecting from Performance, Lifestyle or Heritage options. These routes reflect a particular feature of the company’s brand identity and will modify the overall design of the NFT itself. In the months after the collection launches, Vogel will work with user input to prepare each NFT as a 3D asset in Unreal Engine 5.

Lars Krämer, manager of innovation and methods at Porsche, also underlined the importance of the collaborative creation of NFTs in the company’s upcoming launch. Noting that the team’s Discord channel has skyrocketed to 30,000 active users since yesterday’s announcement, Krämer explained that holders will be invited to collaborative input sessions on what future NFT designs will look like or involve.

“The core of the project is the community,” Krämer reiterated. “We want to get in touch with you and have co-creation. That is the goal. I am really looking forward to having the first co-creation session with headlines in the future. We can test the artists’ designs in the future and bring them together with the artists and our entire team.”

Krämer also explained that the future NFT utility will involve access to exclusive physical and virtual events and products. Keskin stressed that some of Porsche’s future Web3 plans are still changing by design: the goal is largely to build on the company’s NFT initiatives together with the Porsche enthusiast community.

“We look at [these releases] almost like seasons on a TV show,” Keskin said. “What you see now is like the first season. We’ll see what we learn from this. [first collection] and how we write history in the future. Don’t expect a second season to be exactly like this one. we really want [evolve] together with the community [to] move forward on this journey.”

Giving Up Artistic Control

3D artist Patrick Vogel, who will create each NFT in the collection, acknowledged that the creation process for Porsche was solely Web3 in nature. “Web3 is always about what comes next,” Vogel explained. “You always have this co-creation in mind. It is different from normal creation in Web2. I love working with iconic things. I love doing really weird art. Colorful, playful. And if Porsche calls you and says, ‘Hey, can you do this?’ You say, ‘Of course.’”

Belgian visual artist Vexx, who is also working with Vogel and the Porsche team to create the designs used in the NFT launch, added to the co-creation sentiment: “Relinquishing artistic control is part of the Web3 mindset. It is more open. Since I was young, I have been posting my art on social media. People copy it, those things happen. It’s something you have to embrace and nurture. [With this project,] people will be able to adapt their NFT to [suit] your interests. They can go whatever style they want.”

Balancing choice with opportunity

Krämer noted that the final NFT from Porsche enthusiasts will be a product of both owner preference and randomization. Porsche fans won’t know what they’re getting even when they specify which route or style they’d like their NFT to be. Like Keskin, Krämer explained that what comes next in Porsche’s NFT initiative will be influenced by the collaboration sessions they hold with members of the community.

“We are really looking forward to having him attend the co-creation sessions to help us decide what the ‘second season’ will be,” Krämer said. The team also engaged the audience by offering a POAP-like opportunity for fans interacting with the Porsche exhibit at The Gateway: A Web3 Metropolis on Flagler Street. Those that do will have a better chance of getting on the allowlist for the inaugural release, which is scheduled to open sometime in December.