Author: Xu Mo, ArcBlock designer
On the occasion of the Year of the Dragon, I have created a set of commemorative NFTs for the Year of the Dragon. I am sharing the entire process of designing this set of NFTs to let everyone know how to easily use ArcBlock's NFT Studio, which utilizes generative AI, to create and distribute NFTs.
The article is divided into two parts, and this is the first part.
Preparation#
In this section, I will briefly introduce the basic NFT production process to everyone. This is the process I adopt, and you can streamline or expand it according to your needs.
A set of NFT production process can consist of the following steps:
- Determine the train of thought (consider the necessary elements and express what kind of emotions)
- AI-generated materials
- Material is preprocessed in Figma and exported as final material.
- Using NFT Studio to create NFTs.
Layered NFT Design#
ArcBlock's NFT Studio supports a layered design, which means that the artwork of an NFT is composed of multiple layers merged together. Each layer can consist of one or multiple images, texts, etc. The different combinations of elements within these layers create a unique composition for each NFT.
When you design your own NFT, you can freely design different layers and combinations according to your needs. By using a combination mode, you can generate a massive amount of unique NFTs with minimal resources.
For example, if you design an NFT consisting of 5 layers:
- 10 kinds of backgrounds
- 10 kinds of main subject graph
- 10 kinds of pendant auxiliary diagram
- 10 kinds of text layers
- 10 Types of Your Own Logo
Then the maximum number of unique NFTs you can generate is 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 = 100,000.
Our NFT is composed of the following five layers:
- A fixed background.
- Idiom Title
- Both sides of the couplet.
- Single characters in the middle lower section.
- Subject: Dragons
Ideation#
This step is actually quite mystical. Inspiration comes when it comes, and it's hard to come up with a satisfactory one if it hasn't come yet. Fortunately, GPT can now provide us with a very good starting point, and below is the design concept provided by GPT.
Then I decided to use dragon elements as the main theme, with predominantly red and gold colors. Coincidentally, I had a previously received red envelope from my former company stuck on the wall, and I thought a similar red envelope design would be a nice idea.
Getting Started#
With the preparation above, we can start to take action and implement it.
Tools #
As a professional designer, Figma is essential to me. With Figma, it is easier to preview the effects and design auxiliary layers (such as borders, font layers, widgets, etc.).
A powerful tool generated by AIGC, I have used Midjourney. However, there are still many other tools such as Stable Diffusion, Dall-E 3, Adobe Firefly, etc. that can also handle the task.
AI background removal tool, this is because the images generated by AIGC are often not with a transparent background, so using this tool to automatically remove the background will make my work easier.
AIGC#
In this set of NFTs, the visual materials generated by AI only consist of dragons.
Generate Dragon I use Midjourney, Midjourney has the best effect, the prompts are also the simplest, there is no need to configure model parameters like SD and study prompts. In fact, there are many community-shared prompts for prompts, which are also used in the official community of Midjourney. The best place in the Chinese community that surprised me for sharing prompts is Xiaohongshu
I have generated many dragons using Midjourney, the specific usage of Midjourney is not mentioned here, there are already many online tutorials for MJ
AI Background Removal#
Right-click to copy this dragon's image to this online tool: https://pixian.ai
It can automatically remove the background.
Click Copy to go directly to Figma.
Auxiliary layers#
In this set of NFTs, only the dragon is generated by AI. The other parts just need some simple design, which is why I use Figma.
The title of the NFT artwork is just a calligraphic font, and each character's size and position have been individually modified to create a slightly scattered appearance. Here are ten idioms related to dragons with a positive atmosphere generated by GPT:
The individual characters are also designed to mimic red envelopes in a very simple way. They are 10 characters related to the Lunar New Year generated by GPT:
The couplet is also very simple. Just add a border to the vertical arrangement of the text, and the content is also generated by GPT.
Because the main focus is the dragon, it is better to keep the other elements as simple as possible.
Design NFT with Figma #
After the above preparation, we have completed this series of materials:
Next, it's actually very simple. Each material is separated into individual layers, such as the characters being one layer and the dragon being another layer. For students who haven't had any experience with design, layers might not be very clear. Below, I will provide an example diagram:
Tips: The container size of each material is consistent, so there is no need for secondary processing in the future. This is a small technique to reduce the adjustment needed when creating NFTs in the future. Of course, you can choose not to adjust because ArcBlock's NFT Studio has powerful material editing and adjustment capabilities. What I did here is the simplest approach in this example.
Select all materials from Figma and then export:
The final NFT only needs to combine these materials to quickly produce 10 (titles) x 6 (couplets) x 10 (dragons) x 10 (characters) = 6000 NFTs
However, completing this step manually is very time-consuming, and in the past, these NFTs often required writing code to complete this step. But ArcBlock provides such a tool that can combine these materials according to your requirements, and can also complete necessary steps such as on-chain issuance and Mint.
Next step: NFT Studio#
NFT Studio is a suite tailor-made for NFT creators. NFT Studio encompasses all the tools necessary to launch an NFT project, including creation, distribution, minting, sales, and market integration. NFT Studio can also combine with AIGC and other technologies to achieve efficient AI-assisted creation.
I will explain the usage of NFT Studio and the detailed steps to create this set of NFTs in the next part.