NFT COLLECTION RELEASE
Pre-Sale - Sunday March 20th 2022 @ 11:00am PST for 0.08 ETH each
Drop - Saturday April 2nd 2022 @ 11:00am PST for 0.1 ETH each
OWNERSHIP FEATURES & UTILITY (Collector’s Perks)
exclusive rights for non-profit use of the letter/symbol granted directly from the artist/creator
discount code for -20% on all purchases of products through my website asaadbruno.pro
access code for certain locked parts of my website asaadbruno.pro (photos, journal+)
ARTIST STATEMENT - ABOUT THE COLLECTION
I present 1/1 digital art pieces, collectible on the blockchain, paired with utility and accessories IRL - a collection that embodies my style & essence of design, dedicated to AH-LEZ, for the world. This alphabet is foundational in my letting style - much of the work that I do and will continue to do will trace inspiration from it. By that means, the value of the alphabet will expand as much work evolves and reaches more people who resonate with the letters. When I first previewed this alphabet, I presented the work unfinished, open-ended, knowing I couldn’t fully flex the collection until a lot of revision and back-end work was done first. Upon the 3/26 reveal, I present finished work, still subject to modification in leading up to the pre-sale on 3/20, and the official release on 4/2. Until the pre-sale, i will gather feedback from my supporting community in order to best deliver iconic icons for this time we live in.
As an artist and designer, I’ve created this alphabet grounded in my love for letters - rooted in my practice of graffiti, sign-making, branding, graphic design, typography, symbolism, fine art & fashion. I do not claim to be a ‘real graffiti artist’ or to be anywhere near proficient in street art as of right now. Aspects of my work can be considered ‘graffiti’ but I don’t compare myself to the real graffiti artists out there. All my love, gratitude, and respect go to the real artists and crews who get up in the streets on a daily/nightly basis all across the world. With humility and respect, I don’t currently have the mental and physical capacity to be UP in the streets yet, but maybe one day. For now, I occasionally paint outside but I’m not part of a crew or consider myself in the local scene. Overall I’m not really interested in graffiti politics and I don’t do beef. I do my best to immerse myself more into painting outside with the right efforts to produce good, clever art and build a graffiti community based on appreciation and respect for the craft and all other artists.
Some of my graffiti/street art inspirations growing up in France: TERAK (THP) ; ROUL (BDV) ; BEND (BDV); FASER (BDV); RAEK (LPC); SMEK; ULCER (LPC); MOXE ; OCLOCK ; COPE2 ; BANKSY ; KAWS; TRANE ++
Some of my favorite graffiti/street art artists at the moment: SUPS; SAVIE; SWILE; ACER; BENSON; GKODE; LOFI; REVOK; SABER; VOGUE; PESKADOR; BUKUE; KUFUE; CHONDON; SHIDO ++
My main intention to create an alphabet is to establish a basis for a style of lettering that captures my essence, used as a backbone for many projects and will continue to use in an evolving manner. I designed these letters with the intention to use them as isolated studies and personal reference points, to ultimately be enhanced in different ways. Key details from this alphabet have been will be carried throughout most of my lettering work moving forward. I also want to provide a solid reference of inspiration for any artists that may resonate with my work, especially the youth. The vision was to produce a style of lettering that captures the essence of my current personality and interests in art/design symbolism during this time of my life. In the future I want to look back at this body of work as a landmark, having further evolved and improved since. The v2 Alphabet will be better and will release in due time of growth.
My main intention in creating an NFT Collection for the alphabet is to establish a basis of intellectual property and public ownership of my work via the blockchain, tangibly defining a supportive community. I seek to develop a new market with ownership utility for my work, universally accessible and collectible, which directly supports my career. In return, I will provide my supporting community with digital assets that will tangibly increase in value over time. I visualize manifesting higher price offers on these NFTs from new potential collectors and in due time for the collection floor to grow from 0.1ETH to 1ETH, and beyond. I welcome all collectors to hold their NFTs or to sell if they receive a higher priced offer that is convincing and suits their ambitions... May the profits of accepting an offer and re-selling an NFT at a higher price benefits your life as an investment return for believing in the work and believing in me as an artist.
For context - I grew up in the 90s, in big part online using the Internet, one of the greatest inventions of my time. It’s allowed me to learn from the world beyond my immediate sight and connect with friends and family across the globe. I’ve lived through Web1, Web2 and now I’m slowly discovering Web3, the Internet of our future. I wish to use this technology to bring the idea of creating virtual assets to life, allowing for more universal access to my work, while supporting my craft and career as a creative. I believe the internet is a manifestation of collective consciousness in the digital plane. Our ability to connect and create in the web is a reflection of how the fabric of humanity in the world is woven throughout time. I believe in the potential of digital tools to help our lives irl. I do not think that digital can exist alone, but checking in balance with the physical moment and matter can help us better our own lives while helping others and building community accordingly. Overall I surrender to the serendipity of the universe in making magic happen.
I wish with a smile to sell out the entire NFT collection and distribute as many accessories as possible by my birthday on April 2nd. I’ll do my best for that to happen, praying that the universe aligns. If it doesn’t sell out by my birthday, I hope to sell out by the end of spring, summer, or whenever… as long as all 28 NFTs find their righteous (first) owners someday. Regardless of numbers, I am extremely grateful for all who are in capacity and decide to support the project by becoming owners/collectors. I’m also very grateful for those who support me by giving me feedback and sharing the project with others, for me to learn about how the work is being received, engaging with them, and ultimately for new eyes to see the work. I pray these NFTs ‘travel’ the world and reach the eyes of as many potential enthusiasts as possible. I will work accordingly for this collection to grow as valuable assets to collect as I personally grow as a valuable living asset to inspire, connect and build with others. .
All in all, as an artist developing a my own career and brand, (AH-LEZ), these NFTs are a token of loving recognition and investment in the movement I’ve created beyond my own name. As a founder of this vision, I am creating a network of collectors, both digital and irl - an organic community of supporters/owners connected across the world, owning & celebrating art, clothing & more. I believe that investing in this alphabet is a good opportunity to place cryptocurrency into valuable art and its artist. This could be a great way to possibly purchase your first NFT if you’re new to this space. With a smile, I suggest buying 3 (AH-LEZ) NFTs if you can! Buy 1 to keep, 1 to gift, 1 one to eventually sell. These digital art pieces will all gain value with time, I’ll embodiment of it. I wish to manifest higher price offers to all purchased pieces - these are cycles of growth for all to witness. May this increase in visible value be the proof and confirmation of trust. May owners feel free to hold or sell these digital assets(s) depending on your capacity and ambitions.
ARTIST ORIGIN STORY & CREATIVE VISION
I originally discovered a love for typography in elementary school in the East Bay, doing lettering for a yearbook cover. My family and I moved to Southern France at age 11 and began painting graffiti as a teenager when I was 12-13 years old, inspired by my friends, with a hunger to get better, fast. I easily fell in love with this thrilling, therapeutic art practice of enhancing the letters and language I used on a daily basis. It became more than a form of expression, it was a way for me to find and build identity - something I craved to developed dearly, being a child of Algerian immigrants still finding my place in a wicked world. At the time, I was painting a lot outside and in my school on walls, but I was always better with pencil/pen/marker on paper and canvases. I quickly got some of my best tag pieces printed on t-shirts as I got more into fashion. My tag names changed over time as I evolved into my teenage years and I significantly progressed.
Around age 15-16 my interests shifted in building my identity and expressing my creativity through fashion and graphic design. I began studying streetwear and collecting apparel brands like Stussy, LRG, Ecko, BBC/Ice Cream, BLVCKSCVLE, Dimond Supply, Pastelle, etc. I was always eager to create my own brand, and waited to create the ‘right’ concept, something new and different. When ‘à l’aise’ arose as an idea, I felt the need to incubate it into a brand, different from others. After creating the first typeface it took me a while before to produce the first shirt. I eventually did, and realized that i wasn’t interested in producing high-volume products. Discovering the basis of my spirituality and understanding of self through Vipassana in my early 20s brought me to build the brand idea into something beyond just a brand, in tune with Earth, infusing holistic lifestyle concepts, restorative work, and community initiatives. The vision ultimately became building a brand that explores ‘the cool in doing good’ - as brand ‘in parenthesis, focused on producing products & services to positively engage with the world, bettering the human experience by doing better. Since 2013 I’ve been developing “AH-LEZ” as a branded project, experimentally evolving over time, to one day officially launch as a legit company at service of the world.
During this time I also developed a symbolic color palette(White/Black; Grey; Blue; Green; Brown), embedded in my work in a focused and developing manner. I created POC1 (Proof Of Concept) to ground the palette in a formal study, an exploration to explain to others why I live and create through these colors. I was eventually able to use this color palette as a bridge between fashion to the spaces of street art and fine art. I started to used my understanding of fabrics and stitching skills to create art pieces to hang. I expanded my capacity to create letter pieces with chain stitch-embroidery, which i learned & practiced while working as a denim tailor for Levi’s in 2018-19. I picked up graffiti again at the very end of 2020, and practiced heavily throughout 2021, picking up where I left off. I was fortunate to manifest a space with walls to practice daily. This dream come true has allowed me to progress with diligence and explore my style, all rooted in my color palette. I’ve found myself now at a piece of seeing the full circle of my identity to this day, and what’s to follow next.
The bigger picture of my creative career involves collaboration, physical and digital work, create street art, adornments installations, place my work in homes and galleries, all while learning new skills and improving my craft. I’ve been able to articulate my lettering work with spray-paint on walls, and hand-painting on clothing, patchwork, chain-stitch embroidery, and other mediums. I want to expand on those practices, especially with air-brush & stencils. Overall I want to focus more on my skills individually to become better and be able to seamlessly bridge them. This flows in parallel with my work in graphic/fashion design and beyond, especially with hosting and curating local/virtual activations to provide memorable experiences. I plan to do my first solo art show this summer, presenting both old, new, and collaborative works, as a monumental, immersive experience - stay tuned.
PHYSICAL ACCESSORIES
My intention in creating physical accessories of the alphabet is to offer tangible collectibles that exist beyond the blockchain, allowing the letters to incarnate in real life and exist as their own living entities, throughout all mediums and plane of existence. With time I will release the lower-case version of this alphabet as well as the full font to use for type. Meanwhile, I invite and encourage NFT Owners to produce their own products inspired by the letters they may own, such as jewelry, sculptures, decals & other ways to incarnate the art in real life.
Phase A (April 2nd drop)
1in Buttons [filled letters]
Single Letter (free)
3-piece set - $5
Full Alphabet set - $20
Phase 2nd (May 2nd drop)
Poster Print [filled letters]
Single Big Letter w/ collage background
Full Alphabet in FLAT and 3D
Stencils [outlines]
Small 6in
Large 12in
Phase 3 (June 2nd drop)
T-Shirt [outlines]
Hoodie [outlines]
Bandana [outlines]
Tote Bage [outlines]
Patches [filled letters]
Single Letter
3-Piece Set
NFT COLLECTION REVENUE [*minus the transaction (gas) & currency exchange fees]
80% will be invested in my own life, career & ambitions - paying personal dues, building savings, investing needed resources, and sourcing help, for me to continuously grow and heal as a human. I want to be of service and show up for others - the most important part of continuously and creatively producing work as long as I live.
20% will be invested in other artists and multi-disciplinary creatives worldwide- reinvesting my earnings into the work and pockets of others I believe in, especially black & brown creators. I want to redistribute wealth and create abundant microeconomics in different communities in need, promoting equity & development.
I will provide receipts and let it know when supporting other artists' craft and multi-disciplinary creatives by investing funds in their work. I’m committed to helping others grow with this new flow of revenue as I expand my capacity to give as I grow my earnings, in a web of enriching exchange, reciprocation & support. It’s always a fulfilling and freeing feeling to actively shift how we invest in ourselves as artists and human beings, investing in the communities we build.
All royalties ( generated for NFT reselling post-release will contribute to funding my day-to-day career expenses while improving my personal sustainability and quality of life.