Building Worlds From Dreams with Aku World Creative Director Durk Van Der Meer | Native Assets S3E1

Today we're joined by Durk Van De Meer, Art Director of Aku World, the VISA Creator-backed project by former Dodger's player turned acclaimed artist Micah Johnson & the only NFT collection featured at Disney's recent D23 conference.  🕰 Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:04 The Origins of Aku 4:26 Transitioning From Artist to Art Director 6:01 Why Digital Artists Love & Need NFTs 8:20 Learnings From The Past Couple Years 11:20 Establishing The Unique Aesthetic of Aku 15:34 The Importance of UE & Its Role In The Metaverse 23:33 The Challenge of 3D Generative Collection (Remove) 25:17 The Challenge of 3D Generative Collection 29:12 The Visa Accelerator 31:54 Experience working with Artifex 34:48 How The Longterm IP Vision Influences The Art & Creative Direction 37:21 Pivoting From Early Style & Iterating w/ Real-Time Feedback 38:54 Learnings From The “Dream” Phase of Aku 41:22 Creating A Universally Loved Character w/o Eyes or Mouth 46:16 The 2 Keys To A Successful “ Metaverse” (Social + Building) Enjoy! (And if you do, please consider subscribing & liking on YouTube, leaving a review on Spotify or Apple podcasts - or all of the above! 🙏🏿) --------- Subscribe For The Full Shownotes & List of Resources: https://nativeassets.substack.com/ Connect w/ Sae'Von Twitter - https://twitter.com/NativeAssets LinkedIn - Sae'Von Springer Substack - https://nativeassets.substack.com/ Site - https://barracuda.io/nativeassets --------- About Native Assets Native Assets is a blockchain & Web3 firm specializing in educational seminars, detailed research, industry analysis + corporate advising. Our mission? To empower you with knowledge + insights to prosper in the new digital asset era - the blockchain era. Subscribe For More Like This  🎥 YouTube - Official Native Assets Channel Follow On Twitter 🐦 - https://twitter.com/NativeAssets Read & Collect On Mirror 🪞 - https://mirror.xyz/0x4E33Db6008A82Ef0ab4FFd4124dD9B2d3579A523 Join Our Free Discord 👻- https://discord.gg/ZNFusAfC Grab your copy of "The Blockchain Blueprint" 📘 - www.nativeassets.co/blockchain-blueprint-book-landing Book Your Private Consultation 📆 -  Book Your 1 Hour Consultation Enroll In "Blockchain Foundations" 🎓 -  The Blockchain Blueprint Accelerator For More Info Visit -  www.nativeassets.co