MYTHICS COLLECTION
CASE STUDY
PROOF is a leading digital art platform and collector community founded in 2021 by tech entrepreneur Kevin Rose (previously of Digg) and digital artist Justin Mezzell.
In August 2022, PROOF secured a $50 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), valuing the company as one of the most significant players in the NFT space alongside its flagship projects Moonbirds and the PROOF Collective.
The substantial funding allowed the company to expand its vision and invest in innovative projects like Mythics, demonstrating investor confidence in PROOF's approach to building community-centric web3 products that merge art with technology.
In February 2024, PROOF was acquired by Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, bringing the Moonbirds, Oddities, and Mythics collections under the Yuga ecosystem. This acquisition aligned with Yuga's vision to become the leading platform in Web3, with plans to integrate Moonbirds into their Otherside metaverse.
The Mythics project was developed during PROOF's venture-backed phase when the company was focused on creating innovative NFT experiences that merged art, technology, and community with significant resources behind its vision.
Launch Date: July 2023
Chain: Ethereum | NFT-based | PFP Collection | Opensea
Website: proof.xyz/mythics
Mythics is a generative art collection of 20,000 mythical birds, serving as the third chapter in the Moonbirds universe. With a slow-reveal mechanic and rich narrative design, the drop was engineered to deepen community engagement and introduce new members into the PROOF ecosystem through both art and technology.
As Senior Product Designer, I led end-to-end design of the mint experience and contributed to the broader product strategy that brought Mythics to life.
How do we evolve the Moonbirds story while innovating on the minting experience and keeping it accessible to a diverse community of both OG collectors and newcomers?
We needed to:
- Design an experience that scaled over 200 days of rolling reveals
- Merge storytelling with mechanics (egg activation, Oddity burns, hatching)
- Deepen emotional and brand connection with Moonbirds’ lore
- Incentivize long-term engagement without overcomplicating the UX
- UX Strategy & Journey Mapping: I mapped out collector touchpoints across the lifecycle of a Mythic, from egg activation to reveal and community perks.
- Mint Experience Design: Designed the interactive minting UI and crafted a clear user flow for staggered egg reveals and Oddities burns.
- Lore-Driven Design System: Collaborated with artists and narrative leads to integrate storytelling into the design, using visual motifs and UI microinteractions.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Worked closely with engineering, creative, and community teams to ensure the experience was performant, delightful, and deeply on-brand.
- Community Education: Designed visual guides and FAQs to make complex mint mechanics approachable for all users
1. Dual-Path User Journey
The streamlined user flow above illustrates how we created two distinct but integrated paths:This dual approach ensured both new and returning users felt equally valued, while the intuitive interface made navigation simple regardless of entry point.
Eligibility Verification: We designed a token-gated smart contract that verified user eligibility based on ownership of either Moonbirds or Oddities NFTs.
Dual-Path Access:
- Egg Activation: Moonbirds holders could activate Mythic eggs
- Oddity Burning: Oddities holders could burn their NFTs to receive a Mythic
2. Lore-Driven Experience
The minting process wasn't just transactional, it was a narrative journey. We designed each interaction to advance the Mythics storyline:
- Interactive backgrounds that shifted with story progression
- Symbolic iconography tied to the central "confronting fear" theme
- Loading states and transitions that built anticipation
- Educational elements that contextualized each action within the broader narrative
3. Phased Reveal System
The 200-day reveal mechanism (100 Mythics per day) was a technical and design challenge that became one of our most successful innovations:
- Created a consistent community rhythm
- Sustained engagement through designed moments of anticipation
- Enabled real-time adaptation based on community feedback
- Balanced surprise with predictability
Mythical Egg Mechanics
As detailed on the official Mythics website, we designed three distinct egg types that would determine the rarity and options available to collectors:
- Legendary Eggs: Allow users to choose between three different Mythic forms
- Runic Eggs: Offer two potential Mythic forms to select from
- Stone Eggs: Contain a single predetermined Mythic form
To incentivize early participation, we implemented a time-based rarity system:
- First week: 60% chance of Legendary Egg, 40% Runic Egg
- First month: 40% Legendary Egg, 60% Runic Egg
- After first month: 20% Legendary Egg, 60% Runic Egg, 20% Stone Egg
A pivotal element in our strategy was the creation of the Mythics Chronicles, a series of narrative episodes that built anticipation and community connection before and during the launch.
I appeared in the Mythics Chronicles Episode 8: Shrine of the Diamond Totem, where we revealed key lore elements about the egg activation mechanics. This video series served as both marketing and educational content, helping users understand the complex mechanics through engaging storytelling.
This content strategy demonstrates how we extended the product experience beyond the technical interface, creating an emotional connection that drove participation.
Outcomes & Impact
- 20,000+ NFTs Minted across 200 days with consistent community engagement
- High daily retention of mint participants through gamified egg activation
- Strong secondary market volume driven by community storytelling
- Successful extension of Moonbirds IP into new creative territory
- Community growth through the dual-path strategy welcoming both existing members and newcomers
Community & Culture
The launch culminated in a celebration at Foundry by PROOF, our Los Angeles community hub. This event was both an IRL art show and proof of concept: Mythics was more than a drop, it was a cultural expansion.
Key learnings
- Designing for progressive minting requires balancing flexibility with clear user expectations
- Narrative elements significantly enhance user comprehension and emotional investment
- Community education is as important as interface design for complex web3 products
- The most successful NFT experiences feel alive, they evolve with and respond to community participation
- Creating multiple points of value (artwork, storytelling, utility, community) ensures long-term engagement
The Mythics project demonstrates how thoughtful product design can transform a technical process (minting NFTs) into an emotional journey that builds lasting community connections.
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