tldr: 10e to bridge Lil ⌐◨-◨ culture IRL via a daily roadshow celebrating onchain art and culture, providing roi + new treasury inflow for Lils. This is a redesign of proposal 296.

Lil Design Research Project

In Prop 139 (Q4 2023), I started “Lil Design Research Project”, which could now be regarded as “complete”, but I’m still going. Some results thus far include a Lil Explorer (Lil Probe), establishing lil noc (24/7 noc), hundreds of gifs and memes, community “brand guidelines” (meant to illustrate that there is no official brand but has been used globally), and a 200+ page book - “MEME VALUE” - serving as a prototype for anyone to pick up and play with/colour in/make their own graphics/stickers/stories, whilst they learn about Nounish DAOs.

Whether you are 5 or 95 years old, you can enjoy the book. Leveraging real case studies, I have gone deep into the nuances of Lil Nouns and Nouns as emergent cultural arms of Ethereum, and how they are powered by decentralised design. The book exposes process and ideas around how to establish memes and products that can persist on Ethereum, push forward culture, and establish/grow community via honest collaboration.

I’m asking Lil Nouns to fund the production of 4 copies of this book as an initial *Limited Edition* print run. I have pre-sold one already so will use those funds to create an additional 25 smaller paperback versions too. I will showcase and distribute the books via a Lil ⌐◨-◨ roadshow based in Costa Rica (where I have been located since 2021). This will establish a Lil cultural center on wheels, hosting events such as live music and movie nights, design experiences/services for local community and a place to buy ice creams and relax on the beach with family and friends. I will naturally introduce people to lil noun o’clock, showing them how they can get involved anytime they want, + showcase the 256 Lils available to mint.

LIL ICE CREAM TRUCK

The working name of this project is “LIL ICE CREAM TRUCK” (open to community vote on names!) with the idea being to sell homemade ice creams and food/drink and offer art/design experiences and services for passers by and the local community. This aims to be a mobile cultural center, exposing people to the Lil Nouns brand, casually exhibiting the “MEME VALUE” book alongside other books to buy/swap. I will create the pages of the next Lil books alongside visitors and perhaps get some interesting ideas and new community members.

Whilst this is an experiential proposal in spirit, it will also be a revenue generating business, in a great location, amplifying our culture into the physical world. There will be a 50% profit share put back into the Lil Nouns treasury until the USD equivalent of 10e has been returned, after which, the profit share will be 5% ongoing for the lifetime of the business (I have a long time horizon). Added since prop 296: I will offer design services for local businesses (inline with my day-to-day work) and rev share this also. I estimate to have paid back the DAO within 18 months from proposal execution through these various initiatives.

To be clear: all profit share paid to the DAO directly, not by minting Lil Nouns. Full ETH amount will be converted to USDC and the repayment will be the USD amount swapped onchain.

Costa Rica is seeing massive growth in tourism year-on-year and the footfall is extremely high in these areas. There is not a single ice cream van at this moment in time, so I believe this will be a unique visual to draw people in. We will provide high-speed internet, seating and colouring materials for kids, pixel art station, face painting, live music/karaoke, book swaps and art lessons, in addition to selling the Lil Ice Cream and very Limited Edition products like the Lil coffee table book. This will be a family run business with my wife, and a safe place for my kids and their friends to congregate, make art, learn something and have fun.

Budget Breakdown

• Book Production (x4 units 1st edition & x25 units paperback) - $4000
  • 1st Edition: Bespoke manufcaturing process with each page being a die-cut sticker sheet (500-1000 stickers) and encourages remix within the pages.
  • Paperback: Smaller size books to colour in, can still remix but no stickers or hardback
• Winnebago + Renovation - $21,000
  • Van - interior needs to be gutted and rebuilt using durable materials - $4000
  • New flooring (Laurel wood) - $1500
  • New electrics and wiring - $2000
  • Finishes within and exterior (including rust prevention on chassis, cleaning, sanding, priming, installation of new AC unit) - $9000
  • Generator- $500
  • Labour - $4000 (including any mechanical work)
• Webpage to follow the roadshow real-time - $1000

If we exceed the budget, I will cover any additional costs including furnishing, fridge/freezer and design-related equipment/printers etc.

Timeline

• 12 weeks for the van build
• 4 weeks for production and shipping of books to Costa Rica

What experience do I have in experiential events like this?

• Most recently I worked with Apple TV+ and The Elephant Queen Movie to renovate a truck into a mobile cinema in Kenya, + created the website and live tracking of the initiative.
• Worked with RayBan for the Camden Crawl to renovate a bus into a live music venue.
• Worked with LD Lines Ferries on a multi-year campaign across the South of England and France, again renovating a London Bus (Routemaster) to promote channel crossings. I was also on the bus hosting the events for over a year in addition to the planning stage and renovation/branding.

“MEME VALUE”

• 250 page hardback book (Limited to 4 editions)
• Handmade/assembled with hundreds of die-cut stickers to customize/peel out
• Encourages interactivity and permits ideas to leave the confines of the book
• Will batch produce 25 smaller versions - without the sticker paper (have pre-sold a book already to fund this)
• Will release a digital version (cc0) after manufacturing the books

3 spreads sample (from a total of ~125 spreads):

This is a relatively small-scale project with clear deliverables that can have big impact for Lil Nouns both financially and spiritually, bridging our URL world IRL, creating long-lasting memories and shared experiences associated with Lil Nouns, initiated via ice cream. Attached below the van that will undergo the renovation. The interior will be open plan, with high-quality wooden flooring, and will draw design inspiration from the local Caribbean style whilst being clean and modern.

This is a considerably reduced budget (-7e) since prop 296. I will be doing a lot of the renovation work myself with my friend Ronald, a 65yr old legend from Limon (we are buying the van from his cousin). We will post regular updates and photo/video footage of the renovation project, bringing in experts for the electrical aspects, carpenter and painter to finish the van. The majority of the renovation work will be undertaken just outside of Limon city. I’ll share progress through /noc on Farcaster, X.com, TikTok, and onchain at Lils.

Thanks for the time and consideration!

Lil 67 / Lil Pipe

Funding requested to 2/4 multisig consisting of community members:

• indexcard.eth
• peterpandam.eth
• nekofar.eth
• pipedream.eth (myself, the proposer)