Yepple - Beginner-friendly NFT/CNT Metadata & Image Creation

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Nicholas Fekete

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

3

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We will provide an open source toolkit for Cardano NFT & CNT metadata creation and NFT image layering, enabling creators to produce assets freely and flexibly.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

This project and all associated deliverables will be open sourced with an MIT License.

Our modular open source developer tooling will be open source and free to use with a focus on portability, transparency, and community collaboration within all components of the solution. Our goal is for the deliverables of this project to serve as a backbone to the current and future needs of many Cardano developers as it evolves during and after the scope of this proposal.

[METADATA] Horizons

Developer Tools

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Our solution to a problem at hand offers a robust and tested foundation that allows project owners and collaborators to create NFT collections, ranging from simple to extremely complex, all while preventing common issues, such as not all NFTs being unique, non-compliant metadata, layering conflicts during artwork generation, and much more. In addition to NFT projects, we have also seen an influx of Cardano Native Tokens (CNTs) on Cardano in sectors such as DeFi and DePin where the token is either not following proper standards or has metadata that is not a good fit for the intentions of the project.

By open-sourcing our metadata generation and image layering solution, we will enable project owners and collaborators to avoid the costs imposed by current service providers, as well as have true ownership over all collection creation decisions and parameters. Our toolkit adheres to Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs) for metadata generation. Our toolkit will also offer guidance for the recommended metadata information to include, and which values to set, depending on the goals of the project.

The solution encompasses a comprehensive toolkit, including a collection configurator, complex layering restrictions and trait compatibility rules, trait rarities, output format flexibility, CIP-25 and CIP-68 compliance validation, and much more, all in an easy-to-use package. This solution allows projects, big and small, inexperienced to seasoned professionals, to easily and quickly create a complete NFT collection or CNT token (such as a DeFi token).

Who Benefits?

Newcomers to Cardano Development: Gain a reliable, well-documented foundation for NFT projects.

Project Founders: Create NFT collections and CNTs faster and more reliably, avoiding common technical and compliance pitfalls. Gain the ability to build on top of the foundational solution to create unique and valuable collections for their community.

Unique Aspects of Our Solution:

Fully customizable: Many open-source projects provide simple solutions, or focus on one area of customizability, making it hard to truly build a complete and custom NFT collection. Our toolkit reduces friction and maximizes the ability for project owners to be self-sufficient.

Comprehensive Standards Compliance: Ensures all collections generated using our toolkit follow Cardano’s best practices. Particularly for CNTs, we will go the extra mile to ensure that the metadata complies not only with standards, but recommended best practices as well.

Proven Technology: Built from years of real-world application and feedback within the Cardano ecosystem.

Robust Error Handling and Verbose Logging: A foolproof system that can detect and notify the owner of any invalid setup prior to collection generation and ensures that the output metadata is fully compliant (CIP-25 and CIP-68).

Impact Demonstration:

We will measure our impact through the usage of our platform by new projects and collections created, and feedback from the community. Success stories and case studies will be documented and shared through our regular community updates and workshops. In particular, we are confident that putting this power in the hands of projects will allow them to divert their funds in a more efficient way, unlocking new economic opportunities with never-before-seen margins and maximizing the value that they can deliver to their community.

This initiative not only accelerates project development times but also enhances the overall integrity and user trust in Cardano-based projects. It's crucial for fostering a vibrant, innovative community where technology lowers barriers rather than creating them.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Our project will significantly enhance the Cardano ecosystem by democratizing access to NFT collection and CNT metadata creation technology, reducing dependency on costly centralized platforms and promoting a culture of transparency and collaboration. By open-sourcing our metadata and artwork generation toolkit, we empower creators across the globe to create and manage NFT projects and CNTs independently and freely. This not only drives innovation within the Cardano community but also attracts new users and developers to the platform, strengthening its position in the competitive blockchain space.

We will measure the impact of our project through several key metrics:

1. Adoption Rate: Tracking the number of projects and users adopting our toolkit.
2. Community Contributions: Monitoring updates and enhancements made by the community to the open-source code.
3. Cost Savings: Calculating the average cost savings for projects using our toolkit compared to traditional centralized services, as these cost savings are now going directly back to the community in the form of increased project success and contributions.

To ensure wide distribution and engagement, our outputs will consist of:

• A GitHub repository hosting the complete source code
• Comprehensive documentation of how to set up, configure, and generate metadata and artwork for NFT collections
• Advice, insights, and guides on the best practices when creating a NFT collection or CNT, gained from several years of experience doing so

These efforts will not only showcase the practical benefits of our solution but also reinforce Cardano's reputation as an inclusive and innovative blockchain community.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Yepple has a strong track record of delivering high-quality blockchain solutions since February 2021. Having successfully managed over 200 projects on the Cardano platform over the past three years, we have not only mastered the technology relevant to this proposal but also gained countless invaluable insights into the specific needs of creators of NFT projects and fungible tokens (CNTs). Our team is composed of seasoned blockchain developers, project managers, and strategists who are deeply knowledgeable about the Cardano ecosystem. This experience positions us uniquely to deliver this project with high levels of expertise, trust, and accountability. Several of the projects we have worked with, and the work that we performed for them, can be found on the “contributions” link attached to this proposal. We are also registered as a DRep for Cardano, further showcasing our commitment and dedication to this blockchain.

Yepple has deployed many solutions on Cardano (staking, NFT customizers, storefronts, custom dApps, etc.), but creating NFT collections for Cardano projects has been a staple of our offering since the very beginning. This solution, crucial for efficiently generating CIP-25 and CIP-68 compliant metadata and efficiently layering images for unique NFT creation, represents our commitment to quality and innovation. We are excited to share these tools, fundamental to any NFT project on Cardano, with the community as part of this proposal. We have also assisted a number of projects, such as House of Titans, Walkers, Hoarders, and others by creating their CIP-68 compliant CNTs. We are confident in our ability to provide the necessary support and guidance to drive widespread adoption of this solution, empowering creators with the tools needed to innovate freely and effectively.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1 (Planning & Technical Design): 

• Outputs: Scope of work, design, and other associated planning documents for all technical aspects of the proposal. Importantly, this includes documentation on the setup, configurations, and usability from the perspective of our target audience, NFT & CNT project owners.
• Acceptance Criteria: The designs and documentation provide a clear preliminary understanding of how a project owner or project collaborator can set up and create the metadata and art for their own NFT collection or CNT. The documentation elaborates on the solution to all high-level technical requirements in this proposal and aligns with the future milestones of this proposal.
• Evidence: Documentation in a public GitHub repository (alongside the future codebase) detailing the planned method of interacting with the finished product.

Milestone 2 (MVP Development): 

• Outputs: A minimum viable product encompassing every technical feature and all functionality detailed in this proposal. This includes a refactoring of Yepple’s existing codebase to be usable by project owners and collaborators with minimal dependencies, as well as additional development for customization, ease of use, and adaptability as an open-source product.
• Acceptance Criteria: MVP development meets all technical requirements described in this proposal.
• Evidence: The GitHub repository codebase and associated demonstration website will serve as evidence of the completed MVP development and its effectiveness as a deployed solution.

Milestone 3 (Technical Documentation, User Instructions, Demonstrations & Community Support): 

• Outputs: Codebase documentation and enhanced user documentation. The codebase documentation will increase the ability for developers to understand and contribute to future versions of the codebase, increasing long-term sustainability. With the MVP in place, the enhanced user documentation will provide project owners and collaborators with a complete instruction manual for creating a CNT/NFT collection’s metadata and artwork using the current version of the codebase at this stage.
• Acceptance Criteria: There is sufficient documentation within the code and alongside the GitHub repository to meet open-source best practices and assist in the community’s ability to build and iterate on the solution. Furthermore, Yepple is available through Discord to accept and respond to all community feedback and questions. Any issues or feature requests mentioned through GitHub or Discord have been documented and considered for feasibility; if feasible within the scope of this proposal, the features were added for an improved experience.
• Evidence: The project structure and modules have their purposes, all clearly explained in the repository documentation. All critical components of the code have appropriate documentation for classes, methods, and other key logic. A channel in Yepple’s official Discord dedicated to feedback on our open-source development where the Yepple team is responsive to questions and comments.

Milestone 4 (Close-Out Report & Video): 

• Outputs: Comprehensive project report detailing the development process, community impact, and future directions. A professional video showcasing the project's journey and final product.
• Acceptance Criteria: The report and video must comprehensively cover all aspects of the project, demonstrating the success and community benefit.
• Evidence: Final project close-out report and a video link shared with the community through Discord, social media, and potentially additional locations.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Nicholas Fekete - CEO/Management - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-fekete/

Since founding Yepple and leading the team from day 1, Nicholas has driven progress and overseen project management across all internal and external projects that we have completed within Cardano and for our clients. With more than 5 years of experience as a startup founder, Nicholas has a fundamental understanding of how to run a cost-efficient company with values and quality that his team and our clients can be proud of.

Jake Shearman - CTO/Fullstack Blockchain Developer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-shearman/

Handling the trinity of design, development, and documentation, Jake has led Yepple’s development team across the finish line for all development projects. With a formal computer science education, a work history in FinTech, and many years as a hobby blockchain developer that eventually turned into a career, Jake has been learning about and building on Cardano since before the very first Plutus Pioneer Program that he was a part of. He has remained committed to Cardano ever since, and is looking forward to improving and open sourcing many of the developer tools that he has built.

Dominic Monette - Developer/Quality Assurance

We take great pride in our quality, and we owe much of that quality to Dominic’s contributions as a developer, operations manager, and product quality assurance engineer.

Tyler McVety - DevOps/Blockchain Developer

Working behind the scenes, the server infrastructure set up by Tyler is what has allowed Yepple’s hosted solutions (stake pools, mints, CNT/NFT staking, and custom dApp transaction processing) to remain reliable and efficient.

Campurean Alexandru (Sic) - Marketing

As one of our most valuable connections to the Cardano community, Sic is a core community member of countless CNT/CNFT projects. Not only is he crucial in spreading awareness of the solutions and tools that our team has created, but he also ensures that we are constantly aware and deeply considerate of the types of user experience and functionality Cardano community members are looking for.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Design:

Initial planning and technical design, including setup and configuration documentation, aimed at empowering NFT and CNT project owners and collaborators.

Cost: 15k ADA

Development:

Creation of a minimum viable product (MVP) and subsequent iterations based on community feedback, refining our existing solution for ease of use and minimal dependencies.

Cost: 65k ADA

Documentation: 

Comprehensive technical documentation and user instructions to ensure community understanding and ease of adaptation for future development.

Cost: 7k ADA

Management: 

Ongoing project oversight, including resource allocation, timeline management, and ensuring deliverables meet proposal goals.

Cost: 5k ADA

Marketing & Support: 

Engagement initiatives and support mechanisms, including community outreach, promotional activities, and user support via digital platforms.

Cost: 3k ADA

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our proposed budget represents exceptional value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, reflecting more than three years of intensive development by our experienced team. The investment of 95k ADA in open-sourcing our metadata generation and image layering technology is significantly lower than the industry costs of building a similar robust, secure, and fully-functional metadata and art generator toolset from scratch. We have seen months of development poured into several proprietary products that are both more limited in their customization and suffer a lack of adoption due to their proprietary and isolated nature. We are not only offering the Cardano community access to our refined, battle-tested technology but also providing comprehensive documentation. This ensures that even those new to the space can quickly leverage our tools to efficiently create NFT and CNT collections, thereby enhancing innovation and participation within the Cardano ecosystem. In particular with the recent influx of DeFi, DePin, and other financial mechanisms supported by Cardano’s tokens, it is becoming increasingly valuable and important to have a clearly defined, open-source tool that enables projects to construct a proper and well-suited token. In essence, we are equipping the community with a high-caliber toolset that simplifies complex tasks in NFT and CNT metadata generation and image layering, reduces operational costs, and fosters greater creativity in project creation.