— Handmade Against
the Algorithm

Project

SUPMATES was conceived during the pandemic as a hand-illustrated NFT collection with a philanthropic mission, 100 characters, each representing a different aspect of mental health, designed entirely without generative tools or algorithmic variation. A deliberate rejection of the assembly-line logic that defined most NFT projects at the time. Seventy percent of proceeds are committed to organisations like Mind (UK), exploring blockchain-based fundraising as a new model for mental health advocacy.

The real design challenge was one of family and individuality. Working from a shared compositional template, each character had to carry its own spirit, quirk, and emotional register, while remaining unmistakably part of the same world. Color, expression, and hand-drawn detail became the tools of differentiation. For me, it was also a deliberate step outside the comfort zone of graphic design, into illustration and character craft, where the rules are different and the work more exposed.