Dour Darcels CEO Jack Yeung takes us inside the brand’s collaboration with Chupa Chups

Jack, it’s great to connect. To kick us off, for anyone new to Dour Darcels, how would you describe the brand?
Dour Darcel – created by Craig Redman, an Australian born artist and illustrator in New York – is a moody iconic character with illustration acting as a true expression of the ups and downs of city life. It was created as a simple 2D illustration, but as technology progressed along with the trend of Web3, Craig created a PFP 3D Dour Darcels NFT for fans to acquire as digital art. This created a community of fans to grow and promote the brand together.

Darcel, the iconic cyclopean character, acts as a versatile avatar bridging the physical and digital realms. It was created as a substitute for Craig in the illustrated blog ‘Darcel Disappoints’. The Dour Darcels NFT Collection presents a captivating collection of 10,000 moody frens inspired by the world of Darcel Disappoints. These NFTs showcase the artistic brilliance of Craig and each NFT features a diverse range of colourful traits and variations, delivering exceptional art to collectors.

Darcel’s work has gained widespread recognition, featuring in esteemed publications such as The New York Times and Vogue. Collaborations with renowned brands like Louis Vuitton, Coca-Cola, and Adidas Originals, as well as appearances at events like Paris Fashion Week, have further cemented Darcel’s reputation.

You acquired the brand at the top of the year. What appealed to you about Dour Darcels – and its potential?
I acquired the Dour Darcels NFT project last year with a multiple years’ licensing agreement on products and merchandises. We’ve come to an agreement that leading a community to grow the project requires a lot of the artist’s valuable time. Hence, selling the project to a fan and businessperson with networks and channels is a great opportunity. It allows Craig to focus on the art creation, leaving the business side to the professionals.

Dour Darcels has embarked on a collaboration with Chupa Chups on a co-branded figure, lollipops and a t-shirt. What made Chupa Chups a neat fit for Dour Darcels?
The fun, creative and pop side of Chupa Chups matches very well with Dour Darcels. We still believe in the future of metaverse as a space to connect fans and communities around the world – without borders. Dour Darcels have collaborated with many brands in the past to promote pop art and culture to the world. We believe Dour Darcels and Chupa Chups carry the same philosophy.

We feel we can use web3 as a window to approach fans who see Chupa Chups as part of their cherished childhood memories and would like to collect them through both digital and physical channels.

And this collaboration on t-shirts, apps and web3 is just the start. Our wish is to further collaborate in a bigger scale to reach wider audiences. In an era where digital experiences are becoming increasingly immersive, the convergence of physical and virtual worlds presents exciting opportunities for brands to engage with audiences in innovative ways.

Chupa Chups – an iconic lollipop brand known for its playful and vibrant imagery – and Dour Darcels – characters renowned for their whimsical and eccentric persona – have the potential to create a groundbreaking collaboration. By leveraging the metaverse and augmented reality, these friendly characters can captivate a new generation.

Design-wise, how did you and the team at Perfetti Van Melle approach uniting both brands in an authentic way? What was it important to get right?
A consistent brand identity… The collaboration needs to seamlessly integrate the unique identities of both brands. Ensuring that these identities are preserved and harmoniously blended in the metaverse and in AR experiences is crucial. This is achieved through careful design choices, narrative consistency, and a unified visual aesthetic.

Creating an engaging and intuitive user experience is also paramount. The app interface should be user-friendly and the interactions seamless to ensure users can fully immerse themselves in the creative collaboration without frustration or confusion.

Another primary goal of this collaboration is to evoke a range of emotions and create memorable experiences for users. Ideas should be carefully designed to elicit genuine emotional responses – and they should be inclusive and accessible to a diverse audience. This means considering different age groups, cultural backgrounds, and physical abilities when designing the experiences.

What do you feel is the key to a successful creative collaboration, like the one between yourselves and Perfetti Van Melle?
The keys to a successful creative collaboration are preserving brand identity, ensuring transparent partnership and developing a distinctive, irreplaceable concept. Brands must maintain their core essence while seamlessly integrating into new realms, fostering open communication and a consistent experience.

Ultimately, the collaborative idea must be highly innovative, captivating and differentiated, offering an experience that resonates profoundly with the shared audience and cannot be easily replicated.

What does the rest of the year have in store for Dour Darcels?
We are launching our full body rigged 3D Dour Darcels, preparing for a future involving the metaverse, online social, games, reward program and AI applications. AI generated videos and virtual assistance will be great tools to further promote the two brands and touch many lives around the world.