Introduction
The poster of the supremacist artist El Lisitsky, created by him at the height of the civil war in 1919–1920, was chosen as the basis.
At that time, it was not yet known which side would win the civil war. In my humble opinion, this poster is one of the best supremacist works, almost every detail contains a very deep symbolism and meaning.
Therefore, it was chosen by me as the basis of the poster for NEAR protocol.
Poster №1
In the process of creation, 2 prototypes were prepared (Fig. 2) and 6 versions of the poster №1. Only three were selected as the main ones for different applications (Fig.4–6).
The concept 2 was chosen as the basis. I tried to put a lot of symbolism and meaning into the poster (Fig. 3).
Figure 3 Poster symbolism Figure 3 shows 8 main poster symbols:
1. background color;
2. composite red wedge;
3. speed elements;
4. collapsed Ethereum;
5. fighting;
6. leave;
7. shards;
8. general location.
Learn more about symbols.
1. Background color. The background is divided into two sides: light and dark. And it symbolizes the transition to non-existence.
2. The composite red wedge is an allegorical image of NEAR, consisting of three separate wedges, symbolizing the main three advantages of the NEAR protocol blockchain that are important to me as a creative person — speed, low fees (something around 1 cent USD), easy. Or in other words: FAST, CHEAP, EASY.
The wedges are installed next to each other, rather than separately, emphasizing the name NEAR.
The red color is not chosen by chance, it brings a spirit of novelty and brightness, with the appearance of NEAR protocol against the background of the aging Ethereum.
The size of the wedge itself clearly shows the scale of the rivalry with such a giant as Ether.
3. The speed elements symbolize the rapid development of the NEAR protocol project and the overall performance of the main network.
4. The collapsed Ethereum — wedge NEAR, as if “collapses” the Ethereum logo, clearly illustrating the defeat of Ethereum on these three key advantages described above.
5. The struggle is a symbol of users doubts about choosing one or another blockchain to create their works on it. I hope that users will not have to doubt for a long time.
6. Leave. The image of the Ethereum logo does not accidentally go beyond the boundaries of the poster, it is a symbol of the gradual loss of some users due to the appearance of NEAR protocol.
7. The shards symbolize the breakaway users from the Ethereum network due to the huge fees that make the Ethereum network unsuitable for everyday use by a simple user.
8. The general location of the Composite red wedge striking downwards on Ethereum indicates the presence of clear advantages of NEAR, reducing Ethereum gradually to oblivion on the dark side of the poster.
Short summary
The essence of the poster boils down to the fact that NEAR, thanks to its key advantages (FAST, CHEAP, EASY) in a difficult struggle, gradually displaces Ethereum into oblivion.
Figure 4–6 shows the three main poster options to use.
Two versions of the poster with the advantages in Russian and English.
Unused versions of poster №1
Figures 7, 8 show posters with color display of wedges and advantages, for greater clarity and understanding of the essence of the poster.
A variant of the poster for general use, built on the concept 1 (Fig. 2), without the collapsed Ethereum. A less aggressive option.
Poster №2
During the discussion of the first version of the poster in Fig. 2–9 in the Russian-speaking community NEAR protocol, most of the community members said that the poster turned out to be very aggressive towards Ethereum.
Therefore, it was decided to make another version of the poster — Poster №2.
2 prototypes were prepared (Fig. 10). The poster shows the development of both projects, in the form of two images alternating in position and transparency of each.
The Prototype 2 is chosen as the basis. Because the first option looks more aggressive, as if NEAR with its rapid flight demolishes and breaks Ethereum, sending it into oblivion.
I will briefly list the 9 main characters of the poster (Fig. 11):
1. background color;
2. composite red wedge;
3. speed elements;
4. direction of travel NEAR;
5. the doubting part of the Ethereum community;
6. transition of Ethereum users to the NEAR protocol network;
7.”snorting” Ether;
8. going into oblivion;
9. low fees.
Learn more about symbols.
1. Background color. The background is divided into two sides: light and dark. The light characterizes development and the future, and the dark characterizes non-existence and oblivion.
2. The composite red wedge is an allegorical image of NEAR, consisting of three separate wedges, symbolizing the main three advantages of the NEAR protocol blockchain that are important to me as a creative person — speed, low fees (something around 1 cent USD), convenience. Or in other words: FAST, CHEAP, EASY.
The wedges are installed next to each other, rather than separately, emphasizing the name NEAR)
The red color is not chosen by chance, it brings a spirit of novelty and brightness, with the appearance of NEAR protocol against the background of the sluggishness and slowness of Ethereum.
3. The speed elements that become longer symbolize the accelerating development of the NEAR protocol project and the overall performance of the main network.
4. The NEAR movement is directed upwards, which symbolizes the desire of the development team to reach new heights and solve new, hitherto unknown tasks.
5. Thus, the members of the community who suffer from the huge amount of fees, inconvenience and slowness of Ethereum are shown.
6. Thanks to the main advantages of the NEAR protocol and its community members, some of the doubting participants of the Ethereum network move to the NEAR network.
7. The Ethereum speed elements are strikingly different from the NEAR speed elements (symbol 3), showing the slowness of the Ethereum network and the fact that users of this network are simply suffocating from huge commissions.
8. If the Ethereum team does not undertake drastic updates, it faces going into oblivion, this is reflected on the poster in the form of a partially cropped and tilted to the right Ethereum logo.
9. An attempt to reflect on the poster the average amount of commission for the creators of NFT in the NEAR network, without writing it in a separate line.
Short summary
The essence of the poster boils down to the fact that NEAR, thanks to its key advantages (FAST, CHEAP, EASY) in a difficult fight, gradually overtakes Ethereum, which is going into oblivion.
Figures 12 and 13 show two main versions of the poster in Russian and English.
I want to note that when you zoom in on the NEAR logo, you can see that it is depicted as straight lines, not rounded lines. This is not done by accident, but intentionally, in my opinion, this style of image gives more speed and sharpness than sluggish and rounded curves.
Poster №3
While working on poster №2, I came up with another interesting idea, to make a third version of the poster, which shows the “pain” of NFT-creators — huge commissions.
I will immediately note the difference in the size of Ethereum and NEAR, depicted on the poster. This difference characterizes both the difference in the amount of commissions in the networks of both projects (which is extremely important for the NFT-creator), and the overall scale of these two projects.
The poster has the following meaning and symbolism (Fig. 15):
Let’s briefly list the 5 main characters of the poster:
1. commission on the Ethereum network;
2. commission in the NEAR protocol network;
3. the nature of the” movement “ of Ethereum;
4. the nature of the” movement “ NEAR protocol;
5. background of the poster.
Learn more about symbols.
1. The commission in the Ethereum network is the main PAIN of the absolute majority of NFT-creators, currently, the creation of an NFT in the Ethereum network will cost an average of $ 100–150. Such a large amount of commission is characterized by the size of the Ethereum logo, which goes beyond the poster.
2. The commission in the NEAR protocol network is something that the NFT-creator does not even know about, thanks to the speed, cheapness and convenience of the NEAR protocol (composite red wedge). And it turns out that it exists, I personally did not notice it for several weeks. For any action with the NFT, whether it is creating, burning, or moving the NFT, the commission will be less than 1 cent USD.
3. The nature of the” movement” of Ethereum — long sloping bands together with wavy lines reflect the uncertain nature of the movement of Ethereum, which is waiting for the unknown and oblivion, if it does not do something with the amount of commissions. Because using the Ethereum network is becoming more and more expensive, for a simple NFT-author.
4. The nature of the” movement “ of NEAR protocol — three oblique speed symbols (fast, cheap, convenient) appearing behind Ethereum from the unknown (the dark background of the poster) and flying through the Ethereum logo symbolize the rapid development of the NEAR protocol project.
5. Background color. The background is divided into two sides: light and dark. Light characterizes development and the future, and dark-the unknown, non-existence and oblivion.
Figure 16–19 shows four post options for telegram, which in my opinion briefly and clearly explains the advantages of NEAR over Ethereum.
These posts are primarily needed to show creative people who:
1. Don’t know what NEAR is.
2. They already create their own NFT tokens, but gritting their teeth, they pay wild commissions for their creation, burning, moving and re-issuing;
3. They doubt the feasibility of creating their own NFT due to the exorbitant amount of commissions in the most common network.
I suggest using these posts to explain to NFT creators the key advantages of NEAR over Ethereum.
Description of the advantages NEAR protocol
The main three advantages that I have identified for myself are FAST, CHEAP, and EASY!
The speed is almost instant transactions, in my experience, the transaction time is literally a few seconds.
The cheapness lies in the extremely low amount of commissions, for a simple transfer, the last time I paid a commission of 0.00004 NEAR. For manipulating images, the commission is higher, but also not significant, about 0.0003 NEAR.
The convenience lies in the human-readable interface, which the developers have tried to make as logical and understandable as possible. I also consider the use of addresses by a wallet of the name.near type to be a great advantage, which makes it easy to remember several wallet addresses at once.
Conclusion
In 1919–1920, when the poster was created by E. Lisitsky “Red Wedge beat the whites”, it was not yet clear who would win the civil war in Russia. But we all know the result.
Today, it is also unknown whether anyone will be able to move Ethereum from a leading position.
But I would really like the developers of the NEAR protocol and its community to do everything for this.
Let these posters (poster №2 and poster №3) be my humble contribution to this great cause.
Good luck and success to the NEAR protocol team and the entire community!
