A blue ETRNL Artist Key held as a finished physical collectible

Founding Product Designer (Full-time) · Sep 2025 – Apr 2026

ETRNL

Turned music-access hardware into collectible artist cards

Role
Founding Product Designer (Full-time)
Team
Two-person core team
Timeline
Sep 2025 – Apr 2026
Status
Built · market validation incomplete
View the brand book ↗

Problem

The original NFC keychain unlocked music but gave fans little reason to collect it or artists a distinctive release format.

Approach

I originated the Artist Key and signed-card mechanic, connecting collectible identity to NFC activation, artist worlds, and creator commerce.

Outcome & caveat

Built the cards, activation flow, commerce platform, packaging, and campaign. Funding ended before validation at scale; the market outcome remains unresolved.

Evidence · card-to-platform system
BuiltArtist Key, activation, commerce, platform, and campaign; market validation remained incomplete.
Project timeline

Project chronology

From utility object to artist relationship

Explorations

Give fans something worth collecting

Early NFC chains and access tags worked, but felt like hardware. Signed Artist Keys made the artist, edition, and access clear before the first tap.

Early NFC merchandise and marketplace direction.
An access tag lacked the artist identity of the final Key.

Decision 01

From keychain to Artist Key

I chose a familiar collectible format. Artist imagery, signatures, numbered editions, and color series made each Key recognizable and personal.

Distinct artist series within one collectible family.
Signatures and edition numbers made ownership visible.
Physical tests for material, scale, tap placement, and print finish.

Decision 02

One tap to claim ownership

I designed activation to recognize the Key, reveal the artist, and confirm ownership in the fan’s vault. One gesture connected the physical card to its digital collection.

Scan → artist reveal → ownership confirmed.
The Key joins the fan’s vault after activation.

Decision 03

A card that opens an artist’s world

Fans could access releases, exclusive media, and future drops. I connected that access to creator storefronts and purchase-to-unlock commerce.

The Key connects releases, purchases, and the creator storefront.
Web discovery, purchase, and access.

Product system

Own. Tap. Explore. Return.

01

Own

A signed, numbered Artist Key communicates identity before the phone enters the story.

02

Activate

An NFC tap identifies the object and brings the artist relationship into the app.

03

Access

The fan enters an artist world with releases, media, drops, and owned collectibles.

04

Participate

Storefronts and purchase-to-unlock mechanics extend ownership into creator commerce.

Complete ETRNL product architecture including onboarding, profiles, vault, feed, and activation

Activation, collections, discovery, and commerce in one product.

Outcome

Built for testing. Unproven at scale.

The company ran out of runway before market validation. The work reached physical prototypes, working activation logic, complete product flows, and launch assets.

  • 01Produced physical card prototypes and tested NFC tap zones, material, scale, and editioning.
  • 02Designed the activation, onboarding, vault, artist profile, release, and discovery flows.
  • 03Defined creator storefronts and purchase-to-unlock mechanics around the Artist Key.
  • 04Carried the product thesis into the web platform, brand system, and launch campaign.

More work

Product, physical system, brand, and launch

Color-coded series made individual artists distinct while keeping the collection recognizable.
The stretched display system gave the product a graphic voice beyond conventional music-tech branding.
An early camera-filter direction explored how ownership could become visible in fan-made media.
Creator-facing campaign for setting a price across physical products and music unlocks.
Modular launch directions translated the same purchase-to-unlock model across releases.
A product-flow study connecting the physical Key to the artist storefront and purchase-to-unlock access.
Catalog studies for the fan vault and owned library across light and dark modes.
Artist profile exploration connecting music, studio stories, video, and owned Keys.
Discovery studies for artists, local trends, and collectible releases.
The full creator proposition: make the card, upload the work, set the price, and order the physical set.
Early color and transparency studies for the Artist Key series.
Metallic finish and signature studies.
Production-bundle direction with holographic wrapping.
The full color-series lineup.
A monochrome geometric system gave each series a distinct reverse side.
Renaissance access-tag exploration in gold.
Alternate material and color direction with the tap instruction embedded in the object.
Alternate physical prototype tested against the phone interaction and card proportions.
Scan-moment art direction for the detected-card state.
App-entry direction positioning ETRNL as an all-access pass.
Camera-led growth-loop concept based on the visual identity of each Artist Key.
Campaign study connecting creator-owned cards and fan participation.
A direct social invitation built from the collectible system.
The personalized-card idea translated to out-of-home scale.
Renaissance-inspired creator campaign direction.
Large-scale mural study positioning the card as a cultural artifact.
Artist Key launch direction in Los Angeles.
A collection-first billboard direction.
Renaissance imagery connected access, ownership, and cultural permanence.
An editorial format extended the system into artist stories and studio culture.
The complete reverse-side system across the collection.
Collectible render exploration.
Alternate collectible-series render.
Additional environmental study for the card system.
Complete brand book38 pages · January 2026

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2026 CONNOR LEE

LOS ANGELES, CA