Cabin Crafted: A Creative Media & Merch Initiative (1-Month Pilot)

[Kat]

TL;DR

Cabin has built a strong identity, but to keep it real—I think we need a dedicated creative force to keep it fresh, consistent, and engaging. Cabin Crafted can fill that gap by bringing a cohesive, high-quality creative pipeline that keeps our brand strong and our community engaged.

This is about creating artifacts of our shared experience…and also investing in a strategic, scalable (potentially money-generating) community asset.

Cabin Crafted is seeking

• 5,000 USDC and 500 CABIN for 1 month
• access to social media accounts (Insta, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn) so that I can have direct + timely content distribution without a middle-person and be quick + agile with community engagement across platforms!

Cabin Crafted will handle:

Merchandise Design & Production – Designing and producing unique, quality merch that reflects the spirit of Cabin, and ideally rekindles community pride while also making the attempt to take on more mainstream recognition in the urban street fashion world

Photography & Videography – Travelling to Cabin neighborhoods + Cabin adjacent events to capture moments, tell dynamic stories to use for social media marketing and also have them become archival documentation of Cabin’s journey through time

Content Series Idea: Create a mini-series highlighting the thoughtful and creative Cabin members reimaging how we live

• Travel to meet willing Cabiners in their element
• Working title “Field Notes”

As of today- Considerations for this project include:

• JD x The Learning Garden, a permaculture love story (NY)
• Dan x Pat, the story of a friendship and work partnership born from a Cabin experience (SF)
• Edge Esmeralda feature with Cabin folks (Healdsburg, California)

Bonus idea:

Brand Kits for Stewards: Develop a Cabin-branded experience kit for neighborhood stewards (stickers, postcards, welcome cards) to enhance the on-the-ground experience.

Team

Sponsor: Katya
Steward: Katya

A word from the steward:

I’ve spent the last two months conceptualizing, incubating, configuring and reconfiguring “Cabin Crafted” through the Ideation Pod. The vision has become clearer and the drive to creatively contribute, stronger.

I’ve also become a bit of a brand ambassador for Cabin in the Web 3 space and look forward to keeping that momentum alive!

mtnDAO conference in Utah 2025

Below you can find some designs that I’ve worked on for my own brand and a boutique streetwear brand in France:

and some prototype designs for Cabin merch that have already been ordered for sampling!

Links that’ll help you get to know me better:
Cabin Profile:
Katya | Cabin.city
Creative Portfolio:
www.bezuma.studio

Goals

Objective: Establish Cabin Crafted as a professional, scalable creative arm that strengthens Cabin’s visual identity, generates revenue through high-quality merch, and deepens community engagement with compelling content.

Key Results:

• Drop a “Spring Collection”
• Launch marketing campaign for spring collection
• Design and prototype a “Summer Collection”
• Generate between $1000- $5000 off of merch to return to the DAO

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• Produce a “Field Notes” episode
• Chop up footage for short-form content to be used on socials
• Grow Cabin’s social media engagement by at least 5% across all platforms

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• Maintain a production pipeline with a consistent output of creative assets
• Create a content library of photo and video assets for future use in DAO marketing, promotional materials and archival storytelling –preserving the faces, places, and moments that define Cabin’s story.

Proposed Budget

The following budget will allow for Cabin Crafted to operate at a sustainable and professional level, ensuring quality, consistency, and impact of its creative output.

Consistent merch production: $1500

• Design + prototyping
• Models + talent
• Location scouting + production
• Styling + art direction
• Logistics + distribution costs

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Professional-Grade content creation: $1000

Produce quality visual assets:

• Photography
• Videography
• Social content

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Creative Lead compensation: $2000

• Fair and reliable compensation ensures that the creative lead can commit to this role full-time and bring their full creative energy and skill set to this project

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Ongoing Equipment & Software Needs: $250

• A dedicated monthly budget allows for maintenance and upgrades of essential tools (e.g camera gear, editing software, production materials)

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Scalable Growth & Agility: $250

• Marketing and distribution:
  • Crafting mini marketing campaigns with custom graphics, ad copy and rollout plans to promote the merch across Cabin’s platforms
  • Experiment with larger merch runs with higher end quality production and packaging

Total:

• 5000 USDC
• 500 ₡ABIN

Timeline and Deliverables:

1 MONTH ROADMAP:

Week 1: Kickoff & Creative Setup

Merch Design

• Finalize 2–3 pieces for a limited “Spring Mini-Drop”
• Lock-in on silhouettes and designs
• Build updated landing/shop page

Storytelling Prep

• Confirm the first featured Cabin member for “Field Notes”
• Conduct pre-interview and outline narrative

Marketing Foundations

• Create brand identity for the drop (colors, tone, typography)
• Draft campaign copy (teasers, launch, post-launch)
• Plan rollout calendar (2–3 posts/week)

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Week 2: Content Capture

Merch Production:

• customize packaging
• define price-point

Photography & Video:

• Travel to meet one of the aforementioned Cabiners
• Film “Field Notes” episode

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Week 3: Edit & Launch Prep

Video Production:

• Edit short “Field Notes” episode (~3–5 minutes)
• Export reels + teaser clips for socials

Marketing Assets:

• Finalize graphics and product mockups
• Schedule rollout posts

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Week 4: Launch & Fulfillment

Launch:

• Release “Spring Mini-Drop” via Shopify
• Publish “Field Notes” episode + push on all channels
• Share bts content + founder notes for depth (maybe)

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Pilot Outcomes

• 1 micro-drop (Spring Collection)
• 1 “Field Notes” episode filmed, edited, and published
• Lessons gathered from design > production > fulfillment
• Test run of marketing systems, Shopify updates, and content workflows

At the end of the 1 month pilot: Debrief on what worked, what to improve.

If Cabin Crafted successfully meets its OKRs and the contributors find the work fulfilling, the initiative may propose an extension for another 3 months, pending approval through a DAO vote.

@JD_Today thank you for delegating some Cabin tokens to me so that I can sponsor this initiative

[DanielMorgan]

Looks awesome, I love the various creative outputs you are hoping to create. Based on your track record and previous work I can see this becoming the start of a really cool media journey for Cabin in 2025.

[Kat]

I appreciate the feedback, Dan!

[Dahveed]

Love the breakdown - and all of it, really. Maybe add some prototype designs to whet people’s appetite? And talk about neighborhoods you’re considering/stewards you’re talking to — just to make the plans even more easily visualized by the readers.

The other - very tiny - concern is that fulfilling orders in Month 3 leaves little time for an assessment to prepare for the 6-month trial. But that’s kinda trivial, since you don’t really have any time limits on when to apply for those 6 months.

Anyway, very excited for Cabin Crafted’s extended trial and dat merch!!!

[Kat]

Solid points @Dahveed - the proposal has been updated to reflect your suggestions!
and thanks for the support

[savkruger]

Love all the time and energy you’ve been putting into this and everything at Cabin! I’ll share some thoughts w you privately!

[jon]

Hey @Kat, thanks for putting together this proposal. I appreciate your contributions to Cabin and your interest in continuing those efforts.

In How to Draft a Proposal, one of the core tenets of DAO proposals requesting funds from the treasury for a project is that the proposal should clearly make the case for how the value generated will be greater than the cost:

@system

Proposals should make a clear business case for how they will create substantially more value for the DAO than they cost.

Re: merch — I love Cabin merch and think you would produce some awesome designs, but I think $15,000 + 500 ₡ is a high upfront cost without a plan to recoup those costs. You are targeting $1-5k in merch sales, which would only cover ~6-33% of the cash being spent in this proposal. Even then, I am not sure if we can sell that much merch, as we haven’t been able to clear those numbers in the past. I’d prefer to see us pre-sell some merch to demonstrate that there is demand for it first.

Re: content creation — you’ve made some awesome content recently as part of the Ideation Pod, but none of it has garnered much attention or distribution (3-7 likes per post). These are high quality videos, but given the engagement we’ve seen, I don’t see a clear path towards your goal of growing our socials across all channels by 10-15% (eg ~1340 - 2000 new followers on twitter) in the next 3 months. I would want to better understand why we expect the performance in the next 3 months to be different from what we’ve seen recently.

Given this, I don’t think I can support this proposal as it is currently written, and my sense is that if it were to go for a vote in its current form, other token holders may respond to it similarly to how they have responded to recent proposals that don’t have clear positive value generation loops for the DAO. I still think you are awesome and I’m so glad to have you as part of the community. I hope that we can find a way to support your creative energy going forward.

[JD_Today]

Hello friends! Can totally vouch for Kat’s creative energy and vision! I’m not super tapped into the latest Cabin happenings (and the Cabin brand) so I can’t speak specifically on this proposal but Kat is super talented and it would be awesome to have a structure for her to tap into Cabin in a meaningful way!

[Kat]

Hey Jon, I appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective.

I hear your concerns around the cost-to-revenue ratio, especially in terms of upfront investment vs. direct recoup through merch or immediate social growth. That said, I think this is an opportunity to zoom out and revisit one of the most valuable, and at times intangible, assets Cabin has: its original creative ethos.

From my understanding, Cabin.City wasn’t built on tight conversion funnels or quarterly ROI targets. It was built on lore, aesthetic coherence, and a deep narrative pull that invited people to feel something…to imagine themselves as part of a larger story. That feeling is what drew in some of our earliest stewards, fellows, and contributors. And I believe re-investing in that ethos now is exactly what could reignite interest, participation, and ultimately, downstream monetary value for the DAO.

This proposal isn’t just about making cool merch or content for its own sake, it’s about creating magnetic artifacts that remind people what Cabin is, and why it’s worth caring about. High-quality, creatively-aligned merch acts as both a physical touchpoint and a story-carrying vehicle.

On the social side, I understand your skepticism around past content performance. What’s important to note here is that I haven’t actually had direct access to Cabin’s social channels. Everything I’ve created has had to be run through a middle layer, which has oftentimes been inconsistent with no direct way of engaging with the community in real time or building momentum. I believe there’s a world where @Kaela and I could co-collaborate here, with her continuing to focus on growing NAP and me leaning more into arts, culture, and narrative…both distinct but complementary areas that ladder up to a richer, more multidimensional Cabin presence.

I get that a presale would be a more financially conservative approach and I’m down to explore that route, but I’d also argue that part of our challenge right now is the lack of cohesive, inspiring creative output to rally people around in the first place. Without that initial spark, it’s hard to generate the energy we’d need to make a presale successful.

Also, I want to speak directly to the pricing concern. I actually feel the $5,000 price point I proposed is quite reasonable given the level of creative work involved, especially when compared to the Neighborhood Accelerator marketing proposal, which was approved for an $8,000 1-month pilot for services that were more strategy-focused and offered less in terms of hands-on creative execution.

I understand being mindful of treasury spend — I share that concern too. But I also think it’s important we’re consistent in how we evaluate the cost and impact of different types of work. If we want to reignite the emotional resonance that originally made Cabin magnetic, I believe this kind of creative investment is not only justified, it’s necessary. But of course, that’s the perch I see things from. Reality tunnels are different and I recognize your efforts to balance the interests of the community and the investors. Would love to hear some candid POV’s from the community - @jxn, @charlie, @grin, @Ktando, @Zakk, @jonbo, @eileen

Ultimately, the value loop here may not be as immediate or quantifiable as direct merch sales or likes per post, but it’s the kind of value that compounds: cultural capital, brand coherence, and emotional resonance. These are the upstream drivers of interest, participation, and ultimately, revenue.

Thanks again for the feedback, Jon.

@savkruger looking forward to connecting. @JD_Today I appreciate you tapping in!

[Ktando]

Hi @Kat! Thanks for putting this together, the designs look great.

It would be difficult for me to vote for this proposal. I have some serious concerns, as I’ve expressed in the past as to what is really happening with Cabin and it’s goal, especially upon raising investor capital to build a venture scale business. Building Cabin’s brand, community etc, would have to be in service of an underlying business, which it doesn’t seem like we have one. Cabin has bigger questions to answer before I think any additional money should leave the treasury. So said more simply, this is less a reflection on your specific proposal, and more a commentary in where Cabin is today, and what it should be prioritizing.

[Kat]

@Ktando thanks for dropping in to voice your POV. Your concerns are def valid and on some level I agree with you.

Throughout Cabin’s various eras, the phrase “community building” has consistently echoed, it’s been a thread that’s tied together different visions and efforts, even as the context around us has shifted. That throughline has sort of been my north star. My proposal is rooted in that lineage: investing in the relationships, narratives, and structures that help make Cabin feel like a real place…one worth showing up for

[Kat]

Hey everyone @here, given the feedback that I’ve gotten on and off the forum, I decided to condense the pilot down to 1-month instead of three! Seems like that might be more palatable

[eileen]

Hi Kat,

I want to applaud your diligence in creating possibilities for yourself and the Cabin brand. I appreciate you asking for feedback.

I am a yes for the DAO funding you to travel and create content, and a no for creating any merch right now.

As I recall, merch sales have done poorly even in times where Cabin’s brand was more popular. I anticipate this will be wasteful. Nothing to do with your artistic skill.

The most powerful thing Cabin has is a core “moral innovation” of living closer to people and nature makes life better. This is a direct solution to solving the loneliness and disconnection crisis, something people are hungry for. Creating content that showcases the radical ways that “cabineers” do this is, I think, very beneficial, and it is core to the project of figuring out what the group of people who have been drawn to Cabin should work on next.

I was quite inspired by my time working and volunteering for Cabin. I would have loved to receive funds or Cabin token for all the times my image was featured on the website or my gathering labor was employed for build and cabin weeks. Now, I organize coliving houses on my own and host regular dinner parties as a way to create community wherever I live, while slowmading with a baby.

Showcasing these possibilities for a radically different lifestyle is valuable and will ultimately pay off to Cabin in the long term. I also think your ask for salary funding for the travel and content creation is reasonable.

You are welcome to come to our coliving house at Edge Esmeralda, we can host you. As long as you like babies.

Eileen

PS I think you should be firm on the duration but separate out the salary/travel from the merch. It’s difficult to get much done without a bit of stability.

[Kat]

@eileen thank you for pulling up to the discussion and sharing some valuable feedback.

You at the white board is a core Cabin association for me lol

“Slowmading” is definitely going in the phrase bank aaaand I love babies, so if I make it out to EE, I’ll be sure to connect