Cabin Crafted - A Creative Media + Merch Initiative (1 month pilot)

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.

Links that’ll help you get to know me better: Cabin Profile: https://cabin.city/profile/362375616421429329

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 mini “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

• 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

• 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.

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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
• Professional-Grade content creation: $1000

Produce quality visual assets:

• Photography
• Videography
• Social content
• 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

Ongoing Equipment & Software Needs: $250

• Editing software subsriptions

Scalable Growth & Agility: $250

• 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)

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

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

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)
• Start conceptualizing a summer launch

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.

Checkout the forum post for a deeper dive into the proposal and some visuals of merch designs!