Rethinking Digital Ownership
As Chief Creative Officer, Shane helped define Candy Digital at its inception, shaping a new vision for digital ownership across partners including MLB, NASCAR, Getty Images, and WWE.
Rather than digitizing physical collectibles, he reframed NFTs as living systems dynamic, responsive, and built for the medium.
The result was a new category of digital experiences: assets that evolve, unlock, and expand into immersive formats like AR and 3D, pushing ownership beyond static into something truly alive.
Building a World-Class Creative Team
Shane assembled and led a multidisciplinary creative organization spanning 3D, motion, video, and design.
Built for both speed and ambition, the team operated at the intersection of craft and innovation, consistently translating complex ideas into premium, category-defining executions.
MLB Dynamic Digital Collectibles
For MLB, Shane redefined the trading card, transforming it into a dynamic, data-driven experience that evolves with the game itself.
Iconic drops, featuring Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson paired cultural significance with premium digital craft, driving both engagement and commercial success.
Lou Gehrig “Luckiest Man” NFT sold for:
$70K
Collectibles integrated video, narrative, and live performance data, while expanding into high-fidelity 3D assets, including volumetric captures like Justin Turner, enabling fans to build, customize, and unlock new behaviors over time.
Interactive formats like blind pack openings further translated the emotion of collecting into a fully digital experience, validating a new model for the category.
The team also developed MLB Hall of Fame content, combining exclusive interviews with legends like Cal Ripken Jr. alongside rare archival footagebringing history to life through interactive, story-driven collectibles. Vintage digital cards blended these elements, pairing iconic moments with firsthand perspectives from the players themselves.
Shane also led the creation of Sweet Futures, an original NFT line focused on emerging talent in college basketball and football. The concept created a platform for rising athletes to be discovered early, allowing fans to collect digital assets tied to players before they reached mainstream recognition, reframing collectibles as a way to engage with the future of the sport.
Interactive Digital Vehicles
For NASCAR, Shane expanded digital collectibles into fully interactive, high-fidelity vehicles, bridging engineering, design, and play.
Fans could respray, explore, and control cars within digital environments,turning ownership into an expressive, participatory experience.
A centerpiece of the work, the next-generation “exploded view” NFT deconstructed each vehicle into its core components, then reassembled it through cinematic animation, transforming technical precision into visual storytelling.
The work also extended into NASCAR’s legacy, bringing the sport’s history to life through a new digital lens. Archival photography was reimagined with motion and narrative, paired with exclusive interviews from legendary drivers reflecting on the moments captured. These were complemented by high-fidelity digital busts of iconic figures, blending storytelling, history, and collectible design into a richer, more immersive fan experience.
Work
Candy - CCO
Shane built & ran a world class team that created digital NFTs and immersive games and experiences for MLB, WWE, Netflix, Nascar & Getty.
Skills
Chief Creative Officer / Creative Concept and Ideation / Built the Creative Team / Lead the Creative Team / Graphic Design / Illustration / UI / UX.
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
As Chief Creative Officer, Shane helped define Candy Digital’s creative vision at the emergence of digital ownership. He built and led a multidisciplinary creative organization producing collectible products, games and interactive experiences for partners including MLB, NASCAR, WWE, Netflix and Getty Images.
LEADERSHIP & CONTRIBUTION
Built the creative team and led creative strategy, product vision, brand systems, game concepts, UI/UX, illustration, collectible design and immersive experiences. Shane connected leagues, athletes, entertainment properties, technologists and makers around products designed to feel culturally meaningful—not merely scarce.
PRODUCT INNOVATION
MLB — Developed interactive, data-connected collectibles that evolved with live performance; premium story-driven drops; volumetric 3D assets; digital pack openings; Hall of Fame content; and the original Sweet Futures platform for emerging college athletes.
NASCAR — Expanded collectibles into customizable, explorable vehicles; created cinematic exploded-view experiences; and reimagined archival history through motion, interviews and high-fidelity digital sculpture.
IMPACT
The Lou Gehrig “Luckiest Man” collectible sold for $70K, demonstrating demand for digital objects grounded in authentic story, craft and cultural significance. Across categories, the team created new ways for fans to collect, play, customize, learn and participate.
STRATEGIC VALUE
Candy Digital showcases Shane’s ability to build a creative organization from the ground up while inventing products for an emerging market. The work united product strategy, fandom, interactive design, live data, storytelling and digital ownership into experiences with lasting utility and emotional relevance.
LET’S BUILD WHAT’S NEXT
Looking for a creative executive who can connect strategy, story, product and emerging technology?
CONTACT SHANE →
shanesmall@gmail.com