degenie

Case · 2024–2026 · Head of Product & Design

DOGS

A dog Pavel Durov drew, and an airdrop for 42 million people.

The problem
In the summer of tap-to-earn, DOGS bet the other way: your share came from how long you had been on Telegram, so your own history was the product.
What I did
As Head of Product & Design, built the identity on Pavel Durov’s drawing, the Telegram app, the one-tap check that reads your history back to you, and the claim.
What happened
53 million opened the app. 42.2 million qualified. 40% of them claimed within two weeks. Then a Guinness World Record drone show in 2025.
Spotty, the DOGS character: a white dog face with a dark spot, drawn in a rough line.
Legendary OG: Spotty above the number 350,540.
Role
Head of Product & Design
Scope
Identity, Telegram app, eligibility and claim, collaborations
Character
Spotty, drawn by Pavel Durov
Period
2024–2026

As Head of Product & Design I built DOGS’ brand and product around a character Telegram already knew: the identity, the Telegram app, the eligibility check and the claim, then the culture around it.

From the app to the claim, on one scale

  1. Used the mini app53M
  2. Eligible for the airdrop80% of users42.2M
  3. Claimed in about two weeks40% of the eligible17M

One scale, 0 to 53 million people. Users and claims by 10 September 2024. Cointelegraph, citing TON · TON, September 2024

Guinness World Record, shared with Notcoin and Lumasky
1
the largest aerial image of a bone ever formed by drones
Guinness World Records

In its time

The summer everyone on Telegram was tapping.

In mid-2024 tap-to-earn games were the biggest thing on Telegram. DOGS did the opposite: no tapping, no mining. Your share came from how long you had been on Telegram.

2024

  1. Hamster Kombat reports about 300 million players. Decrypt

  2. DOGS launches on Telegram around Spotty, the dog Pavel Durov drew. Bybit Learn

  3. The token launches. 42.2 million people are eligible. TON

  4. 53 million mini-app users; 17 million have claimed. Cointelegraph

2025

  1. A Guinness World Record drone show at TOKEN2049 Dubai, with Notcoin and Lumasky. Guinness World Records

My workThe field

The bet

Reward being there.

In the summer of 2024 Telegram was full of tap-to-earn games. DOGS made the opposite bet. Your share depended on how long you had been on Telegram, on Premium and on early-member status. There was no mining and nothing to buy.

That made identity the product. The app had to read a person’s history back to them, say what it meant and hand them their share, in a few seconds and without a word of crypto jargon.

The character

One character, every size.

Spotty is a dog Pavel Durov drew years earlier for a charity auction. I built the DOGS identity on that drawing and kept what people already recognised: the rough line and the dark spot. The drawing needed no redraw to work at every size the product used, from a full-screen reveal to a chat avatar, so the identity’s job was to protect it, not to polish it away.

A character people already know is a head start that is easy to waste. Everything around Spotty had to look like Spotty first and like a brand second.

  1. Full screen

  2. App icon

  3. Chat avatar

  4. Smallest

One drawing, no redraws, at four sizes.

The check

One tap, then who you are.

The bot asked for one tap. It read the account’s age and status, revealed a rank and showed the share, with a thank-you for being part of Telegram’s history. Each screen did one thing.

The reveal was the moment people shared, so it got the whole screen: the years, a symbol for the rank, and one line about where you stand.

The first screen: Spotty above one button, Tap-Tap, to check your place in Telegram history.

The check, from one tap to your place on the wall. DOGS working file, 2024 · sample names, ranks and amounts.

  1. The first screen: Spotty above a single button to check eligibility.

    One button

  2. Durov’s OG detected: 11 years ago, top 1% of Telegram OGs.

    11 years

  3. Legendary status: 8 years, top 10%.

    8 years

  4. Elite member: 3 years, top 30%.

    3 years

  5. Rising star: 1 year, top 80%.

    1 year

The Telegram OG check: the years you have been on Telegram decide your share. DOGS working file, 2024 · sample data.

Beyond the screen

Spotty over Bangkok.

A meme lives or dies outside the app. I initiated the collaboration with the rooftoppers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus and developed its concept with the team: the two climbers raise Spotty on a skyscraper, then the camera pulls back over the city. Thirteen seconds, no sound.

In May 2025 DOGS and Notcoin closed TOKEN2049 Dubai with a drone show by Lumasky that set a Guinness World Record for the largest aerial image of a bone. The record belongs to the three of them.

The pack

A character people carry.

Spotty outgrew the app. DOGS went up in wingsuits over the Palm in Dubai, down a Bangkok tower on a flag and out over the sea on a flyboard, became a 3D character, and went into clothes people wear.

The project site, dogs.dev, counts more than 5.5 million holders and 50 million app users, and lists $515,000 donated to charities including Save the Children, World Child Cancer and Best Friends.

Wingsuit flyers in DOGS suits over the Palm in Dubai, filmed from among them. Eight seconds, no sound.
A flyboarder rising on jets of water over the sea, a DOGS flag at his back. Six seconds, no sound.
Spotty as a 3D character in a hoodie, walking through a park and turning to the camera. Seven seconds, no sound.

Films of the pack, from dogs.dev.

A black knitted sweater with Spotty’s face in grey across the front and a bone down each sleeve.
Sweater
A black hoodie seen from the back, Spotty’s white face filling it.
Hoodie
A black tote bag: I, a grey bone, DOGS.
Tote
Enamel pins: Spotty with a bow, a bone, the letters D O G S, Spotty in flames and Spotty in a hood.
Pins

DOGS merch, from dogs.dev.

The decisions

Three calls that shaped it.

  1. 01

    Reward being there, not tapping.

    Your share came from how long you had been on Telegram. The product was your own history, read back to you, and nothing to grind.

  2. 02

    One character, at every size.

    Spotty is drawn once and holds from a favicon to a flag down a Bangkok tower. Every surface the project touched carried the same face.

  3. 03

    Make the rule legible.

    One tap, then the rule shown as your years and your rank. A claim a person can verify for themselves beats a number they are asked to trust.

What it taught me

Make the rule legible.

At DOGS the most important design decision was the rule. Your share came from your own history, and the app’s job was to read that rule to you. At that scale every unclear state becomes a support ticket, and every rule that feels unfair becomes a public argument.

Credits

Brand and product led by me as Head of Product & Design. Spotty is Pavel Durov’s drawing.

The Bangkok film: Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus with the DOGS team. The drone show: DOGS, Notcoin and Lumasky.

The films of the pack, the merch and the moving Spotty on the DOGS tile: from dogs.dev, the project site.

Sources

  1. TON: DOGS airdrop figures, September 2024
  2. Cointelegraph: DOGS token and 17M users, 10 September 2024, mini app users and claims, citing TON
  3. Bybit Learn: what is DOGS, 16 August 2024
  4. Binance Academy: what is DOGS, the token and the airdrop
  5. Guinness World Records: largest aerial image of a bone, the record and its holders
  6. Lumasky: the record drone show at TOKEN2049 Dubai, May 2025
  7. dogs.dev, the project site: holders, app users, donations, films and merch, read on 24 October 2026

Screens are from DOGS working files, shown as portfolio work. Names, ranks and amounts are sample data; early files use the token’s working name.

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