So I got the pleasure to chat to some of the team that works creating the Crypto Chibi NFTs if you haven't seen any of there work you have to check it out and please they are amazing and the amount of work the goes into them so Il be chatting to QuikyFB RbangBang and Kellynotjelly .
Hi guys .
QuirkyFB : Hiya Crackers!
RBangBang : QuirkyFB is the animation artist on the project and handles more than half of our rarity levels - 3D imagery & amazing work with his proprietary particles & @KellynotJelly is our image artist for most of the project.
QuirkyFB : Not sure if Kelly's about - haven't seen her since earlier
No problem . So this is a three man team first question would have to be how did you all meet ?
QuirkyFB : Rhett found us, searched us out for the project. Yeah i guess you could say it's a 3 person team at the core but there's others who've contributed. We have another artist, Eko who does the occasional character, and a graphic design firm who do some of the more basic stuff. Actually I think Rhett said he found me by accident searching for something else, not sure what but had to get in contact .
KellynotJelly : As Rich said, Rhett found us, albeit on different platforms. And it was then I met Rich on Discord.
Oh course and where you involved with NFTs at the time ?
QuirkyFB : I was - I'd been dabbling for maybe 6 months, just building up followers on Twitter and minted on a few different networks. I'd just begun to realise my particle pieces were getting popular when Rhett stopped by...
KellynotJelly : Nope. Never even heard of it. Had to do some research on it to get a better understanding on the goal of the project but gotta admit, I still find a lotta things confusing.
Ah and was WAX your main blockchain at the time ?
QuirkyFB : Actually I'd not yet made it as far as WAX. I had a list of the more eco-friendly networks but I'd had some success on Hicetnunc so I'd stopped there for a while. Having said that, I'm currently in the process of building a collection on WAX. Of course one of the amazing things with linking to any IPFS file is practically unlimited file size, and i was beginning to feel a bit limited by just 40mb on HEN.
Ah so we have to keep an eye out for that. So how have you found working on the WAX blockchain ?
QuirkyFB : In many ways it's a lot easier than done of the others to get started. Logging in without a plug-in, no long phrases or keys to remember. Of course if you want a more secure wallet then you can do all that too. Yeah, it seems to be pretty well run IMO the more i get to know it, the more I like it . Actually, I can show you my first 4 test mintings - I already randomly sold a few without any marketing so somebody must like them
https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=angelsonwax1
Nice that's always a good think when you sell without trying . What do you bring to Crypto chibi ?
QuirkyFB : Hehe, that's a great question. Initially Rhett just wanted some particle effects in the background of the characters. We discussed various options and I started playing around. I work mostly in Unity, having written a custom psychedelics engine to produce most of my effects so when we started talking about making hologram cards it seemed a logical choice to develop it all in there together. Of course at that early stage, all the artwork was flattened images so we had to rework it and extend the background and foregrounds so the characters could begin to exist in the psuedo 3d of the holograms (a bit of a pain but definitely worth it lol). Another important task I suppose you could say is to try to keep Rhett sane throughout the various ups and downs of project development lol.
Why is that ?
QuirkyFB : Hehe, nothing ever goes smoothly huh. There's always something isn't there. An important contact that never replies. A piece of work that comes back 100% wrong due to a trivial misunderstanding. It all gets sorted in the end though - it's really not been that bad, you just keep swimming as Dory says!
Of course that's half of the fun . Would you say its hard to get each NFT done is there a lot back and forth between the 3 of you ?
QuirkyFB : Actually, now we've done a fair few we seem to have a system. Kelly sends the basic artwork in Photoshop, I group which parts should be BG and FG layers and send it either to Kimp ( the graphics design firm ) to have the background and foregrounds extended, or if she had time Kelly will do that. Well that's it from my side anyway . Kimp then produces some of the flat NFTs, and sometimes Rhett gets other artists to do stuff with the artwork . Of course, I then spend ages in Unity making the holograms and adding what effects a piece might require them it's back out to Premiere to produce the final mp4s. But yeah it's pretty much a system now .
Oh wow so how long would each NFT take to create ?
Generally, I think we've got it down to between 5-7 days from blank document to however many versions of each character we do, I forget now! From my end, if I push it, I can do 2 per day but that's in factory mode - I'd rather spend 2 or 3 days one a single character. It really pays to start something, sleep on it, tweak it the next day and the finalise on the 3rd .
Do you know what programs Kelly use for creating on her end ?
QuirkyFB : Hmm, all I can tell you is her artwork arrives as PSD so probably Photoshop !
KellynotJelly : Rich is right, I create my all my works on Photoshop
How does the time difference effect your team ?
QuirkyFB : Haha, I feel sorry for Rhett - I think at one point he was getting up 4 in the morning to talk to people. I know I stay up too late sometimes but it's fun - we don't always talk about work, sometimes we have a right laugh
KellynotJelly : To be honest, Rhett is probably the best person to answer that question. I feel sorry for Rhett too coz like I would see him on discord at any time ( whether I wake up early or stay up late ), so I know I can always reach him when I need to but it’s not the same for him. Still, he’s always careful to make sure that he doesn't want us to stress over that as long as we’ve communicated everything that’s needed. So I know Rhett mentioned that each submission felt like Christmas morning but sometimes I do wonder if it’s stressful never knowing when to expect the next work and potentially falling behind the planned schedule.
Of course . What has been your favourite NFT to create with the team ?
QuirkyFB : It was a close call between Calypso & Clutch and Turbo but I think I've settled on the Turbo hologram. Both pieces were ones where Kelly had done 100% of the artwork as opposed to someone else extending from the portrait view into the full size I require for holograms. Here, I'll show...
Please do .
QuirkyFB
Awh they are really cute .
QuirkyFB : Aren't they huh! Actually these two are also quite unique instead of drawing them individually, she made them together on a big landscape - if you look, you can see on the top left of Turbo, the tip of the wave that is in the top right of Calypso&Clutch . I really wouldn't be surprised if we do a special landscape NFT of the 3 of them all in one somewhere down the line .
KellynotJelly : Luna the Wolf Luna was one of the pieces where I had a clear visualization of how I want her to turn out which makes the execution process on my side so much smoother. Still, Fennec the Fox as the 1st one I did for Crypto Chibi will always hold a special place in my heart.
Has there been any collabs with wax artists yet ?
QuirkyFB : Certainly, but I think @RBangBang is your man to ask there. I lose track sometimes lol .
RBangBang : Here is a list of the project we've collabed with that are already minted: Blockchain Odyssey Green Rabbit Owls of Crypto Virtual Dreams created love NFT Story Cards NFTHive The Lost Mine
Is there an artist you would like to work with ?
RBangBang : We've submitted work to 3 projects that we're waiting on them to finish up. 2 of those are pretty well known names. I don't want to say anything before they're ready out of respect to those other projects.
Of course I can understand that . Is there anyone you would love to work with that you haven't yet ?
RBangBang : One of my biggest WAX NFT influences that led me to find QuirkyFB has already seen his works and agreed to collab with us when both projects have a bit more time. Can’t wait for that one. Bitcoin Origins is another huge influence. Mute is an incredible artist and been a big help in giving pointers on some of the things we’ve done that’s incorporated parts of their process. I haven’t been shy about staying Crypto Chibi is open to collabing with many projects- I think it’s incredible when musicians and traditional artists do it and I think it’s great for the wax community when projects collab/co-brand/cross promote.
Of course . Can I ask how you came up with the project ?
RBangBang : I was a HUGE fan of Pokémon cards growing up- would skip recess to play in friends in elementary whenever the teachers would let us. Fast forward to the end of 2020 and the emergence of NFTs and WAX. I found the space and was exploring all the projects. At the time there was only about 12 orange check mark verified and only a few of them incorporated high quality art. As a collector in the space I was finding out what I desired from that standpoint and thought this was a chance to create something I would love to collect/own. The hardest part to start (other than a shortage of information that had to be obtained by knocking on many doors and asking a million questions) was finding an artist who could bring the vision to life. There are plenty of amazing animal artists & plenty of amazing Chibi artists but finding one that could mesh the 2 proved to be a challenge. I eventually found Kelly & Eko separately at the same time and loved both of their work so much that I asked if they could both join the project and was delighted when both said yes. Fast forward just a few months in the space while we developing the artwork and WAX had gone nuclear with the number of projects & so many different things going on- it’s been amazing to see
Only 12 wow got how many is there now . So do you still collect nowadays ?
RBangBang : Avidly. That trait won't ever go away. All the projects I've been involved with I still try to make all the drops - albeit much more competitive to claim these days. It's much more difficult to stay in front of the newer ones between so many coming out & being so busy trying to get our main body of work out with such a small team but it's thanks to people like you spotlighting projects doing great things that helps the entire space keep an ear to the ground and find projects that eventually can end up becoming someone's favourite.
That's why I do it there are so many power house projects in here sometimes little projects get over looked and there is so many little project with great ideas and even better NFTs . I like to chat to them about there project and themselves so the community can learn more about them . When is your next drop ?
RBangBang : After 6 busy months, we're ecstatic that our first pack drop is scheduled for Tuesday Aug 17 just a few days from now. We will be releasing 6 characters with 12 rarities in packs. Those who are lucky enough to get packs will be able to open them Thursday Aug 19 and then a few hours after that, blending will begin for the 3 rarity levels that can only be attained by blending common & uncommon cards. So there will be some absolutely amazing cards that come out of these packs and we left a few of our most impressive works as blends so users will need to put a little bit of effort in if they want to get one of those before they're gone since the blend cap is a pretty low supply. The following week we'll have a different set of 6 characters drop in packs with the same parameters.
Any sneak peaks ?
RBangBang : Oh definitely - with the art & animation being the thing that sets Crypto Chibi apart at first glance, we feel it's imperative to share those to get everyone excited. We drop a few visuals a week in our sneak peek channel on our discord where we just crossed 500 members. I'll share the full cataloge of one of our characters with you here & provide any of them you'd like for your publication.
RBangBang : We also have an "Evolution" rarity which is a condensed ~20 second timelapse recording the artists do while creating their art . And of course, 2 Collectors Editions of every character available through direct drop each Wednesday.
Oh wow they are amazing . How many NFTs will be in each pack ?
RBangBang : Coming in packs of 7 & 15. Coming from the collector side - we know how hard it is to decide where to spend your wax. We've done our best to provide something very high quality without jacking up the costs on it. For our main body of work that comes in packs, keeping the supply on the lower side is important to us. If demand goes up as more people find Crypto Chibi then prices will have to go up a little to offset that since our supply per character is a fixed number but we will always do everything we can to provide prices that don't box anyone out. We incorporate a weekly blend for just a few wax where there is a daily drop Mon through Thursday that can be blended at the end of the week to anyone that's kept up with the drops. We'll always keep a healthy mix of things going on that are premium & (nearly) free so everyone in the community can participate if they choose to.I'll let @QuirkyFB take back over since he, Kelly, & Eko are the engine that drives Crypto Chibi.
QuirkyFB : Hehe, you're the one at the wheel Rhett! But yeah, haven't you got to get on a flight?
RBangBang : Lol still got 4-5 hours of work to do before heading to the airport.
QuirkyFB : Sheesh - see, this guy works like a demon! And bringing up a little girl! With more on the way i hear - who I think will both grow up surrounded by Chibi prints and maybe plush toys?
RBangBang : Ha the first character was based on my toddlers stuff cheetah that she calls "Chi-Chi". Really hope to be able to share these with them for years. Daughter number 2 is about ~3 weeks away so it's a good thing we're getting these packs out now.
Oh I only had number 2 8 months ago lol and my gf creates NFTs and they are based on the two kids and the dog . Are yous planning to meet up at some point?
QuirkyFB : Hehe cool. It's certainly a thought. Really wouldn't be surprised if we do one day - would be nice Distance is huge, I'm in UK, Rhett in Denver and Kelly Malaysia. I think Eko is in the Indonesia !
Oh god meet half way lol
QuirkyFB : Provided that's not in the middle of the sea lol .
RBangBang : It would be such an honour & pleasure to meet up with any of the team. I speak more with QuirkyFB daily than I do most co-workers & friends. We've developed quite a camaraderie over the past few months & our personalities mesh quite well. Same goes for Kelly & Eko. I have less interactions with them since I refuse to give timelines or ask for updates - I want everyone on the team to feel that they're creating art the way they like to; it's what drew me to them in the first place - so I just wait patiently until they submit their work to our production portal and then it's like Christmas morning for me to see what they've come up with. But both of them are also a pleasure to interact with. I would love to make NFTs a full time effort in my life. If that happens, I'll for sure be making a point to try and set up some global trips to meet the people that made that a reality to personally thank them.
So can I ask what you guys do for a living ?
QuirkyFB : I have quite a varied existence. The wife and I live at a centre for adult education and future thinking where we look after things when the main offices close at night. I also do IT, maintenance, gardening and kitchen work for them... Then there's NFTs of course... Guess where I have the most fun.
RBangBang : I'm in business 401k sales. It's a good career & enjoyable but this has been so much more rewarding in just the 6 months we've been working on it. The NFT space is primed for such an explosion beyond art/collectibles into daily use cases that the potential of being immersed in it this early is incredibly exciting.
KellynotJelly : I'm a freelance illustrator who occasionally helps my family with their mini cookie business. Was planning to get into full time employment around May. I had just gotten my resume and portfolio updated but the pandemic situation got out of control and lockdowns became a thing again. Still, I'm thankful to God because that was when Rhett found me amidst the sea of much more talented artists on Behance.
Do any of you hold other crypto ?
RBangBang : Many of the crypto enthusiasts love to speculate that in 10-20 years x% of people will be using crypto instead of fiat. I feel that way as well - but that still has to be an individual choice and who knows what sort of regulations governments will try to throw at that movement because they're afraid of it. With NFTs, these will be replacing all kinds of things people are familiar with so they truly are just a matter of time in my opinion. The ticket sale industry for instance - I go to concerts at Red Rocks all the time. Every single concert you hear a story of someone getting scammed because someone sold the same ticket to 3+ people and only the first person that shows up to get scanned gets in. That's not even possible once they make the ticket a blockchain NFT. Vehicle IDs & registrations - much more efficient as NFTs & doesn't impact the user at all etc. They'll be everywhere.
That's quite true concert tickets could be NFTs in the future .
RBangBang : Big crypto fan. Before working on Crypto Chibi I would put any of my disposable income towards it. Hoping to get back to that once Crypto Chibi (hopefully) becomes self sustaining. These last 2.5 months I've wanted to go all in on a bunch of the ones I'm bullish on but with a few unexpected delays here or there for CC had to make sure this project is supported to it's launch.
To be honest the last two months in crypto bears been having a field day only few days has crypto taken a jump even wax has regained some value .
QuirkyFB : I've got a fair amount of art in Tezos. A lot of it just from when another artist wants to swap instead of buy which I always thought was cool. Only really been on the scene for maybe 3/4 year tho... Planning to collect a few Chibis tho
I would hope you hold your own collection lads just a few more questions and we will finish up . Tell us something random about yourself ?
KellynotJelly : Little me used to wish I had some secret power to free all the animals from the zoo/ aquarium. Also, I love Jacob's Cream Crackers (the original ones), wouldn't mind having em for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I could probably build a fort and call myself CrackerLord (guess we could be cracker buddies? ) with all the tin boxes from past consumption had our family not recycled em.
Anytime .
RBangBang : Haha, I can't wait to hear what @QuirkyFB comes up for with this one.
QuirkyFB : I used to work with Sacha Baron Cohen - random fact and name drop all in one .
RBangBang : Haha, would love to have been a fly on the wall for those interactions.
QuirkyFB : I've still got a VHS somewhere
RBangBang : I love a good sneeze. Not an over boisterous one, especially in public, but if I'm alone and feel a sneeze coming on, I welcome it.
QuirkyFB : Nice, proper random! Ok, I take my cats for walks... Or rather they bug me until I do it!
Meow . What do you guys do to relax ?
QuirkyFB : What is this relaxing you speak of? Nah, I must admit, I like a nice pint, some Star Trek, maybe some VR skyrim or Terry Pratchett audio books.
Love terry pratchett .
QuirkyFB : Cool cool! Apparently they're working on a new set of films... Can't wait! I literally listen to the books every night
RBangBang : I played volleyball in college & luckily there's an incredible amount of places and people to play around Denver. I still play competitively constantly (albeit less over the past 6 months) and that's sort of my church. Among the many amazing things this project has taught me is to be present with loved ones; recently I find myself making sure I don't miss an opportunity to go on a walk with them or just spend time interacting which definitely helps me relax & I'm incredibly grateful for that perspective.
What do your families think of the project ?
KellynotJelly : Like me, my family isn't well versed with NFT or the likes. We’ve only heard of bitcoin but hadn't really looked much into that as well so it’s a whole new world to us. They mostly just appreciate the art & animation. They had asked me once how it works on the NFT platform but sad to say I wasn't adequate enough to answer them so I told them to give some time to understand it myself so I can provide a clear explanation for them.
QuirkyFB : My wife is all for it. Haven't told Rhett this yet but she may be able to contribute some small part in the future - some ideas we were throwing around a few weeks back. I have yet to introduce the cats to Chibi although now I think of it, those plush toys might be a great idea!
RBangBang : My wife has done a huge reversal from her original stance. She knows I can get hyper focused on anything that I start getting into and she thought NFTs was just another version of crypto for me to be obsessed with. She would roll her eyes at the beginning when I said I was going to do this and as time went on and she saw how dedicated I was to it, along with seeing the results of the incredible work of the team she's now started coming around to it. My hope is to be able to afford monthly day care off Crypto Chibi revenue and if we get to that level - my wife will become the biggest supporter of the project lol. My daughter is less than 2 and anytime she walks by and I have some of the characters that match her stuffed animals on the screen she'll say their names and get excited and crawl into my lap to try and watch me work on them - which becomes a moot point since I can't get anything done with one arm so we just look at some of the different characters together. She's a huge baby shark fan so I can't wait to add a shark character to the collection and watch her reaction when Kelly & QuirkyFB work their magic.
Its great to see have there support and you get ideas from them . Where do you like to interact with the community ?
RBangBang : I'm a big fan of discord just because of all the things you can do with it - we're about to start implementing daily marble races & twitch contests to give the community something to do while they're online as well as interact about the project so that one sticks out - but without the community, this project is just a dream. I don't mind interacting with them in any fashion. Our telegram & twitter are growing fast & Instagram is just one more way I can show off the art to get it in front of people that might not be into crypto/NFTs (yet) but love looking at the material. Crypto Chibi was founded on the motto "create value; not content" so as part of that, I don't mind making time wherever if it makes a difference to even a few people.
QuirkyFB : I mostly just stay in the background, maybe share a few things on Twitter - Rhett is the awesome networker lol!
Ah so you all have your roles ?
RBangBang : Kelly & Eko provide the amazing artwork, @QuirkyFB takes them and enhances them to somehow take them to another level - not to mention incredible insights on directions for the overall project. I fill in the gaps around them and try to make the experience a fun one for the community, outreach to other projects & steer the direction a bit using that collector's perspective. The way I see my duty to them is to get their work in front of as many eyes as possible and their talent does the rest. We have so many people in our community thanking us for bringing another high quality art project to wax. Traditionally that sort of thing does better on ETH where the prices are much higher & people don't mind purchasing on their first exposure. With WAX, you really have to drive trust and build up your community first. We've tried to go that route and the results are starting to accumulate.
Would you like to do a drop or competition for the readers ?
RBangBang : I would like to do a drop where everyone has a chance to get one.
Of course .
RBangBang : Our sketch cards are going to be very rare - they will only be given as pack opening rewards for air dropped to 50% of the people that opened packs after the first week. One thing I've been doing for any giveaways for shows that we've been invited to is giveaway a sketch card with a special border only going to reward those following the host. So I'll put together a sketch card with a special border for this and anyone that wants to claim it in a certain time period can with a special link etc.
Perfect . Is there anything else you would like to say or add ?
RBangBang : Crypto Chibi is going to strive for some big things over the next 4 months & beyond. We'll get to breeding & storyline mechanics after our introduction phase & we'll be looking to add more utility cases as time goes on & we continue to get better at what we do. We'll take some huge swings. In doing so if we miss the mark, we'll hold ourselves accountable, rectify it with the community, & learn from the results to improve. By constantly striving to "create value; not content" we believe we can make one of the better projects on WAX and anyone that's a part of our community is huge to us regardless of how much time they have available to spend in the space. By keeping those things top of mind as we move forward, I can't wait to see where this will take everyone.
So we should expect big things by the end of the year so exciting thank you for chatting to me .
Here is a link to there current drops
https://neftyblocks.com/c/cryptoxchibi
Dont forget to drop your wax address in the comments
Love this project! Great work! b3ab4.wam