An Interview with manpan, Creator of Cyberpuppies
Who doesn’t love puppies? This Swedish artist discusses the inspiration behind his Cyberpuppies collection, what happens when a puppy crosses a zombie, and where we might see these furry friends next!
MAY 21, 2021. INTERVIEWS. WRITTEN BY HYDRO.
If there’s one thing that will forever have mass appeal in the NFT space, it’s cute animals. WAX is lucky enough to be home to a wide variety of virtual friends, from ducks to alpacas, and of course, puppies! One group of digital dogs is leading the canine charge – the Cyberpuppies.
Their creator, manpan, has gone far beyond just creating beautiful NFTs. These puppies have an endearing quality, stemming from their emotive interactions with eachother, and the many adventures that they go on. We’ve loved watching these playful pups develop, and it was a pleasure to chat with their creator!
Stick around to the end of the interview for our interview card and a new Cyberpuppy that you might recognise…
Hydro: Well hello! Could you tell me a bit about yourself, your background and how you got into NFTs?
manpan: My name is manpan and I’m a 35 year old guy, living in Stockholm, Sweden. I work in finance by day, which is pretty different from what I do with almost all my free time nowadays. I have no professional background in anything art or design related, but I’ve been trying to self-learn the popular programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects, ever since I’ve was a teenager. It almost feels like being a jack of all trades and master of none lead to this moment – creating NFTs!
I got into NFTs by having a group of friends who were discussing what to buy and what to sell on a daily basis. CryptomonKeys was the first collection I remember them talking about, and I couldn’t grasp why someone would want to buy an NFT or what it was to begin with. Hearing their successes and downfalls with the trading aspect warmed me up, and one day I joined in and asked; “What are NFTs and how do I start?”. Since then, each week has felt like a month has passed.
NFTs are such a fast-moving industry – I completely understand that feeling! How did you come up with the idea for Cyberpuppies?
I knew quite fast that this was right up my alley. I remember learning about the whole process of making NFTs by watching the tutorial videos and tried to come up with an idea that I would want to continue to work with for a long time. I gravitated toward cute animals and since Franky the French Bulldog is a real dog in my life, it didn’t take that long to decide. I’ve seen a lot of auto-generated projects that switch assets and accessories, but wanted to go another route where I name my puppies and re-use them for different purposes. The puppies are the main focus, and I’ll try to use them in different art style and ideas along the way.
We’ve currently met five furry friends; Franky, Noodle, Maika, Rex and Albert. Do you have more puppies ready to join the family? What adventures do you think they’ll go on next?
Series 1 wrapped up with Albert a few hours ago. I have a few themes and ideas ready for Series 2, but I usually work closely on one at a time. The weekdays are used to prepare for the weekend drop. Moving forwards, my plan is to use a mix between solo, duo or team-based adventures, giving the new puppies some extra time in the spotlight.
Sounds like you’ve got some exciting plans in the works! Is there any information you can tell us about Series 2?
Between the main drops and the Tri-Paws token, I’ve been trying to finalize the details for the first Cyberpuppies pack. That will happen between Series 1 and 2. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m really looking forward to showing everyone the final product.
Series 2 will likely feature at least 5 new dogs, but it’s too early for me to give any details.
Looking forward to meeting them all! You recently collaborated with @SpinningIcons – do you think Franky and the rest of the Cyberpuppies will meet characters from other collections in future?
Yes! Franky has been and will continue to be a part of Square Rooted. I’m really happy about that collaboration being the one to sell out first. He was also featured as a special zombie within the Tales of the Crypto collection.
There are a few other collaborations that are still to be made, so you’ll see the Cyberpuppies making a few cameos soon.
Apart from the CryptomonKeys connection, is there any particular reason that you chose WAX for your NFTs?
I’ve been a huge Nano/Banano supporter for many years, and what makes those currencies stand out to me is that they are fee-less and instant. Since we’re trading so many NFTs on a daily basis, I wouldn’t be able to give out free NFTs without having to pay a hefty fee for minting them. WAX might not be 100% fee-less, but it feels like it is in comparison to anything else on the market. It’s also very intuitive to be able to use the same wallet on whichever WAX-related website you want to use your funds for. Not having to sign up for each website individually is a big plus for newcomers and veterans alike.
It’s intriguing just how many artists have listed CryptomonKeys and Banano as their gateway to WAX – perhaps Franky will meet a monkey one day!
Both Bantano and SoggyApplePie from CryptomonKeys have been a huge inspiration for me. I cannot stress that enough. They paved the way and have been so nice since the beginning.
CryptomonKeys are certainly one of your favourites – are there any other artists or collections that you particularly admire?
The Derpy Cats also inspired me to go the animal route. I liked that you could see that it was a derpy cat right away, and it spawned the choice to always use the same type of eyes + nose + mouth combo for all the puppies.
Ahh, I see! Where do you see Cyberpuppies going from here?
Thanks to all my supporters, I’ve managed to get this far in just over one month. Moving forward, I realize that the possibilities are almost endless – I’ll have to work hard to make good use of them!
I can’t wait to see what comes up next for you! Your NFTs have grown a wonderful following in a short space of time – I’m a big fan myself! How would describe your time in the WAX NFT space so far?
These last couple of weeks have been a wonderful journey and the support from creators, influencers and the community has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve made so many new friends and quite a few fans who have reached out with best wishes and anecdotal stories about their experience with the Cyberpuppies and the NFT space. The WAX NFT space is in its early stages and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
Speaking of which, what do you think the next 12 months will bring for WAX?
The user base grows exponentially with every big official WAX.io release, and since there are so many collections keeping the NFT space exciting in between big releases, who knows how big it will be in a year. I can’t wait for the Funko launch in June, and also what Topps decides to do in the future. These companies will be a big part of making NFTs more mainstream, and we’ll all be able to witness it first-hand.
Quick-fire question time!
Tea, coffee, or something else?
Coffee for me and water for Franky.
Summer or winter? Why?
I’m one of those guys who like winter more than summer. It’s just so much cozier and I hate sweating so much during the summers.
Long-term; crypto or fiat as the predominant currency?
If a fee-less and instant cryptocurrency would end up as the world dominant way of doing things, crypto all day.
One unusual fact about you?
I’m a father of four children that are under the age of 5 – no twins. That must be unusual!
You can invite three people, dead or alive, to dinner. Who do you choose?
Probably my 3 kids that aren’t infants. They are easier to feed!
How can we follow Franky and the rest of the Cyberpuppies?
It’s evident that manpan puts an incredible amount of effort into the Cyberpuppies, from the design, to the lore, to his careful choice of collaborative partners, and it pays off in a big way. We’ve met five wonderful furry friends so far, and I can’t wait to see what mischief they’ll get up to, and who we’ll meet next!
To mark this interview, we have two NFTs up for grabs – one Interview Card, and one pink-haired puppy!
The Goodest Boy
Collection: nftinsiderio
Max mint: 300 (1 auction, 239 public, 30 for promo holders, 30 for OG Backers)
Drop price: 25 WAX
Dropping 22/05 22:00 UTC (public), 22:05 UTC (OG), 22:10 UTC (promo)
Drop link: https://neftyblocks.com/c/nftinsiderio/drops/1169+1170+1171
50% of the proceeds will be donated to manpan to help fund his art!
Timmy Pup
Collection: cyberpuppies
Max mint: 300 (1 reserved, 239 public, 30 for promo holders, 30 for OG Backers)
Drop price: 25 WAX
Dropping 22/05 22:30 UTC (public), 22:35 UTC (OG), 22:40 UTC (promo)