We interviewed Mark, the talented artist behind Martian Drip. Martian Drip is a fashion-based NFT collection with a supply of 2000, launching on the IC blockchain. The collection consists of very unique, high-quality 3D alien pfp type art pieces with a captivating storyline: aliens landed on earth from Mars with the intent of invading but instead fell in love with human fashion and made it their own.
1. Please tell us about you, your name, position in the project, your credentials, etc., so that we can introduce you.
My name is Mark Garwe, a 3D Artist/Animator from South Africa. I am the lead artist/creator of the Martian Drip NFT Fashion Collection. I hold an Honors Degree in Informatics from the National University of Science and Technology, where I majored in Data Visualization. This, accompanied by the passion of graphic designing I harnessed for the past 5 years (see my lifetime portfolio) were the perfect recipe to the skills I developed for my artistic style.
2. What other projects have you worked on?
- Apollo Drip NFT on Curate Mobile NFT Marketplace.
A collection of Stylized Greek? Roman statues with a modern touch.
Version 2 of Apollo Drip sold out.
A collection of miniature monuments and landmarks on the blockchain.
Sold Out.
3. How would you describe your artistic style?
In my art, I strive to perfectly balance technicality and creativity. My art is highly detailed yet straightforward and pleasing to the eye. The NFT space is flooded with the typical 2D pfp Bored-Ape-Style type of art, and I felt like that aesthetic is now oversaturated. I developed a new workflow I had never used before to bring some of the most unique pieces in the NFT art genre: 3D characters with elements, of high detailed Texturing, sculpting and amateur rigging.
4. What drew you to NFT creation rather than traditional canvas-based art?
Like how we came from using telephones to using smartphones with internet communication capabilities, I also believe in medium adaptation as an artist. There is more exposure to digital art than to traditional art as it is more dynamic and, in its raw form, can reach more audiences. Evolution as an artist is advised to adapt to the ever-changing demand of the consumer. Being stagnant as an artist usually hinders creativity.
Blockchain technology has also paved the way to use cases behind the art that was imaginable in Web 2. the fact that you can create art that holds cumulative value through interactive utilities inspired me to join the space.
5. Are there any artists who have inspired you? What do you like about their work?
EdigoVal.
A Spanish artist behind ICBucks. An artist whose work has been appreciated by world-renowned artists.
Here is one of his renditions of one of my pieces of the Martian Drip:
Emerging from the chaos, this Matian Drip piece tells a story of the struggle of breakthrough and has a complexity to it that is inspirational.
Sv (Jeremiah)
Creator of the upcoming collection on ICP called Kawaii VHS. His art style is one of my favorites as it has multiple layers embedded in one piece. Featuring the 90’s retro aesthetic and analog-type of feel to his art, It is one of the most captivating creations that will stick to your head for a while.
Check out his rendition of a Martian Drip piece in our upcoming collaboration.
6. What made you create NFTs?
The platform gives creativity is greater than that of traditional art in the sense that here you can attach utilities to the art and also gives room to a morphing effect of the art from one from to the other, like from being a collection to a P2E game (Play to Earn). If a project is successful enough, tokenization might be its primary form.
7. Can you tell us about your project?
Martian Drip is a fashion-based NFT collection with a 2000 supply, launching on the ICP blockchain. The collection consists of very unique, high-quality 3D alien pfp type art pieces with a captivating storyline: aliens landed on earth from Mars with the intent of invading but instead fell in love with human fashion and made it their own.
Apart from the privilege of getting early access to Version 2 and having in-depth rights to the decision-making of the third Version of Martian Drip, all holders will receive merchandise corresponding to their NFT piece.
8. How many NFTs will be minted? Can you talk us through the process of how you create the art?
The collection has a total supply of 2000. for the third phase of our roadmap, I the lead creator, will host live events as I run down how I came to creating the Martian Drip collection as well as tutorials on demand.
9. Will people be able to breed, stake, rent your NFT, or will it ever be in a game or be a DAO?
After the launch of the Martian Drip V2 collection featuring female versions of the Martian Drip series, the OG Martians will vote on significant implementations of the project. Our main goal is to set up an ICP merch store where all ICP projects are featured for physical items such as clothing.
Given that we partner with good game devs who are well vested in blockchain technology, a P2E might be in the pipeline.
10. What benefits do you think the Internet Computer has over other L1 blockchains when it comes to creating NFTs?
Gasless minting is a game-changer as it is friendlier to the environment due to a drastically smaller carbon footprint during its transactional processes.
Navigating through the ICP ecosystem is made so easy through the internet identity. Due to my experience across blockchains, I can testify that the way ICP Dapps are so fluid is groundbreaking, to say the least. There is no hassle to connect multiple wallets to interact with icp projects and the ICP architecture is well built for both Computer and mobile browsers.
The IC is five years ahead of other blockchains.
11. What other art have you seen that excites you in the Internet Computer NFT ecosystem?
DKLORD’s OG Medals and ICBucks. His partnership with the artist Edigoval gave the ecosystem well-rounded NFT projects that are community-driven and hold value like no other project.
12. What excites you most about your launch and which date is your launch?
It's a first of its kind. The launch has two phases. Phase 1: minting the Martian Drip NFT. Phase 2 is “minting” your NFT merchandise on our website (martiandrip.club).
After minting a Martian Drip NFT, the holder will go to our website to fill a form specifying the t-shirt/hoody size, t-shirt/hoody color they prefer, and their shipment address.
Depending on their location, the merchandise will be delivered to them within 3-14 days.
13. What advice would you give to anyone trying to enter the world of NFTs?
Believe in yourself. Take that leap of faith, and everything will align.
NFT creation is a full-time job; treat it as such to be successful.
Build a strong community before launch. It takes a whole colony to build an ant mound.
Be unique in a market full of copypasta. It will be worth it in the long run.
14. Do you have further plans to work with ICP Squad in the future after this initial sale?
The ICP Squad is a team of very professional personnel that will propel a project to its full potential. It consists of enthusiastic individuals that we, as Martian Drip, will be happy to work with for our future endeavors.
15. Can you envisage a future where the most valuable NFT space is on the Internet Computer?
ICP already is the most valuable NFT space in terms of its architecture, Dapps, and protocols; as mentioned before, it is like no other blockchain. It's just a matter of time before the value will reflect in the monetary aspect.
16. Why do you think NFTs have become so valuable in such a short space of time?
The fact that investors have 100% control of their finances without third-party entities like banks or governments is a gamechanger, especially in sanctioned countries or disaster-stricken places like Ukraine, where there is a raging war, and centralized banks are inaccessible.
17. Tell us about your team?
BikeTaco and MrLee (Discord)
- Heads of tokenomics and merchandise distribution
- Discord and Martian Drip Discover mods
- Financial investors and advisors
18. What advantages do you believe you have over other competitors?
Our project is well-rounded and not half-baked. This month (may) marks the fourth month working on this collection and proper procedures were established design-wise and utility implementation-wise.
Too my surprise, many IC fans loved the concept, some say the design and utility was a breath of fresh air as it is so unique. Due to this, we already have a community of thousands that can't wait for the project launch.
19. Do you have any partners? Please tell us about them
We have partnered with OGMedals, ICBucks, and Kawaii VHS. These, as stated prior, are one of the most significant projects in the ICP NFT space, and Kawaii VHS has a unique feel to it like Martian Drip, and our vision aligns.
20. Tell us about the challenges you have faced while building your project?
I stretched my capabilities with the new workflow I used to make the NFT pieces. The first challenge was to sculpt the base model of the Martian itself. I had never made such a unique character before, hence i had to learn a new 3D software apart from the one I was used to.
The next challenge was to create unique clothing specific to the alien’s strange body proportions. Again I had to learn another 3D software developed for garment creation.
I hit another hurdle when I attempted to generate thousands of individually unique pieces of the collection, which I successfully did after struggling with scripting and code.
21. What are your short and long-term achievements and targets?
We managed to set up a unique website, and our community platform is thriving. Our long term goals is to see most ICP pfps with a Martian Drip on it as well as everyone wearing the free Martian Drip merchandise. We intend to have a long-term impact on the ICP blockchain, and churning out spectacular content and implementations to fulfill phase 3 of our roadmap is vital.
22. Why did you decide to include the aspect of fashion in your collection?
I wanted to stretch my ability to create unique garments for the aliens—this and also solidifying a brand that is Martian Drip for our merch utility.
23. Give us some details about your roadmap?
1. Website
- deployed 30th March 2022
- this is where the holders will fill out a form to claim their merchandise after mint
- Includes project updates, giveaways, and merch
- notifications for giveaways and developments
- the team uploads images from fanart by the community biweekly
2. Project Utility
- Martian Drip is a centralized fashion Project, and hence the utility will mainly be free merchandise for the holders for phase 1
- Martian Drip holders will earn free Merch relating to their
specific Martian. (phase 1: Martian Drip T's. phase 2: Hoodies)
- Upon minting the Martian Drip, holders will fill a claiming form for their merchandise. They will fill in their shirt size, preferred color, physical address, and proof of mint. The thru will receive merch within 3-14 days
- Martian Drip holders and their NFTs will be featured in weekly
virtual gallery museum videos.
3. Martian Drip V2
- These will be the female counterparts of the Martian drip squad
- holders of the Martian Drip v1 will have an automatic WL to Martian Drip v2
- phase two of the merch will deploy
4. Martian Drip: for the community
- The Martian Drip Community gets to decide what major implementation we need to do to the project.
24. Do you have any plans to expand into the Metaverse?
Our main trajectory is progressing backwards by bringing collectors back to their roots of having physical collector's items like back in the day. Having a tangible aspect of your NFT is key for longevity and relevance in the blockchain. Expanding into the Metaverse will be implemented in the final phase of our roadmap.
25. Will your NFT be tokenized in the future?
We always have room for new adaptations for our collection, and if the project gains enough demand, we will adopt tokenization.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions 😊
Disclaimer
Sponsored Content : Dfinity Community does not necessarily endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim to provide you with information regarding important projects and developments in the Internet Computer ecosystem, readers should do their own research and carry full responsibility for their decisions, and this article should not be considered as investment advice. Please note that every effort is made by DC to vet projects we promote
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