Interview with @alganori - who holds the pencil behind our mascots?

Y: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work, your style and chosen medium, anything regarding your art that you feel is important.

N: Hello! My name is Nori, I am from the province of Genoa, and I use he/they pronouns. I've been drawing since I was about 12 years old; it might seem a little late, but as a kid I wasn't overly obsessed with art - to be honest, I started drawing during a two-month hospital recovery, considering I didn't have much to do. Around the same time, I got to meet an old friend of mine from kindergarten who, at the time, was drawing a comic book, and shortly thereafter, another friend introduced me to the vast world of anime, recommending Fullmetal Alchemist - an anime that still holds a special place in my heart. Let's say that these two encounters shaped my passion for drawing! I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist, thus giving myself to the art of comics, however I changed my mind over time, shifting my focus to other goals.

As for my chosen medium, I started almost immediately with digital art thanks to the first drawing tablet I received, although I much prefer the traditional medium! If it were not excessively expensive, given the continuing expense of materials, I would simply use digital media to make sketches, continuing the work in traditional.

I have never asked myself any questions regarding my style, so I would not know exactly how to describe it. I don't think it's obligatory to have to classify it according to generally recognized categories, it's quite variable and I can adapt to the various types if needed! I have noticed, for example, that realism is extremely useful in the industry.

Y: What prompted you to enter the world of digital art? How did you start your artistic journey?

N: Honestly, I was helped a lot by the DeviantArt platform, I had signed up to show my “little drawings” to a potential audience, noticing that they were earning quite a bit of traction! I chose the name Alganori at the time, met a lot of other artists and realized that my original characters seemed to be quite popular. Having the opportunity to talk to other artists, I felt particularly stimulated to continue and improve, so as time went on, it became more and more serious. From there, I then opened my Facebook page, a social media outlet that gave me some extra fame and the opportunity to participate in conventions.

As for my artistic path, I have always been self-taught. I attended a highschool specialised in Graphic Design, and although we didn't have many opportunities to “create art,” the professors gave me several compliments when I could show off my creativity. A few years ago, after scraping together enough money, I enrolled in a Concept Art course, but it proved to be overly complex because of the pandemic. However, thanks to this course I was able to refine my technique and I began to understand more about the professional environment: like, for example, the fact that the lack of a personal style is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it is a sign of versatility that clients really like. Last year, I also tried my hand at a tattooing course.

Y: The Rights Chain mascots were designed by you. Where did the inspiration for these three figures come from? How did the artistic process unfold?

N: The birth of these three figures was quite curious. I remember hearing Sebastian and one of our colleagues talking about the project at the time, and thanks to my period of deep obsession with Japanese mascots and vocaloids, I was immediately inspired! Following in the vein of this genre, I decided to come up with some sort of gijinkas, humanizations of the company name, RightsChain. I created two and showed them to Sebastian, who decided to keep both! Let's just say that the project caught on very quickly, thus leading to the development of R and C as you know them today, and the subsequent birth of Iris, the third mascot currently still in the works. Who knows, maybe next time you see her she will even have a different name!

Y: As with any original character, there is usually a lot of lore behind the scenes. Would you tell us about the history and personalities of the three mascots?

N: I have to say that, currently, there is no excessive lore behind these three particular figures. They are androids that were created for a specific purpose, but have become humanized in the process: a kind of artificial intelligence that becomes sentient, even going so far as to develop a real personality. I recognize that for the current period, the idea is not the most reassuring, however, at the time, the state of the tech world was distinctly different. I mean, you could say that they were born as the company's face, and as we talked about them, of course, we began to develop their character, the unique relationships between them, and the opinions they have of each other - that's really what makes them human.

Both R and C have very strong personalities, they were born together, and had opportunities to build a very close relationship. The former is a hothead, a bit of a punk, rather tomboy-ish and always ready to get her hands dirty; the latter, on the other hand, is characterized by considerable maturity, is very responsible, and can be stern and incisive. R always seems to be on the warpath, while C tends to appear placid, perfectly capable of maintaining a professional facade, however, if she loses her temper, she becomes terrifying. Before we focused on their development, their behaviour was much more neutral, that sort of generally pleasant, though completely anonymous, personality.

The question of names was a struggle, I won't deny that. For me, tentatively, it was R and C, but everyone in the office had different ideas and proposed alternatives every time I came in. When, at some point, it became Rachel and Chloe, I forced myself to stop this process and keep just R and C, plain and simple. Not only as a matter of principle, also because of the extremely easy nature of the two letters: they are readable by everyone and there were no problems with pronunciation or memory - using the single letter seemed more effective to me. Iris is a name chosen by another person, we kept it that way for convenience but we are in the process of changing it!

Y: The third figure is always depicted with her face covered, and in contexts where she is rather unfortunate. What is the reason for this specification?

N: Iris was added only later, upsetting a bit the balance that R and C had so carefully created for themselves. She is a rather unique character, and I must admit that her creation was a source of no small difficulty, which I think is visible in her current state. Although the name is still in the works, her personality and her role as a mascot are quite clear: Iris is the personification of managing the events in which RightsChain participates, which is why her personality is quite resilient and positive. She doesn't let difficulties get her down, has great fortitude, and is not easily angered; in fact, she is overly helpful and has a somewhat goofy personality, affectionately. R and C see her as a bit of a third wheel, always choosing the "pictures" where her face is covered, reasoning that she is always semi-hidden in the illustrations, as perpetually unlucky. Iris is aware of their opinion about her, however, she sees it as an incentive to improve herself, to strive to be included - she regards the other two mascots as big sisters and desires their approval.

Y: The Rights Chain palette is quite limited, how did you implement the company's typical colors within the designs? In fact, the aesthetics follow a certain precise genre-what inspired the chosen outfits?

N: Implementing such a limited palette was extremely complex, I admit. I am not particularly good with colors, and having only shades of green available made the process quite difficult. For a while we pondered the idea of using purple as well, to represent a possible antagonist, but we eliminated it as unnecessary - problems already exist in real life, no need to personify them for entertainment purposes. At one point, to give some contrast, I thought of including orange, but I discarded that idea as well. Basically, I had to play with the shapes and make sure the colors didn't repeat: they all had to have different hair colors and different outfits, so they wouldn't blend in. For R I focused on a very futuristic, vocaloid-like design; her current design is the first one I did and it never changed. For a time there was a slight concern about his particularly “revealing” outfit, but with time I realized that any complaints about it were of no concern to me, and that the design was just right as we had approved it. C was originally supposed to be more tomboyish, but becoming the representative of the business section, we thought of dressing her in more suitable clothes, thus making her the feminine and elegant figure you see today. Iris, on the other hand, being in charge of events, I thought of dressing her in a “sailor” style, which is particularly in vogue in circles related to cosplay and Japanese fashion.

For the skin color I'm still in doubt, being androids. I tried to give them a greenish undertone, because as humanoid robots, in my mind, they could possess some sort of pseudo green blood. However, adding another shade of green made everything TOO green, so I discarded that idea as well.

Y: The three mascots are now subjects of several memes and short comics. What triggered the three figures being attached to this environment?

N: Having opened the facebook page a while before, I had been able to see what attracted people's attention: the appearance of an original character didn't interest anyone, however, their personality and story allowed people to get attached to them, thus gaining the users' sympathy. To leave an impact, it is necessary to make others laugh, as with memes - they leave a positive feeling, are easy to share and remember. Also, being able to not take yourself too seriously, practice a little self-irony and make fun of yourself shows affability on the part of companies, allowing customers to empathize and have a laugh; humor is very effective and feels like a breath of fresh air. The idea that professionalism must necessarily be serious does not sit well with me - there is a difference between professional and boring.

Y: Mascots have become, over the years, an extremely effective method of recognition, what do you think might be the reason?

N: The principle of mascots that I was inspired by is quite different from the idea that the rest of the world has, according to which they are used only as simple logos, relegating them to images to be placed on packaging and nothing more. By following the principle of personification, as in Japan, people are more easily attached and become more emotionally attached to the company, which is why they are so effective. Speaking directly to the artists, we couldn't help but create figures designed specifically for the project, characters that could entice them to draw - we hoped that through the appeal of these figures, we would be able to intrigue our target audience, providing them with a story and personalities to become attached to. Showing the great passion behind such a project also certainly allows for a certain level of trust and motivation from those who are willing to listen.

Over time I have learned that, just as when creating comic books, if a project lacks life it will never be able to capture attention, to captivate the audience-the same concept applies to mascot design.

Y: What advice would you give to someone struggling with devising such a project?

N: First, regardless of the project a question, it is crucial to take your time and not start everything right away (as I did in the beginning). Analyze what you want to communicate and to whom you want to communicate it, then identify the target audience and the method. Also, try your hand at producing moodboards, they are of fundamental importance, then arm yourself with patience and create multiple versions of the same design, because the first one is almost never good. Focus on the essentials, such as silhouette and shapes; a beautiful design is not about the details, but its recognizability. See which communicates best what you want to share and start thinking about how you want to use it; you need to be clear about its ultimate purpose-otherwise you will waste a lot of time and work harder than necessary!

Inotre, try to fuel the passion you have for the project and figure out how to convey it to others!

We thank Nori for participating in this interview and remind you that you can find all of his accounts online at this link! We thank you for your attention and remind you that the RightsChain team is at your disposal for any doubts, questions or needs pertinent to the world of Copyright.

Yako.