Originalplan® brings a curation set from all over the world with number-one artists that haven’t made a mark in the NFT space yet, all-time classics from the first mints. This crypto OG has the privilege of gathering his favorite artists — all of whom have influenced his own evolution of style and technique — and introducing them to the NFT space.
Let’s see what we’re working with
Click on an artist’s name to jump down the page to a short interview.
- Legendary French street art bandits the 123Klan
- Mexico City/Baja California-based Venezuelan artist and tattooer TOPO
- Madrid-based Venezuelan tattoo artist and visual artist Devoner
- Abstract mural legend Teddy Kelly
- Man of many hyphens, muralist/musician/designer/animator Daniel Barreto
- Mexican Bomber Jsie
- The master of beautifully twisted type compositions, Ben Johnston
- Globally acclaimed artist and muralist Charlie Edmiston
Originalplan® is a fine-art painter and multidisciplinary digital creator. An early pioneer of the NFT art space, Originalplan® introduced the world to digital designer toys, combining street art and collectible culture with cutting-edge digital creativity. Originalplan® is one of the earliest creators on MakersPlace and in the NFT space, carving the way for the other digital creatives to thrive in our blossoming NFT art ecosystem.
Interview with 123 Klan
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
123: Scien and Klor are a duo behind the graffiti crew founded in 1992 in France.
The name 123klan comes from the zip code of a small town in the north of France called BRAY-DUNES (59123), where Scien and Klor married in 1999.
At the time, Scien and Klor were the only graffiti artists in this small town. As a joke, they named their first crew 123KINGS. The kings of the city. This inside joke, in time, became 123K. As close friends joined and the crew grew, the crew decided that “clan” best described them — possibly inspired by their shared love of Wu-Tang Clan.
The French duo moved to Montreal, Canada, in 2007.
Tireless, effervescent, and an often ironic creative force, Scien and Klor have been doing their art for two decades in the hip-hop galaxy and well beyond.
Multidisciplinary, the 123KLAN style works across disciplines:
- Graffiti art: Production of canvas, walls, worldwide exhibitions.
- The creative studio: Studio graphics and branding.
- Streetwear: BANDIT1SM x 123KLAN.
Influenced by 90s graffiti art in Europe and New York, 123KLAN crafted a hybrid style that gained them swift recognition. They defined a new language that transcended all the graffiti “schools.” Their first works were enriched by huge, sharped-angled letters in acid colors and characters with futuristic manga features posing alongside experimental type.
A new chapter in Venice, California, opened up just a few months ago.
MP: As a street artist/muralist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
123: 123KLAN are the precursors of a style that mixes graffiti art and graphic design. This synthesis gives rise to a new aesthetic, as their motto says: when street knowledge meets technology and graffiti art melts with graphic design.
By shifting the boundaries of their two favorite disciplines, 123KLAN advanced graffiti aesthetics and brought new ideas to the field of graphic design.
Like vandals discovering an untouched city, 123KLAN invaded the web in 2001. Using Adobe Illustrator, they found their voice mixing graffiti art and graphic design. In the early days of the internet, websites were only corporate and quite boring. Scien and Klor seized the opportunity to create a creative website pushing the limits of Flash for the fun of sharing art on a new medium.
NFTs and the Metaverse have the same effect on us. Let’s keep our freshness and desire for adventure; let’s build today without being afraid of tomorrow.
The digital audience, the real one, the audience we dreamed of awakening at the beginning of the web, exists. Digital art has hijacked a corporate tool for a more noble purpose: artistic sharing. The privileges of the rich who gatekept the art world are over. The digital audience is in direct relation with the artist.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of street art/murals and digital art look like?
123: This is only the beginning, but I have confidence in the future, and we must give it time. We can already see that NFTs are the vehicle for higher and higher-quality art. Buyers aren’t fooled. They want to support real artists with authentic artistic backgrounds that will add perennial value to their investments.
Let’s not be afraid to talk about investment. It’s not taboo. Let’s not be hypocrites.
For the artist, the NFT system is patronage: a way to free oneself from the art market. For the patron, it is a return on investment knowing that they are contributing to an artist’s creative freedom.
123KLAN has always been anti-system. Just as the beginnings of the internet allowed them to reach their audience, we hope NFTs will offer total independence to the artists of the future.
Let’s make sure that this digital world remains accessible to all, and for that, we have to invest in it, take the place we all deserve, and not leave the field free to the rest.
MP: Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
123: We know that NFTs are sometimes a bit controversial. We heard this same kind of argument when we shared our creations on our website: “You will be copied. It’s dangerous…”
In the 30 years of our artistic career, this is the first time we’ve seen royalties paid to artists in case of speculation on our work. If only for that, I welcome this system.
Each artist has a style and crazy artistic capital, so why let them die?
Let’s continue to share them, to make them live. Anyway, there are already very bad copies of 123KLAN in the NFT world. So either we lose the rest of our lives in resentment and lawyers, or we take our rightful place and sweep them away in a creative way.
Always copied, never equaled ;p
We are locomotives, they are wagons. To stay in the same analogy, let’s use the French expression: “On a un train d’avance” (Be ahead of the Game).
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
123: Google 123KLAN, or check our 123KLAN Wikipedia!
That’s just French arrogance. Sorry, let’s be serious. We have a website where you can find all our works, portfolio, and more:
- Our book, RESPECT & LOVE
- Our secret gallery
- Our blog
- And some pictures of us!
For social media of all kinds, we use @123klan.
Interview with TOPO
T: Hello, my name is TOPO. I’m gonna be answering some questions. So you people can sell some NFTs to your digital audience. So we can start making some money. Buy some Lamborghinis. Or at least that’s what OP (Originalplan) told me that’s what we’re doing, so let’s fucking go. Or LFG.
GM. How you people say good morning. I’m not very good at this. So let me just try to get it started.
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
T: I sure can. Let’s give it a go right now. So my name is TOPO. Roughly translated, that means “the mole.” I go underground through tunnels and shit. I’m a tattoo artist first and foremost, thank god. I’m also a painter. I’m a photographer. I’m a cook. I like to think I’m a great lover. I have my moments.
I started in Venezuela. And I’ve traveled around the world, making art and making people happy, hopefully. Some people mad, sadly.
I always felt like I’m a creative. I’ve been a creative person and had the need to express myself creatively. So NFTs seem like the next step for me. So that takes us to our next question…
MP: As a tattoo artist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
T: Well, to be honest, I studied graphic design. I didn’t graduate, but I was quite good at it for a moment. And then. since I picked up tattooing, which is around 10 years ago, give or take, I would use computers less and less, and I’ve been very happy about it. And actually, I think that was one of the first points I made to OP when he invited me to make NFTs and be a part of this. I was like, “Bro, I get laptop anxiety every time I have to use one of those things.”
I’m really happy just making my art on an iPad Pro for my clients. And I have created quite an archive of digital artwork in that sense. I always felt like that should be put to work at some point. And so I am hoping that this might be a way for me to be able to offer my work to a new audience that might not necessarily want to get a tattoo but could appreciate my artwork in a new medium. And at the same time, I would love to use it as a platform to be able to bring forward the tattoo work that I’ve been doing.
And to be fair, my first experience and my whole introduction to it, I must say, OP has made it such a fucking breeze and pleasure. He has been so patient with me. It takes me forever to answer an email or an interview, or to send a file, or to even like, do whatever.
Honestly, he had to almost come and tie me down to a chair and make me open an account on MakersPlace. So my hat’s off to that fucker because he’s really passionate about what he’s doing. And he really is willing to go the extra mile for the artists who are kind of dumb about it. So thank you, brother. Love you for that. And I hope that makes it into the interview.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of tattoo art and digital art look like?
T: Let’s time travel ten years into the future. Well, fuck, there are machines that are tattooing already. Like actual robot CNC-type shit, laser-cutter-type shit. People are putting their arms into it and having a robot do the work of a tattoo artist, and engrave their skin with ink, and needles. I think maybe branding too, I don’t know about that too much.
My mentor Lyle Tuttle, my good friend, was an 87-year-old tattoo artist with 70 years of experience. And he was one of the first people who put his arm into one of those machines in the Bay Area in San Francisco many years ago.
So they did some letters on him, which faded because the machine was not proficient enough. I don’t doubt that with time, machines are gonna get us and they’re gonna be able to do the job. But for the time being, I’m not tripping, or afraid. Fuck you, machines, you can’t take that job from me, bro.
But on the other hand, I think there’s a lot to say about technology making tattoos more accessible to people. Like, I use that dual machine now that you can calibrate and fine-tune using Bluetooth and your iPhone. And that’s opening up the world for a lot of people who just were not — some of them aren’t smart enough, some of them aren’t patient enough to figure out how a tattoo gun works. How to do machine work — you shouldn’t call it a gun, actually. But there are people who don’t know how an actual traditional coil-based or rotary-based tattooing machine works. And now, there’s all this help coming in from technology into tattooing.
So, fuck, ten years in the future, I hope that people around the globe are buying NFT tattoo designs from me, and they’re showing up at my actual physical studio and getting that image tattoed and getting that work from both worlds, from the digital image that they’re buying, that might be based from an actual drawing and that can be turned into a real tattoo on their skin, and it creates all this place and space for interaction and collaboration and movement.
I think it can be very interesting. In spite of the fear of being left out or technology taking over and shit. Because like I said, Fuck a computer, man. I really love drawing with a pen and paper, or even just a tablet and a digital pen, but just drawing.
I don’t know, it’s scary. But at the same time, it’s kind of exciting to be at the forefront of this movement and working with people like y’all. So I’m stoked and thankful. And I feel blessed and humbled. And, again, I can’t thank OP enough for making me a part of this shit. Now let’s go to the past again, because we’re ten years in the future. Let’s go back.
MP: Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
T: Well, I don’t know what a fray is. But I guess it’s the same as the bandwagon or something. Anybody want to step on the bandwagon and have fun? I don’t know. Honestly, I would say if you don’t know OP, you’re fucked because that shit is complicated.
On the other hand, I would say fuck, I mean, if you have something to offer, and you’re smart enough, I’m sure you can make a buck. And I’m sure you can offer something. I don’t know about just anyone stepping in there and putting all their dump online and expecting to make a dime out of it. Wasting everybody’s bandwidth and fucking time.
Curation is very good. I appreciate what you guys are doing by stepping in and, you know, creating something a little bit more thought-through and curated, you know, for lack of better words.
If you have something you can offer, and you can make an interesting, why not? It’s the brave new world and we should all kind of get our heads together and try to, you know, create something for the non-creatives out there so they can enjoy it (chuckles).
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
T: Okay, so Instagram, sadly, but truly. My Instagram is @topofoto. You can find me there. There is a Tumblr-based website called Hello Topo.
But honestly, I keep it very low-key online.
I’ve had a few blogs write about me. Complex Magazine once named me one of the 15 new street artists to follow in 2013 or something. And then lately, I’ve been getting some publications talking about my tattoo work in Mexico City, which keeps on bringing me back to Mexico City. If you’re around Mexico City hit me up. I have a tattoo studio here and I’m more than willing to tattoo your asses.
I also have a tattoo studio in Ensenada, Baja, California. That place is awesome. So if you’re ever in L.A. or the San Diego area, you’re not too far from us. You can take a little road trip down the coast. Come have fun.
They invented the margarita there, so we’ll go for margaritas, and then we’ll give you a nice tattoo.
Interview with Devoner
The video preview has been compressed for better load time.
The following interview has been translated from Spanish. The original Spanish responses were left for Spanish speakers to enjoy.
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
Devoner Gonzalez Caracas was born in Venezuela in 1984, and he has been based in Madrid and Malaga, Spain since 2012. Devoner is a multidisciplinary artist known worldwide for his work as a tattoo artist. He has worked in cities like Berlin, London, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona, among other cities in Europe and the world. He is known for his psychedelic style that deals with pop and surreal themes in works exhibited in various formats, such as street art, 3D art, painting, and illustration.
MP: As a tattoo artist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
Como artista del tatuaje y artista en general siempre estoy enfocado en producir imágenes interesantes,sofisticadas y psicodélicas en cuanto a mi proceso puede variar mucho dependiendo de la
Idea que tenga en la cabeza, muchas veces desarrollo todo freehand en el iPad o a veces directo en la piel, para otras ideas suelo hacer los bocetos en zbrush y luego paso al iPad donde hago un “render manual” otras veces simplemente dibujo directo en procreate.
As a tattoo artist and artist in general, I am always focused on producing interesting, sophisticated, and psychedelic images. My process can vary a lot depending on the idea I have in my head. Many times, I develop everything freehand on the iPad or sometimes directly on the skin. For other ideas, I usually make the sketches in ZBrush and then go to the iPad, where I do a “manual render.” Other times, I just draw directly in Procreate.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of tattoo art and digital art look like?
Creo que dentro de 10 años el arte digital va evolucionar mucho sobre todo gracias a la ayuda de herramientas dInteligencia artificial y realidad aumentada, el futuro del arte se vemuy interesante, ahora mismo están sucediendo muchas cosas,, espero que los nft evolucionen a algo más enfocado al arte que a los coleccionables y piezas de especulación financiera, creo que esto último es lo que le ha restado más al arte digital de verdad y su valor como piezas únicas digitales.
I think that in 10 years, digital art will evolve a lot, especially thanks to the help of artificial intelligence and augmented reality tools. The future of art looks very interesting. Many things are happening right now, I hope that NFTs evolve into something more focused on art than collectibles and pieces of financial speculation. The latter has detracted more from true digital art and its value as unique digital pieces.
MP: Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
Hagan cosas visualmente interesantes no hagan la misma mierda repetitiva y horrible que está plagando el mercado del “arte digital” en makersplace se pueden ver más obras de arte reales que en otras plataformas nft , así que les aconsejo pasearse un rato por plataformas de arte más que de nfts como tal,
Sigan artistas en sus redes sociales porque les gustan y no por el número que representan ”los reales reconocemos a los reales “
Make visually interesting artwork. Don’t create the same repetitive, horrible crap that plagues the “digital art” market. On MakersPlace, you can see much more sophisticated “true” art than on other NFT platforms, so I advise you to wander around art platforms — such as Makersplace — that have curated art rather than NFT platforms. Follow artists on your social networks because you like them and not because of the number of followers they have. “The real ones recognize the real ones.”
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
Suelo publicar todo en mi Instagram y a través de ig pueden conectar con el resto de mis plataformas.
I usually post everything on my Instagram account, and through IG, they can connect with me on the other platforms I also use.
Interview with Teddy Kelly
Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
Hi, my name is Edward Kelly, most known as Teddy Kelly. I started my career in the surf and skate industry in California. I’ve been designing and painting and drawing since a very young age. Eventually, I started to work in the industry as a designer for T-shirts and skateboards and all that stuff, which was my first influence growing up and admiring and being part of the subculture of skateboarding and surfing.
From there, I started painting on walls. My designs got onto bigger walls and bigger walls. I polished my style and direction with an eye on the Bauhaus movement.
I love the Bauhaus movement. I spent so much time researching and studying it, processing everything I absorbed until I had created my own direction. So what you see now in my art, it’s what I developed through those years, and it’s still progressing and still evolving.
As a street artist/muralist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
The process of creating my art is very simple. I’m very influenced by my surroundings. I try to keep it as basic and as clean as I can because I really love clean compositions that make sense. Though it’s clean and flat, it’s very two-dimensional, with a lot of movement. They’re very organized and very colorful. As I progress, I’d like to become even simpler but still be well-balanced.
For the digital, this transition is natural because I have always traced and done my stuff digitally, and then put my stuff onto the walls. I sometimes project. Sometimes it has to be freehand. But the whole transition into the NFT digital world was a natural thing.
I’m always up to date with technology. I love that, even though NFTs are a technology that isn’t just art, they were introduced to the world through art. Regardless, I was going in that direction because I really love what NFTs mean for the future.
Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of street art/murals and digital art look like?
Traveling ten years from now, I think my art is gonna keep evolving. Walls will be the same. Maybe some applications of the art for certain walls or certain technologies — as far as physical technologies, paints, spray paints, or whatever we use — might be better. Or not. I don’t know.
As far as the digital, with regard to NFTs, I think people will choose their artists more carefully. More than just buying NFTs to flip them. People will be more connected to whatever they choose to buy.
It will only benefit us, the artists, and the world in general. I’m excited to see it, though I’m not sure exactly how it’s gonna end up. It’s a very fast-paced, changing industry and technology. So I’m excited to be part of it. And to keep adding and bringing something to the table with my art.
Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
This is not my first NFT. I actually own a project — I have four partners, and we have an office in Dubai. We are not only developing NFTs, but we have a platform that creates NFTs.
We’re in the beta phase right now. We’re just fixing some bugs. We’ve been creating this for the last seven or eight months. We had a very successful launch and drop for our first project. It’s called The Earliest Society. With that, I’ve been learning a lot about everything that involves the technology of the NFT.
It’s very interesting to go to conferences and see that a lot of us are on the same page. Sometimes you think you’re falling behind, and then you see all these people representing certain brands or directions or sectors of the industry and in a very similar state.
If people want to jump in and contribute to the industry and the technology, I 100% recommend they do it. If they want to do it to make themselves rich, it’s not that easy. I recommend everybody to jump in to get their feet wet, so they understand where we’re going with NFTs. It’s not just creating something and putting it out there. You have to create community.
It’s important to understand the value of creating and being involved in a community. It’s especially important to MAINTAIN community because a lot of people can show up to your Discord, but that’s not an automatic community.
You’ll learn so much from the feedback you get from your community. You’re going to see so many different sectors of society and the NFT community in general. The people who come in will also teach you so many things and will make you understand. It’ll help make those big decisions. You’ll get new ideas about how to improve your NFT or your roadmap, or your project in general. It’s a very good place to be if you really are passionate about it and you really want to create a difference in the space.
If that’s something that is going to improve you as a person, I recommend it.
Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
My Instagram, for now, is my main place to be. I upload a lot of Stories. A lot of my posts are from the main projects. You can send me questions and reach out to me. I keep it very organic.
Interview with Daniel Barreto
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
DB: My name is Daniel Barreto. I’m a visual artist born in Guadalajara, MX, and currently based in Mexico City. I like to think my career started as a child with my grandfather pushing me to understand watercolor and realistic drawing, then later I picked up a Nikon camera and spent some of my time photographing birds in Guadalajara.
In a more professional way, I started to go to art classes for anatomical drawing and painting at the Instituto Cabañas in Guadalajara. Around 2010 I spent a semester at a university of “digital art” in Guadalajara, but I dropped out and applied to Massart in Boston. I finished my studies at TUFTs School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Since there was no obligation to select which area I was interested in, I went from illustration to animation and some installation.
MP: As an illustrator/animator, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
DB: The jump was quite intuitive and relatively faster than hand-drawn stuff. Since I was in high school, I was already using psd a lot to make funny stuff and then eventually those skills paid off when I started to transfer my drawings to psd.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of Animation and digital art look like?
DB: I think we are going to see more VR or augmented reality pieces of animation. Holographic frames of art in houses and all kinds of different exciting stuff.
MP: Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
DB: Don’t be afraid of it, just do it. Educate yourself to be secure. This will definitely be marked on the art timeline.
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
DB: For my most wpi or finished works follow me on Instagram @danielbarretoes and my website for bio and cv: www.dbarreto.com
Interview with Jsie
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
J: I write on other people’s property for fun. I started doing it as a hobby, but with the years, it become more serious and more of a lifestyle. Only a year ago, I began to see myself as some kind of artist because everywhere I go, people used to call me like that. In my mind and heart, I’m still a vandal.
I started in 2012 with the tag “Jsie,” but I’ve been tagging since 2008 under different names.
MP: As a street artist/muralist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
As someone who is in love with the streets, what I enjoy the most is the moment and the public transgression. So I’m not convinced. But I think that new forms of art are always welcomed.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of street art/murals and digital art look like?
J: I hope that the murals, tags, and throws don’t disappear. I’d like to be able to still go hard on the streets. And, of course, the digital world needs to have some Street too.
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
Almost everything I do is on Instagram now, so you can check my graffiti there. Or catch me in the streets too.
Interview with Ben Johnston
MP: Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
BJ: I’m Ben Johnston, an artist who specializes in typographic murals and design from South Africa, and now based in Canada. I’ve been working in the industry for the last 15 years and currently travel the world bringing projects to life.
MP: As a street artist/muralist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
BJ: Whether something is painted, sculptural, or digital, the process is always the same: focusing on the approach and experience of the person taking in the piece.
MP: Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of street art/murals and digital art look like?
BJ: The space is moving incredibly fast. In ten years digital art will continue to push the viewer’s experience beyond our current understanding of what is possible. The space between physical and digital will be far more blurred in the future and the transition will be more seamless between the two.
MP: Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
BJ: There is room for everyone to succeed. More than anything, as an artist, it is crucial to explore new avenues and push yourself into unknown spaces to see what you are capable of.
MP: Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
Head to www.benjohnston.ca or on Instagram @ben_johnston
Interview with Charlie Edmiston
Can you introduce yourself and give our readers a sense of your artwork and career?
My name is Charlie Edmiston. I am a visual artist based in Los Angeles, where I’ve spent the last 12 years making abstract paintings and sculptures. While the physical process of my work has continuously evolved, the goal has always remained the same: explore the relationship between color, form, and material until I feel there is nothing left to explore.
As for my career, I feel like it’s just getting started, but I’ve been fortunate enough to work on mural projects and exhibitions all over the world. I have a few exciting things on the horizon as well.
As a street artist/muralist, what was your mindset and process in creating work for a digital audience?
The process of designing a mural or a piece that will live in the metaverse is actually quite similar. However, I’ve gone back and forth on trying to understand what the “digital audience” wants or is expecting from a fine artist. I’ve done a few NFT projects in the past where I changed my work to fit the mold of what I thought collectors wanted. However, after learning a lot in the past year I have reevaluated the role of NFTs as they pertain to my art practice. For this release, I’m using the technology as a certification of authenticity for my physical work, and I think there is a big future in that.
Let’s time travel ten years in the future — what does the intersection of street art/murals and digital art look like?
To be honest, I have no clue. I can only hope they coexist and traditional mural painting doesn’t disappear! I’ve seen a ton of experimental projection mapping and augmented reality stuff connected to NFTs, which is really cool, but I’m not sure how mainstream that will become. I also like the idea of ownership of a mural and having the artwork recreated in the metaverse.
Having now created your first NFT, what would you tell other artists considering jumping into the fray?
The biggest takeaway for me was to stay true to my own artwork instead of trying to recreate something that seemed like an “NFT.” I’m all about exploring new mediums, and the digital world has plenty to explore; just don’t feel the need to drastically change your work to fit a certain format. Instead, perhaps find a way to use the technology to support what you’re already doing.
Where can our readers learn more about you and your work?
My website and Instagram are probably the two best places:
