Above JoonOng: Cat Republic NFT Collection (Copyright © JoonOng, 2021)

NFT cats come to life with Joon Ong’s Cat Republic collection.

Friend of felines and digital designer Joon Ong may be a new face to the NFT art scene, but her first series “Cat Republic” is already showing the makings of a successful NFT collection. With a clean look and solid aesthetics that come from years of experience working in design, the animated cats are a cut above their competition. The entire collection is sold-out quickly on OpenSea.

We speak with Joon Ong on the story behind her new work and what she has in store for these computer-rendered kitties.

New! Joon Ong’s Niftyzone-exclusive NFTs Cat Republic Seasons is now available for purchase in the Niftyzone Shop!

Joon, tell us a bit about yourself and how you would describe your work.

I’m a digital designer currently in the throes of a deeper journey with motion graphics. That’s part of the reason Cat Republic was born — I wanted to do something that could improve skills in Adobe After Effects. As for what my work is about: being light-hearted in my practice is important.  Cat Republic is a collection with cats of all shapes and sizes, because all cats are unique! I just hope that that thought and seeing every different cat makes people grin a little.

Tell us about something you love and why.

Cats of course! I also like the usual things — gaming, drawing, etc. But recently, the thing I love the most is having a long, restful sleep. Having a busy work life makes me appreciate that so much more.

Has it been difficult getting into NFTs? What are some of the challenges you’ve faced so far?

I just got to know about NFTs last month so I’m still getting the hang of them. I’d tried selling some other work then but hadn’t grasped how to market them at the time. I didn’t put too much thought into the art either so the results weren’t good; things are changing slowly.

The challenge now is optimising the marketing, research and artwork all at once.

What inspired you to start Cat Republic? What’s special about it compared to other NFT series?

I’m a cat person so I decided it made sense to work with cats! I’ve researched other cat NFT artworks before and I’d say a key difference is that other collections don’t fully use After Effects. It’s easy to find NFT GIFs made with a few frames but Cat Republic is the only one I’ve seen that takes animation more seriously — it makes us stand out.

Where do you see Cat Republic heading in the future and do you envisage an expansion beyond NFTs?

I’m really open to all kinds of collaborations. I have many more exciting expansions in store: charity projects, Cat Republic merchandise, YouTube videos, and collection games — the list goes on. I’m also planning on starting a cat NFT community for both my Cat Republic collectors and other cat NFT creators to obsess over cats! Keep your eyes peeled!