Into The World Of Kawaii-Gore!
On 7 Dec 2024, a Saturday afternoon, Singapore Comic Con at Marina Bay Sands & Convention Centre is bustling with life and energy. The convention floor is filled with talented artists showcasing their creativity, with multiple booths that have an abundance of unique art merchandise. Enthusiastic customers start to form snaking queues to choose items to purchase.
Photograph of Blake with franticcreativity’s booth set-up.
Amongst these booths, there is one that is adorned in striking black, pink, and purple details. From afar, it looks like it could be art pieces of cute characters, but as you edge closer to the booth, you start to realise it’s not what you think. An adorable white bunny holding a…knife dripping with pink blood?
Meet Maria Margarita Zoleta Manlapaz, also known as Blake, the 26-year-old owner of a small business called franticcreativity. “franticcreativity is a brand that centres around the original characters I illustrate.
I make these illustrations into merchandise and sell them at conventions, pop-up stores, and my website, https://franticcreativity.com/,” said Blake, who has been running her own business solo and growing her brand for the past eight years.
franticcreativity’s Merchandise Website: https://franticcreativity.com/
Blake’s business offers a variety of merchandise, ranging from paper goods like prints, stickers, and reusable sticker books, to wearable merch like makeup and shirts. “I wanted my business to sell lifestyle items that people could use while representing my brand,” Blake shared.
Photographs of merchandise from franticcreativity: T-shirt, Sticker Sheet, Reusable Sticker Book, Makeup, Prints, Keychain.
So, how does franticcreativity stand out? Well firstly, franticcreativity’s art style is distinctly unique. “My brand’s illustrations are heavily inspired by a Japanese aesthetic called Yami Kawaii (sickly cute) and incorporate gore elements into a cute style,” Blake explained. She loves cute things, but found that she was not well-versed at drawing traditional cute art like Sanrio or Pusheen Cat, which was why she put her spin on it by making it gory.
Blake’s Illustration Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/franticcreativity
franticcreativity currently has a whopping 22,000 followers on Instagram and multiple merchandise items that have flown off the shelves. You might be pondering: How do you reach this level of success in a small business? Is there a secret strategy?
According to Blake, the secret lies in authenticity and passion. “There’s no real ‘business’ reasoning behind the merch I sell. Most of my merch ideas are things that I want for myself too, and then I just share it with my audience,” she explained.
By creating items that she genuinely loves and uses, Blake ensures that her merchandise is something that reflects her brand and resonates with customers.
“My audience are people who have the same interest as me — that’s why they follow me, right? Which is why I treat myself as my own customer too. I won’t sell something that I wouldn't personally like,” she strongly proclaimed.
Other than boothing at popular conventions like SMASH at Sydney, Australia, and Doujima, Blake has organised her very own convention called Art Riot. This event brought together many small businesses to booth alongside her. “Art Riot is one of my proudest achievements. It was an initiative I started to create a community where creators of all sizes, no matter big or small, could come together, showcase their work, and support one another,” she shared.
Building a community is one of Blake’s strongest beliefs and something she hopes to inspire others with. “With the convention scene getting more commercial, I want to build a community where we don’t focus on the monetary parts of a business, but rather support and uphold each other,” she explained. Throughout her journey, Blake has met many other small business owners and has even forged lasting friendships with some of them, saying that “they have played a big part in supporting” her.
You might wonder whether franticcreativity was created with the intention of being a profitable business venture, Blake’s answer is: “Actually, I didn’t even think about profiting when I started this business. I honestly just wanted to create my own characters and wear pieces of them. However, after I found that many people were enjoying the characters I made, I decided to produce more merchandise.”
Blake also shared that she was previously a fan artist before creating her brand, where she would only create and sell merchandise of fan art. “When I was a fan artist, I was repeatedly creating illustrations of the same set of characters. Not only did I start to get tired of it, but I also started running out of ideas to stand out in the marketplace,” Blake recalled. “That’s why I decided to create my own original characters, where my ideas are limitless.”
What’s next for Blake and franticcreativity? Blake said that she plans to release many more kawaii-fied gore merch, staying true to her brand, and continuing her love for illustrating Yami Kawaii.
But beyond that, her aspirations run deeper. “I hope to inspire others to take their own leap of faith and turn their passions into a business venture,” she said.
“If you love something so deeply, there’ll always be others who’ll love it as much as you do. So, you might as well share it!”
