Deckitout
Tell me a bit about your history playing XIV! What pulled you in, and what inspired you to start creating art and merch for it?
I played in 2018 and gave up
But then the Dawntrail trailer came out and Meteor was sooooo hot
I was like
Yeah
Let’s give this another shot
How does your personal creative outlook or style influence the merchandise and art you create (XIV or otherwise)? What do you hope people take away or feel from your work?
I really selfishly draw whatever I like – I have 20 different Ardbert keychain designs.
I hope people think my art is fun and sexy. It’s all I ever want to be. 😉
Is there a piece of art you’ve created that you are especially proud of – for example, a piece that pushed or “leveled up” your skills, or one that was particularly popular, or perhaps something that came out exactly as you had imagined it?
I’m pretty dang proud of my Ardbert body pillow! I’ve been making dakis for years now and it’s really cool to go back and compare against the Mettaton and Cassidy Overwatch ones that helped me do this full time years ago.
What is a future project you hope to pursue, whether in fandom spaces or in your personal work?
I have so many big big big plans!!!! I love designing clothing, I chose my username Deckitout when I was in highschool with that as the goal.
Final Fantasy as a fandom is by far the most creatively diverse one I’ve participated in and it is super inspiring. I love how much it pushed me into crafting instead of just illustration and design work. Making resin crafts, cosplay, photocards, making keychains. It’s been really cool to just experiment and stretch myself creatively.
How do you avoid burnout when designing large collections of characters for your fandom merch? Has your approach to designing merch evolved in the time you have been selling your art online and at conventions?
I feel like this question is calling me old. And maybe you’re right. I have been selling all over at conventions since I was 16.
I’m not intimidated by the number of FFXIV characters!! Like yeah it would be cool to include everyone equally but after being into One Piece my entire life I’m very comfortable telling people I selfishly just drew my favorites. Y’know, 20 Ardberts.
My approach to merch has completely changed from when I started, or even from when I began selling art full time! Everyone is so much better now! It’s really inspiring!!!! I want to be better too!!! I want to make more fun and sexier merch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ignis Kat
Tell me a bit about your history playing XIV! What pulled you in, and what inspired you to start creating art and merch for it?
It was on a whim, oddly enough. I was looking for something new to play at Walmart and saw it for the PS3, I think in December of the year A Realm Reborn released if I remember that year right. I wasn’t really big on MMOs at the time, but since it was Final Fantasy, I decided to give it a go.
Creating merch is a new area for me in general, FFXIV just kind of kickstarted it. I enjoy making art of my own characters and the world of FFXIV and finding the creative side of the community is where my inspiration came from.
How does your personal creative outlook or style influence the merchandise and art you create (XIV or otherwise)? What do you hope people take away or feel from your work?
I try to make artwork of what I enjoy about the media I consume. My favorite characters, for example. I hope people take a cozy or wholesome vibe from it, I guess? That is what I try to go for.
Is there a piece of art you’ve created that you are especially proud of – for example, a piece that pushed or “leveled up” your skills, or one that was particularly popular, or perhaps something that came out exactly as you had imagined it?
I am very proud of a desktop wallpaper I did of three of my WoLs for Little Ladies Day! It was more for background practice and I am very happy with how it came out. I learned a lot from the experience. For not only backgrounds but lighting and clothing.
What is a future project you hope to pursue, whether in fandom spaces or in your personal work?
I hope to be able to tell my OCs stories in a webtoon or comic form. I have worked off and on on a story for one of my WoLs inspired by Our Unending Journey. Between work and school, I unfortunately don’t have the time to dedicate to it for consistent uploads but I work on what I can when I can.
Are there other characters you would like to release emote sets of, like your G’raha Tia set? Or do you enjoy designing emote sets of commissioned original characters more?
Both! I have been experimenting with another style and would like to redo the G’raha ones before I do another Scion but I enjoy both fan art and other original characters for the emotes.
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Steelfeather Workshop
Tell me a bit about your history playing XIV! What pulled you in, and what inspired you to start creating art and merch for it?
I started playing around the beginning of Stormblood after my interest was piqued by seeing bits of it through social feeds, and later on I watched a streamer play through early access which gave me that push to play the (then limited) free trial. I was already a longtime Final Fantasy fan, so I was enamored with it immediately!
A lot of my inspiration for XIV merch came from the various creatures themselves! I’d already been making plushies based on Pokémon and the Tales of series, so FFXIV was a natural progression for me to take and I’ve been here since. Last year I even started to venture into creating acrylic charms of my artwork, mostly inspired by fish found throughout the game as a dedication to the joy I found in big fishing. (Fish plushies are soon to come!)
How does your personal creative outlook or style influence the merchandise and art you create (XIV or otherwise)? What do you hope people take away or feel from your work?
I always chase my passions and create art based on what I love and what I think would be fun to make, not what I feel like I have to make. The characters of FF14 are all amazing, but I also think the everyday creatures and critters have their niche as well so I love to give them their time in the spotlight. It’s also a hope of mine that people will continue to support handmade plush artists, as it’s often such an undervalued art form.
Is there a piece of art you’ve created that you are especially proud of – for example, a piece that pushed or “leveled up” your skills, or one that was particularly popular, or perhaps something that came out exactly as you had imagined it?
I still think a lot about my Proto-Carbuncle as one of my most favorite designs ever, especially in terms of style and detail! It came out exactly as I envisioned, and for a design meant to be simplified and stylish, it still carries a staggering amount of detail. Each one sports 22 individually hand-sewn pieces including the base head itself- painstaking in the process, but they make a huge impact in the end.
Additionally, I made a big Ruby Dragon plush for the official Fanfest 2023 art contest, and came out as one of the finalists! Seeing the picture of my plush displayed next to other finalists in person at the event was such a joy, as was bringing the plush itself to a FSH meetup at the Mandalay Bay aquarium the day before.
What is a future project you hope to pursue, whether in fandom spaces or in your personal work?
My current dream project is to illustrate a full, functional Go Fish card deck featuring FF14 fish! It’s something I’m currently exploring as a side project while I work on merch for GATEway FATE. Though I don’t intend to have it ready at the convention, I really want to try to make it happen by the end of this year or early next year!
For the immediate future, I’m plotting to introduce plush backpacks to my merchandise range and I’m very excited to work on them!
As a plushie maker, were you a lover of plushies growing up? Was there any particular type or style of plushies that has especially inspired your style?
I grew up as an avid animal plushie collector, and I finally took the plunge into trying to make my own plushies thanks to a Pokémon collecting community I used to hang around. I started trying to mimic the styles of certain merchandise to adapt to ‘mons that weren’t officially represented in that style, and although my personal style has evolved beyond that, I like to think that some of that influence still shows through some of my creations.
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