用时下流行的定义来说，王凡乔是一个原创内容创造者。在意大利特尔维索学习与生活了三年后，这位来自南京的设计师、插画师回到了上海成为了一名自由职业者。2015年在一些朋友的催促下，她建立了一个微信公众号——《海豹朋友们》——描述一只小海豹的日常生活。这个海豹是王凡乔两年前作为消遣时创作的一个角色。《海豹朋友们》出人意料的吸引了20000余名粉丝——这个数字仍然在不断增长。许多品牌（包括麦当劳等大品牌）也在这个年轻而低调的意见领袖身上看到了商机，《海豹朋友们》已经与越来越多的品牌展开了合作。
SHP+与王凡乔聊了聊关于海豹的由来。
Nanjing-native Fanqiao Wang is a designer, illustrator and, to use a cold, business label, an IP creator. After three years studying and illustrating in Treviso, Italy, she returned to Shanghai to try her hand at freelancing. In 2015, she was urged by friends to start a WeChat public account, ‘sealandfriends’, following the innocent everyday adventures of ‘seal’, a character she had created two years previously as a pasttime. To her surprise, the account has since attracted more than 20,000 dedicated followers, and continues to grow every week. Seeing the opportunity to align themselves with an unassuming, young opinion leader, large brands (McDonald’s) and smaller ones have begun working with her to create branded sealandfriends content.
SHP+ caught up with Fanqiao to see what she makes of it all.
你怎么定义《海豹朋友们》？
一个让人放松的公众号！
How would you describe sealandfriends?
sealandfriends is a place for relaxation
你在创作故事时的灵感来源主要是哪些？
主要是生活中让我感动或者让我觉得好笑的事情，想画出来和大家分享。海豹身上的故事主要是来源于现实生活！不过也经过了一些加工，为了更让人感动，或者更好笑。
What inspires you when you are thinking of ideas and stories?
Mostly the things around me that touch me or make me laugh. I want to share those things with everyone. What happened to seal happened in real life. I do add a little spice to it, to make it more touching or funnier.
现在微信公众号有多少的关注着？他们都是些什么样的人？你会跟他们交流吗？
大概2万多一些。他们来自各行各业，不过都有一颗柔软和渴望放松的心。我经常在后台和他们聊天，他们之中的好几个人也成为了我现实生活中的朋友！和他们的交流非常放松和舒适，我觉得认识他们很幸运。
How many followers do you have now? Who are they? Do you interact with them?
I have around 20,000 followers from different industries. They all have a soft heart and eagerness to relax. I often chat with them from the backend and some of them have became my friends in real life. I feel very lucky to know these guys. I feel very comfortable talking with them.
当你一开始创作海豹朋友们的时候，有想过会变这么红甚至从中盈利吗？
真的没有想到！无论是走红，还是挣钱，都没有想，包括这个账号也是在朋友五次三番的催促之下才开通的，画海豹刚开始只是为了治愈自己，因为我也会有心情低落的时候。没想到大家也能从中得到安慰，甚至还有人发现了它的传播价值，这些真是太让我开心了。
When you started sealandfriends, did you think you would make money from it?
It never occurred to me that it could get so popular, or make any money. I only opened this account after my friend urged me to, over and over. At the start it was just a method to cheer myself up, because I get blue from time to time. I never thought others could find comfort and value in it. This really makes me feel great.
当品牌希望赞助你时，你是怎么把品牌内容融入漫画中的？
我接过GOUSA，musicanvas，一包和麦当劳的广告，有些是独立的品牌，有些是大品牌。主要是他们负责公关的人看到海豹，觉得很喜欢，然后整个团队也都有些喜欢！所以就直接留言了，然后我们就进行了愉快的会面，他们之中的有些人也成为了我的朋友。
广告的创作方式他们会给我很大的自由，只要出现一些规定的元素就好。刚好我也比较喜欢这些品牌，很容易找到双方都满意的切入点。所以合作都是比较顺利的！
When brands ask to sponsor you, how do you integrate them into your posts?
I was approached by GOUSA, Musicanvas, YiBao and McDonald’s. Some are independent brands, some are big brands. Their PR people saw the seal and liked it, and then their whole team liked it. So they left me a message and we had a meeting. Some of them even became my friends now.
They gave me a lot of freedom to create, I just need to put in certain elements. It so happened that I also like these brands, so it’s easy for me a find something that will interest both of us. The experiences working with these brands were very good.
与品牌合作后，你担心你的作品的创意性与独立性会丢失吗？
我会担心的，尤其是honesty是我最看重的东西。所以在接活的时候也很谨慎，我觉得钱不是最重要，最重要的是我真心喜欢对方的品牌，这样才可以画出发自内心的好广告，这样对我们双方都有好处。
Are you afraid that your work will lose some of its creative integrity/honesty if you are paid by brands?
Yes I do worry. Especially because honesty is the thing that I emphasize the most. So I’m very selective when choosing the works. I don’t really mind how much they pay me. It’s important that I like the brand so that I could create good ads. This works for both of us.
很多品牌对你的作品都很感兴趣，这会影响你对于自己作品的创作态度吗？
是的，这确实改变了一些我的思考方式，让我发现了我身为创作者，我追求的东西，有很多和客户是不矛盾的。我们都希望用真心打动读者和受众。然后说服他们去传播我的漫画，或者是消费某个品牌的产品，或者就算仅仅是加深了某个品牌在读者脑海中的印象，也是一种成功。我确实希望海豹能介入更多有价值的商业合作，为更多品牌的广告注入温柔和放松的感觉。这些商业合作让我重新思考人和人之间的关系，让我看到了双赢的可能性。
Now that you know brands are interested in your work, has it changed the way you approach your work?
Yes, it has changed the ways I look at things. I realize as a creator, the things I pursue sometimes aren’t different from what the clients want. We both want to attract readers and consumers, to let them feel what we thought. I convince them to spread my work out. Even if the ads I did only strengthen the impression of the brand on people, it is kind of a success. I hope the seal can participate in more valuable commercial works, to let those ads seem more heart warming and relaxing. These commercial opportunities led me to think about relationships between people. I saw a win-win opportunity.
你对于海豹朋友们的未来发展预想是什么样的？
我觉得最基本的是保持放松，愉悦的创作状态，和有规律，有质量的内容生产。之后的任何商业行为都是顺理成章的事！我希望保证最大的创作自主权，不过我也希望进行体量更大的项目，这样就会去需要和别人合作。我想我需要在这两者间找好一个平衡点！
What are your plans for sealandfriends in future?
I think basically it is to stay happy and calm when creating quality and regularly updating things. Then the commercial opportunities will come naturally. I hope to guarantee myself as much freedom as possible when creating, but I also want larger scale projects, which will require me to work with others. I think I need to find a balance between creative freedom and co-operative projects.
你对于其他的创意工作有什么计划吗？
对于这些工作我采取放任自流和友谊第一的态度，如果是朋友找我，或者project本身很有趣，那么钱就不是最重要。如果钱给的多，工作也轻松，那么就不一定需要太有趣。总之我觉得接这类工作主要是为了钱，或者享受和优秀的人合作的乐趣。所以没有太清晰的计划，顺其自然就好！
What are your plans in future for your other creative work?
I like a “let it be” and “making more friends” attitude. If my friends contact me or the project is fun enough, than the money isn’t a big deal. If they pay me a lot and the work is easy, then the job doesn’t have to be fun. I think my purpose on getting paid jobs are either for money, or for the joy of working with a great team. So I don’t really have a plan, just following the flow.
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