Mason Richman a.k.a. Maso Rich took the internet world by storm this week. The graphic designer decided to go in an interesting direction with an Instagram account of his called, LeRaffe James (@leraffejames).
Rich, a LeBron James fan, started making animated parodies of pictures posted by LeBron on his Instagram (@kingjames). Needless to say, the parody account started to build quite a following with viral pictures that were talked about on Twitter, Reddit, and The Dan Le Batard Show.
ClutchPoints caught with Richman this week to talk about his now-massive following and how it grew so quickly.
ClutchPoints: How long did it take to get your first 1,000 followers?
Mason Richman: Took about two months to get the first 1000.
CP: What inspired the artwork?
MR: An old idea my older brother and I created for a fun animated series.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3SW9NSgCzW/
CP: Are you doing this full-time? If not, what is your day job?
MR: I am the CEO of an entertainment sales company. I don't do art full time, but I'd love to get to that point one day.
CP: How did you blow up so fast? What was your fastest stretch of growth?
MR: Fastest stretch of growth was 100k followers in one day (Oct. 9). It started blowing up (Oct. 8) when a Redditor (u/gostoney) posted my account on r/Lakers. From there it went from about 1,500 to a few thousand. Then the next morning, the Dan Le Batard show mentioned it, and it kind of took its next big turn. Went from about 20,000 that morning after they mentioned it to about 100,000 by the end of the day.
CP: How long have you done graphic design for?
MR: I've done art direction and production for almost 10 years as a hobby. I've never actually done big-pay work.
CP: How much time do you spend doing each design on average?
MR: Leo and I spend an hour or two on a piece. Maybe more depending on how complex. Leo is my friend and an artist on the LeRaffe James team.
CP: What were your previous experiments with the NBA aside from Leraffe James?
MR: Honestly, nothing. I'm currently writing two graphic novels for fun. I decided to do LeRaffe for some extra entertainment. I get bored easily, and my mom is a professional painter, so I've always had a weird desire for this.
CP: If LeBron were to contact you, what would you want?
MR: I'd thank him. Without him, I wouldn't even have gotten this opportunity. It starts with him and all that he has accomplished before it ever came to this.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hhBIQg-q1/
SPEED ROUND: We’ll name the player, you tell us what animal they’d be: James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Giannis?
MR: James Billy Goat Harden. Because of the beard. People want LeGoat and Michael Goat Jordan, but it's not how I do my decision making.
Russell The Frog Westbrook. Kind of looks like a muscular frog. Frogs hang by the brooks.
Kawhi Leonard might be a Lynx. Lynx are known to have really large paws.
Anthony Davis, I already made into a Kangaroo. It just looked right, and the brow fit the face.
Giannis probably is a PitBull. It just feels right. Muscular/intense.
CP: Who’s your 2nd favorite player after LeBron?
MR: Dwyane Black Panther Wade. I'm from south Florida. The Heat boys will always be tops.
CP: Most intriguing comment you've gotten from a fan?
MR: “Get this furry shit out of here.” He's projecting something because this isn't that. If you're having animal problems, I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but a furry ain't one.
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