In honor of Women’s History Month, we want to highlight female creators from our Buildbox community all March. This week we’re thrilled to shine our BB spotlight on India-based game designer, 3D artist, animator, and founder of Tomato Owl Studios, Fathima Raseed. As a talented graphic designer and artist, she’s tackled various projects from product illustrations and company logos to creating 3D models, rigging, and even animating them. After working closely with other game designers to help make their games stand out with stunning visuals and animations, Fathima decided to create her own. Using Buildbox, she’s made several noteworthy games, with her latest release Tulip Express being featured in the app store’s adventure games category worldwide.
We were honored to have the opportunity to chat with Fathima Raseed about her artwork, games, creative process, and journey into game development.
Buildbox: Can you share a little bit about your background and how you became a 3D artist?
Fathima Raseed: I did my bachelor’s in animation and a postgraduate degree in Advance 3D in 2015. I have worked as a 3D Artist for five years on Facebook games and mobile games.
Buildbox: How would you describe your art style?
Fathima Raseed: My art style is simple, cute, bright, and colorful.
Buildbox: In your vast artwork portfolio, which illustration or project that you’ve worked on is your favorite?
Fathima Raseed: My favorite is Chesapeake the Gentle Giant. It’s a 3D blue humanoid crab.
Buildbox: Wow! That looks amazing, Fathima. What led you to start creating your own games, and how did you discover Buildbox?
Fathima Raseed: After graduating, I worked on creating 2D assets for a client who introduced me to Buildbox. I gave it a try myself and absolutely loved working with it. However, it was 2D only at that time, so I was waiting for it to be in 3D. And once it came in 3D, I was excited, and I started exploring it even more.
Buildbox: We’re so glad you joined our community of no-code creators. How has using Buildbox helped you with the game development process?
Fathima Raseed: I am an absolute “no-code” person; I always had ideas but getting them translated to a coder and seeing results took a lot of time. With Buildbox, it has become easier to see how functional a prototype is, quicker improvising, and fixing the gameplay. As an amateur game designer, it has helped me learn faster about the process and improve my skill set.
Buildbox: Your latest game, Tulip Express is so creative. How did you come up with the concept and what was the inspiration behind it?
Tulip Express by Tomato Owl
Fathima Raseed: I was inspired by the Lilliput island from the novel Gulliver’s Travels. Thinking of the island in that story, I wondered how they would deliver food in a tiny world, and that concept became Tulip Express.
Buildbox: As a 3D artist and game designer, what other games and creators inspire you the most?
Fathima Raseed: I am very fond of puzzle games and narrative games. I enjoy games like Monument Valley by UsTwo Studios, Luna the Shadow Dust by Lantern Studio, Tiny Room by Kiary Games, and Nikki Games’ Love Nikki and take a lot of inspiration from them.
Buildbox: Your titles like Art Heist, Color Swatch, Secret Menu, and Tulip Express are so unique. What’s your creative process for coming up with game art and new design ideas?
Fathima Raseed: I primarily focus on the concept and then come up with the gameplay that would suit the concept and experiment on Buildbox. Once the idea and the art syncs, I make improvements and add new mechanics to it.
Buildbox: When you’re making game art, what are your favorite go-to graphic design tools to use, and why?
Fathima Raseed: I use Blender, ZBrush for making the 3D asset, and Krita for editing textures. I have experience working with them. They are easy and convenient to use. Blender and Krita are open sources, and they are available for anyone to use.
Buildbox: What do you enjoy the most about making games?
Fathima Raseed: I enjoy the process of making fun, weird games and sharing them with people. As a 3DArtist, it makes me happy to see people interact with my games and learn about the game development process.
Buildbox: As a female creator, 3D artist, and game designer, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to other aspiring female creators or anyone, for that matter, interested in transitioning into making games?
Fathima Raseed: There is no substitute for hard work. It is important to keep believing in yourself and keep working hard on what you believe. Currently, there are many organizations like Girl Develop it, Women Who Code, and many others that enable women to pursue a career in the game industry. Focusing on self-growth and self-development is key.
Buildbox: Any upcoming games in the works? What can we expect to see from Tomato Owl and you in the future?
Fathima Raseed: I am working on Love in Little Things, which was made for Buildbox February Attraction-themed Game Jam. I am adding new, interesting levels and making improvements. Future goals will be to make more fun and adventurous games as I believe Buildbox can create not just hyper casual games.
Love in Little Things
Buildbox: Looking forward to checking out Love in Little Things and all of your upcoming games.
You can learn more about Fathima Raseed and Tomato Owl Studio on her itch.io page, Instagram and Twitter.
