This time, our developer interview is with Dana, Social Media and Marketing Manager as well as Lead Artist of Flawberry Studio. Here at LadiesGamers, Valerie made an impressions article for the demo of Projected Dreams. She found it to be relaxing and beautiful, and it certainly has her attention for the full release in future. (More info about Projected Dreams can be found here on the Steam page.)
Introductions
Who is Dana, can you tell us about yourself?
I’m a graphic designer who, after graduating, studied Game Design in Switzerland from 2020 to 2023. It was during this time that I got to know my fellow team members at the Flawberry Studio, who were in the same class as me.
What is your role at Flawberry Studio, and how did you start your career?
I’ve always been more inclined towards the marketing and social media aspects of games, which brings me a lot of joy. After graduating, I started working as a marketing intern at Stray Fawn Studio and Stardust for about six months, where I am still working now. At Flawberry Studio, I hold the roles of Social Media and Marketing Manager as well as Lead Artist.
Flawberry Studio
What’s behind the name of Flawberry Studio and how was it founded?
It started with the prototype of Projected Dreams, which we made for a game jam. We needed a silly group name and chose “Team Strawberry”. It was of course a knockoff from “Team Cherry”, whose games we absolutely adore, and we all loved the strawberry phone so much (which is one of the toys in the game).
The name had to change once we realized we were onto something special with our game idea. We decided to showcase an early demo at local events, and the response we received was overwhelmingly positive. The encouragement and valuable feedback we received at these events played a huge role in motivating us to found the studio and continue the development.
We ended on “Flawberry” as a short form of flawed strawberry. This name stays true to our love for the strawberry phone and further highlights that every creation comes with flaws, which is totally fine.
Was Projected Dreams the first game Flawberry Studio made?
Yes, we’ve been working on Projected Dreams for about 1.5 years now. It’s our first fully committed game release.
Projected Dreams – Remember Those Toys?
How did the idea behind Projected Dreams come about, what was your inspiration?
The game originated from the Brackeys Game Jam in early 2022, where the prompt was “it is not real.” Under the pressure of time, we came up with the idea of creating something from the imagination. As children, we come up with entire stories and worlds as we play with toys or simply as we daydream about them. The older we get, the more we tend to lose this imagination. That’s why we think it’s important to bring back that feeling we had as kids.
Want to read the rest of the interview too? Learn why Flawberry Studio used children’s toys from the early 2000s, how much content we can expect in the final game and if consoles are part of the dream. See what advice they have for aspiring developers and more.
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