Publication > editorial > Getting NEAR with NEARton: More Than Just A Colorful Town

Getting NEAR with NEARton: More Than Just A Colorful Town

Hi, Parasians! Remember when we said that we were going to get stronger this year? Well, that could only happen if we get to know and support each other better!

Each week, we will conduct a simple interview with some chosen projects' representatives in Paras' Getting NEAR to get familiar with their backgrounds and as well as their experiences making arts in the NEAR world.

Our very first lovely interviewee is Raspberry_An, the Co-Founder of NEARton🏡

What was the idea and the background story behind the name and the art of "NEARton", and apart from that, we also would love to know more about you, your background and your story about creating this project?

My husband Alex and I have been entrepreneurs for around 6 years. We worked on various IT projects before we came to crypto. He is responsible for the technical part, and I am for the creative because I have been doing art in one form or another all my life.

When we decided to create an NFT town on NEAR, we wanted to choose an appropriate name for it. The town on NEAR is NEARton, just like Kingston or Downton.

How did you get into crypto art? How did you and the team decide to enter this environment? Your experience so far, ups and downs, the challenges.

Alex is always interested in new trends and technologies, so one day, he just told me about NFT, and we got the idea to create our own collection. At first, it seemed difficult to gather enough people for the mint, but in fact, after the mint, the work is just beginning.

NEARton is a long-term project, it's not just a collection but also a gallery, a multitasking protocol, and a lot of things that make staking with us captivating. Sustaining interest in the NFT project is not an easy task, but we are going to go for a long time.

What inspired you to start the collection?

The opportunities that the NFT world offers! We are very easily inspired, so that was enough. We watched Solana for a while and admired the Solsteads project. So we decided to create a town too, especially since I adore cities and houses. But we launched it on NEAR and added multitasking functionality to our project.

What made you decide to NFT an artwork?

I may say, in our case, the artwork is used for the NFT. After all, the main essence of NEARton is a DeFi game with staking,not just art.

Could you tell us a bit about the design process, and how long they take to create?

The preparation phase takes most of the time - the style, types of houses, and their main elements development. Then, you create variations of these elements to generate NFTs from the layers. If you've prepared well, variations can be created quite quickly.

How has your style evolved since you first started the project?

Oh, this is my sore point. Initially, our houses looked completely different. But reading the feedback from the NFT community, we realized that they do not like this style. Those first houses were planned to be entirely hand-drawn. Since we had to change the style and draw everything again, we switched to generation from layers.

What is your favorite NFT your project team designed so far?

I have many favorites because they are all my brainchildren! I especially like the rainy weather and the mystic type of the house.

We know that we're already in the middle of 2022, but what are your goals for NEARton for the rest of the year?

We recently launched our token and are now focused on developing and implementing more use cases for it. We are working on creating a raffle system, staking of the $NEXP itself, connecting new staking partners. And, of course, we are going to release another NFT collection - this time, characters that can be put on the profile picture.

Do you have any specific reasons why you choose to be partnered with us?

Paras is the most successful and popular marketplace on NEAR. So when you think about secondary, Paras pops up in your head instantly.

What are the most important things that the world needs to know or understand about NFT?

I think NFTs, like the crypto market in general, show us the essence of decentralization. And its essence is that every person, every holder has the power to influence the entire market. It is both freedom and responsibility at the same time. It would be great if the same principles penetrated all spheres of human life.

What’s your favorite part of the NFT community?

Its openness to new creators. Everyone can try, regardless of his experience, status, or age.

Is there anything you’d like to add? Something to say to our readers?

If you haven't bought a property in NEARton yet, now is the time to do it! Settle in our magical town to earn passive income and experience many interesting things with our wonderful NEARbors!

Well, it was magical to travel and wander around NEARton!🏡 Go pay a visit and hang with the fellow NEARbors here:

Paras: https://paras.id/collection/nearton_nft.near

Twitter: https://twitter.com/metanearton?s=21&t=odw18uyyu92S-zN72emufA

Stay tuned for our next Getting NEAR!