Profile

Name: Marlene Johansen

Age: 28

City: Hobro, Denmark

Occopation: Multimedia Designer

Contact:

The beginning

I’ve always loved to doodle and colour, but it wasn’t before I reached the age of 16 I got interested in developing my skills. At age 17 I got introduced to Photoshop and it got my full interest. – This was the perfect media for me to work with since I’m too impatient with real paint.

In 2001 I finished college and had to make a choice of career. It was very difficult since all I really wanted to do was to draw, but in this small country you have to be really good at it to stand a chance. I wasn’t exactly encouraged to follow that path, and it caused me a lot of despair.

During the first 6 months of 2002, I went to an agriculture school, just to try it out. But the lack of creativity had the opposite effect on me, and I used every opportunity to draw whenever I could.

The latter 6 months of 2002 where spent on a school of graphics, which was much better. Unfortunately it was only an introduction so at the end every student had to find a company that would take them in as trainees. Again, this country was much too small, and after sending job applications to every company in the whole country with no luck, I was forced to give up.

Being unemployed wasn’t something I enjoyed, so in 2003 I took a job as a home helper for about 8 months. It was actually a good experience apart from the back pain I got from all the cleaning. The job somehow boosted my creativity, and I got lots of ideas that I went straight home to create. I also carried a sketchbook with me and used it quite often to draw the clients that had treated me wrong, and other weird things.

Moving to the big city

At the end of 2003, some personal matters made me move to the big city of Copenhagen. It was the first time I left my birth city and home and I was really excited to get away from it all. However, I was unemployed yet again, and though I’d sent out job applications, I wasn’t lucky.

So in 2004 I took a 6 month course on a business academy. With such a course in my backpack I could get a job as an office trainee.

It was merely a second choice for me since I still wanted to draw. While attending school I couldn’t resist sending out job applications to graphical companies as well. My hope hadn’t died.

Once again my efforts didn’t result in anything. I finished the course and I even went to a few job interviews, but luck was still not on my side.

As a last resort I took a job at the bakery department of a supermarket. I am not really that good with people, meaning I put up with too much. I ended up being a doormat for various rude customers, and life was kinda leaking out of me. I reached a depressing state of mind, and held on tight to the only thing that made me relax: Drawing.

Turbulent times

At the end of 2004, turbulent times were ahead. I was knocked down mentally by some personal circumstances and chose to move back to my birth city. Everything in my mind was shattered. 2005 was a year that just went by. One day followed the other, and I didn’t notice much. The worst part was that I couldn’t risk being unemployed yet again, so I got transferred from the bakery department I’d worked in, to the department located in my birth city.

Working as a doormat again with no opportunity to get out of it, didn’t exactly boost my mood. This year I also lacked creativity. I was stressed out, and could only draw what was in my confused mind.

But it was also at this time I began working on Fading Shades. I’ve always wanted to create a game, and one day at work I got the idea and immediately began writing it down and sketching. It got my full attention and gave me a mood boost. Something I needed badly. However, I got stuck, and the game was put away.

And then all things got better

In 2006 I moved back to my birth home to live with my dad. It was also this year I met my sweet boyfriend. Things were starting to look much brighter. I had been thinking of an education and finally made my decision. I filled out a form which I sent to the school and I soon got a letter saying I was accepted as a student. Finally I could see the end of the bakery job I had been stuck with for so long. Autumn came, and I moved to Aalborg and began to study.