Hege Marie Baraldsnes
Lead user interface designer with Funcom;
Adobe Photoshop certified expert; published
illustrator; website designer; and has
earned degrees in graphic design and
CAD/industrial drawing.
Biography
To explain my relationship with art,
drawing, and computers, I need to
dig a bit into my childhood.
I was a very lonely kid; we moved a lot and lived
mostly on farms - miles away from other kids. I
was bullied at school and never had any true
friends, except my grandparents - and my pencils.
Kids have an amazing ability to adapt and create
universes of their own. My pencils all had names.
The cool colors were boys and the warm were
girls, and they had different personalities as well.
Pink was cute, red was troubled, yellow was
mean, purple was wise etc. With a black marker, I
drew lines that formed blocks of various shapes
and sizes, and then paired them together.
Playing with my pencil-friends got me
through many hard times. When I was 9
years old my grandparents gave me a new
best friend; an old computer with a
monochrome monitor and 5.25 inch disks.
Seventeen years and probably 100
computer upgrades later, my art and
computer skills came together. I got a
Wacom Intuos 3 for my birthday, and yet
another strong friendship grew. In the
meantime, I started my own design studio,
attended many classes, and studied nearly
everything that can be done on a
computer.
When I wasn't working, drawing, or
studying I played computer games. One of
my favorite games was designed by the
Norwegian company Funcom and I dreamt
that maybe one day I would work for them
and design games myself.
In the winter of 2009 I signed up for a class
with Judith Campanaro (here on Drawspace),
who re-introduced me to my old friends -
colors. Freeform art opened my mind and
heart and brought me back to who I really am.
And, the past year has been absolutely magic.
Professional Experience
Today, Hege is an Adobe Photoshop certified
expert with degrees in graphic design (color
theory, composition, and branding and
identity) and CAD/industrial drawing
(including product and fashion design). She is
also a published illustrator and a website
designer.
As lead user interface designer with
Funcom, Hege designs software applications
that focus on user interaction. In addition,
she does flash design and development;
programming; character art and fashion
illustration; photo manipulation; and graphic
design.
During the ten years prior
to accepting her current
position with Funcom,
Hege worked as a
freelancer with diverse
clients including
Sony Ericsson, Diesel, Armani,
Disney, Warner Bros,
American Idol, So You Think You can Dance,
Audi, Avon, Tokidoki, and Hello Kitty.
I'm passionate about
online education and very
excited about the
Drawspace philosophy and
certification programs."
Read Hege's full bio (PDF format).