The short story of how the idea for Conflavo came about – told by Tobi, who’s building it right now.
I’ve spent my entire working life programming, mostly building web portals. What fascinated me about it: you can teach yourself everything straight from the internet – and then create something new and meaningful out of practically nothing.
In my early forties came burnout, combined with a full-grown midlife crisis. And with it, the question: do I really want to keep doing all this – until retirement?
I discovered Blender and took time off to learn 3D. Small catch: in 3D, everything comes together – modelling, animation, textures, light, camera, storytelling. The perfectionist in me still decided to build a game right away; in my head it grew into an absurdly complex RPG. And I manoeuvred myself straight into the next overload.
More and more, I came to realise that my almost militant focus on the meaningful and productive was part of the problem – 200-plus hours of overtime in a single year speak for themselves. I wanted to bring pleasure and beauty back into my life and started to engage with art. The urge to create something stayed.
I painted, wrote, took photographs – always assuming I just had to find the technique that fit me, and my urge to create would find its channel. Do I have what it takes to be an artist? Honestly: no idea. A hobby artist, sure – anyone can and may be that. I’ll keep trying things out. But along the way, I found something else.
When I wanted to put my own works online, I was amazed how little even platforms made for artists actually engage with artists’ needs. And the Instagram feed you put up with because everyone’s there annoyed me anyway. Yet that was always my favourite part of programming: understanding what people really need – and building a clean, elegant solution for it.
And I’m making them happen: Conflavo – a platform for people who make art and people who love art. Programmers and artists, by the way, are more alike than you’d think: both divas, both create something new out of nothing, and both have their very own sense of beauty.