The best desk job

Wetumwene Shikage





Fobian was born in Swakopmund and grew up in different conservation areas all around Namibia. Fobian was first inspired to enter the creative arts by her mother, who had studied fine arts. She launched into the field of design through her studies in visual media and desktop publishing. She then progressed into the realm of economic and management sciences, and is currently completing the final year of her Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing Management through UNISA.

In addition to completing her degree, Fobian will also be celebrating her six-year anniversary at Weathermen & Co this month. She describes her workplace as one that provides her with continuous training every day.

“In the field of marketing you are always learning. Comfort zones really cannot exist if you want to stay up to speed with, or even ahead of, the latest trends,” she says.

It is these continuous discoveries that come with the constant learning that Fobian finds most fascinating about her job.

“It is incredible to explore the ways an image or colour can make someone feel something, or the way copy can shape perceptions of a product. Being able to drive consumer behaviour through design elements like these has to be the most exciting part of what I do.”

Along with putting these insights into practice, Fobian engages in extensive research and keeps her finger on the pulse of market trends to better inform the agency’s decisions to meet both clients’ objectives and consumers’ needs. She is also responsible for the conceptualisation and design of marketing and advertising materials, whether by producing animated videos or by directing photography.

“We’ve had to keep upskilling as new innovations have shaped the media landscape. It’s funny to think that not too long ago, we didn’t even have GIFs and now we work with them all the time. Being a part of the Weathermen team and our larger Ohlthaver & List (O&L) family, both of which are committed to innovating and investing in its people, has been rewarding in this regard,” Fobian says.

Fobian attributes much of her growth to her team and working environment, saying that It is wonderful to work in a place where your superiors are mentors before bosses, colleagues are friends, and where diversity is genuinely celebrated.

“In some ways, it feels like an extension of home, possibly also because my husband, who likewise works for the O&L Group, happens to work in the office just across from mine,” she says.

Grateful for this camaraderie and an environment which equips her to push the envelope through her designs, Fobian believes that she has not only found her passion, but she has also found her place at Weathermen & Co. “Even though I have a desk job, it’s one of the best desk jobs out there,” she says.