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Startups count as some of the most fast-paced and exciting places to work while doubling as some of the most competitive workplaces to get into. Over the past few months, I have spoken to designers about various topics, and several questions are recurring in these conversations. Some of these questions concern issues such as the relevance of one’s work experience while job hunting, building a portfolio, things to look out for at any startup you’re applying to, as well as navigating a design career within an organization.
\n\n\n\nLike these people, you might also be considering working in a startup where you hope to see the impact of your work in real-time. Or you already work at one and need a guide to help you deal with expectations, and navigate design at startups. Regardless of where you stand, I have taken time to draw from my experience working at four different startups to write this article tailored to help you.
\n\n\n\nMy name is Leke. I’m a Product Designer with over seven years of experience; five of those years have been spent working closely with startup founders. I recently became a founder at Jobgap, where I utilize AI to help techies land interviews and job offers.
\n\n\n\nLet us dive into some of my tips on helping you build a successful career in Product Design.
\n\n\n\nNegotiate on behalf of the people you represent
\n\n\n\nRemember that as a designer, you are the user’s biggest advocate. This is a critical responsibility. From my experience, there’s always the danger that if you work with core engineering teams it is often a common occurrence for usability concerns to be waved aside. It is your job to take a stand here in “speaking up for users”. Negotiate on their behalf by backing up your claims with statistics and studies. Take it upon yourself to educate your team on best UX practices that can help inform design decisions.
\n\n\n\nAdapt, do not get too attached
\n\n\n\nMost ideas are often not fully formed, but you must be able to create meaningful work out of them. It would be best if you dug deeper sometimes to get more info or context about what you’re asked to do (some things are more complex than the initial description given to you). A lot can change in a week, and that might render your work from the previous week redundant. This is where your ability to adapt comes in. Pick up the pieces and get moving. Making mistakes is also okay; owning up to them and fixing them is the remedy. A well-grounded team would understand that’s a sign of growth. Over time, this adaptation tactic will give you the experience needed to avoid pitfalls.
\n\n\n\nActively participate in the product-building process
\n\n\n\nBecause of the uncertain climate that startups operate in, there are brainstorming sessions from time to time to clarify how best to move forward. This is the time to ask intelligent questions and contribute meaningfully to the development of the product. Although sometimes, you only need to listen and absorb the information being passed around. Take time outside work hours to study the industry in which your startup operates. What are the patterns of doing things? Are there regulations and policies you should know about? Is there a niche that no one is paying attention to etc.? This helps to show that you also care about the company’s bottom line. Another added advantage is that you learn things outside design, from business to technical terminologies.
\n\n\n\nSelecting a team
\n\n\n\nThis is a make-or-break decision. We spend a huge chunk of our lives with the people we work with, so it is crucial to work with the right set of people. First, determine if the company’s mission is ambitious enough for you to dedicate your time and effort. The second thing you need to consider is if you will enjoy working alongside these people. Do their values align with yours? Is it an environment where you can grow? Do they inspire you to become a better version of yourself? Understanding how best you work and the conditions you need to thrive will help you see if a startup will be a great fit. Also, make sure to evaluate their compensation package to see if it is fair & competitive. Endeavor to tick those three boxes before you finally commit.
\n\n\n\nBuild your taste
\n\n\n\nOne of the best pieces of advice I have received from my mentor is
\n\n\n\n“If you see a bad design, in the same second, look at ten good designs to wash the bad one off your subconscious.”
\n\n\n\nIt might sound funny or bizarre, but it works. Dedicate a few minutes of your day daily to feeding your mind. Spend time curating design resources. It could be anything from courses to articles to even case studies. Your team relies on you to give the users the best experience possible and you cannot pour out of an empty cup. Your subconscious works uniquely and depends on you to feed it with the best ideas out there. The most significant disadvantage you can do to yourself is to stop improving. Audit yourself regularly and take action on any aspect of your career you would like to improve.
\n\n\n\nIterate, Iterate, Iterate
\n\n\n\nThe improvement never stops. Constantly think about how you can make the product more usable. Ask yourself questions like;
\n\n\n\nCan I redesign the flow to allow users to achieve their tasks faster?
\n\n\n\nCan I rewrite this copy to communicate the action better and more clearly?
\n\n\n\nCan I introduce some “aha moments” into the product to delight users and visitors etc
\n\n\n\nSpend time with people in customer support and understand what the current user pain points are. Draw from these insights to know how best to solve these problems with your design. As the product gains adoption, more features will be introduced; this will test your abilities how to introduce this new piece into the product.
\n\n\n\nTake time to rest and have fun
\n\n\n\nNo one tells you how stressful working in a startup can be (More so if they’re still in the middle of finding a product-market fit). You will be stretched and often stressed because of this. Keep your mind sane while trying to save the day. I like to tell myself that an unfit body/mind cannot perform at its best. That’s why it’s essential to take time off, spend time with people that matter in your life, go on holidays, and travel without feeling guilty about it.
\n\n\n\nLeave UX protocols at the door
\n\n\n\nNow I might get crucified for this, but you must leave some “UX protocol” at the door. Startups are one of the most fast-paced places to work, time is its most expensive currency, and its default mode is survival. Things change fast, and you can only rely on a flexible foundation for your work. This often means you’d have to jump straight to high-fidelity prototypes and skip processes like wire-framing, in-depth user research, etc. You often need to churn out work for quick customer validation, a sales demo, or investor validation; this does not mean you should churn out mediocre work. That would be unacceptable! Bring the highest quality to the smallest detail. Having a simple set of flexible guidelines will help you speed up deliverables.
\n\n\n\nLanding a job in the first place
\n\n\n\nIt can be pretty competitive to land a job in a startup, but depending on how large the startup is, hiring is done by the founder or a hiring manager. I will tell you a secret; founders hire for attitude first, then skill second. You have less control over the first, so I’ll focus on the second. Here’s a little checklist you should keep in mind. Focus your job hunt on the industries you intend to work in, write great case studies from a business perspective, design your portfolio to meet industry standards, tailor your resume for each role, and write a cover letter that aligns your story with the company. Use tools like jobgap. xyz to help you automate your job search. Remember, you don’t have to meet all the requirements before you apply!
\n\n\n\nNetwork with people in other startups
\n\n\n\nAttend conferences and meetups, and learn how others work within their startups. You can even get a mentor in a startup more prominent than yours to understand their workflow. Have them critique your work and give tips on being a better designer. Learn how to ask intriguing questions and demonstrate a willingness to grow. It will pay off in the long run.
\n\n\n\nCopy but think differently
\n\n\n\nYes, users have strong mental models about how things should work. Leverage that and build on it to differentiate your product. Startups exist to disrupt. Reverse engineer user experiences, experiment with new ideas, and watch how impactful you become. You also need to understand that you’re not just there to make things shiny, so here’s your chance to make an impact! Always strive to exceed user expectations; you know by now that user experience is a competitive edge, and that’s your superpower.
\n\n\n\nParting notes.
\n\n\n\nI cannot write exhaustively about what you need to thrive or succeed in startups in just one article (I am also evolving as I write this), but I hope these thoughts and guidelines provide a bit of clarity as you navigate your way amidst the stormy waters in startups. I acknowledge the intensity of work and innovation needed, but I can promise you it is a worthwhile experience. If you’re ambitious, I am sure you will have a fascinating ride.
\n\n\n\nPlease feel free to reach out to me @AyodeleAdeleke_ on Twitter if you have any recommendations or gripes.
\n\n\n\nCiao.
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\n\n\n\nRight from the moment we developed the ability to think deeply, we’ve been told that we need to think things through and plan every step as meticulously as we can. We’re taught to be prepared for the unexpected, which may or may not happen, and are constantly reminded that “prevention is better than the cure!”
\n\n\n\nLater in life, as some of us begin to pursue our passion for UX Design, we are once again educated about the importance of planning and fine tuning our designs before handover. The recommendations are to ask the right questions, think about each and every touchpoint, and reflect on the possible pros and cons of the many different opinions that we get from users and stakeholders. And then repeat this entire process to ensure that we haven’t missed out on anything.
\n\n\n\nAnd truthfully, these best practices do help us create fantastic initial designs. However, as it turns out, reality does not have the patience to wait for us to go through all these steps. Most of the time, the business asks us to deliver earlier than expected or skip steps, since we simply cannot wait for months and months to provide perfect designs.
\n\n\n\nThe bad news is that our job is built for overthinking. It can generate many ideas, but it can also generate a lot of possibilities, which get entangled in an endless cycle of thought and simulation instead of being implemented. We consider every step of the user experience in a product or service: situations that can go well, and in particular, situations that can go bad, which are considerably more numerous than the former. It’s a blessing for users that can become a curse for UX Designers as you can start to doubt your abilities.
\n\n\n\nThe good news is that this is not the end of the story and we can find solutions. But how can we deal with something we want to escape from that seems to be an inherent part of us?
\n\n\n\nHere are a few practices that you should consider inculcating in every design project to ensure timely and quality delivery.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDecision-making is one of the biggest struggles that overthinking causes, whether it be as minor as deciding your choice of font, or picking between two flows that solve the same problem. To make progress sometimes, a quick decision needs to be taken. Sometimes we can’t get ourselves to make these quick decisions because we’re in our own heads.
\n\n\n\nGetting an informed perspective on the options available from others can help in making a decision and at the very least reduce your options. A decision you’re trying to make could be solved by finding out about the nuances of a technical difficulty from a developer. Talking to people, especially those with some experience, helps you to make better products. A good start would be designers that you know, team members, stakeholders and even users.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProblem statements are constantly evolving during the product life cycle. It could be from the ever changing business demands or the disapproval of initial design/product assumptions. When you come across an unclear problem that you’re trying to solve, you can become so overwhelmed that you don’t really know where to start or how to proceed, Charles F. Kettering, an American inventor once said,
\n\n\n\n“A problem well stated is half solved”.
\n\n\n\nConstantly carry out inquisitions toward finding out if the context of the problem you’re solving has changed. Also get clarity about the nature of the problem and let this clarity guide how you structure your solutions. Don’t stray out of focus and always stay within scope.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI think this has been over-flogged by a host of people but I’ll repeat it again. “There is no such thing as a perfect design”. If there is one piece of advice you should stick with, it is to get it done, send out those screens, wait for the feedback, and then work from there.
\n\n\n\nStop being fixated on things that quite frankly don’t matter. Don’t overthink it to the point that you believe your design will be terrible because you’re not good enough. Anything that works well should be shipped. Additionally, you might take the time you would have otherwise spent working on correcting an icon to test, do more research, or essentially anything else that can have a more significant effect on the product itself.
\n\n\n\n\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"John Etokhana","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/1602768107849.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/542df00384bd89a2f4a7b244fdd6dd21/bbd9a/pexels-picjumbocom-196644-scaled.webp","srcSet":"/static/542df00384bd89a2f4a7b244fdd6dd21/62859/pexels-picjumbocom-196644-scaled.webp 640w,\n/static/542df00384bd89a2f4a7b244fdd6dd21/828a3/pexels-picjumbocom-196644-scaled.webp 1280w,\n/static/542df00384bd89a2f4a7b244fdd6dd21/bbd9a/pexels-picjumbocom-196644-scaled.webp 2560w","sizes":"(min-width: 2560px) 2560px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":2560,"height":1707}}}}}},{"uri":"/unique-designer/","title":"What Differentiates A Designer From Another","slug":"unique-designer","date":"23 September, 2020","content":"\n\n\n\n\nWe live in a new world; one where talents and skills do not matter as much as dedication and a constant message. In fact, consistency has always been a solid pillar all through time, and I am afraid that would never change. Today’s discussion is a brief and careful look at what differentiates a designer from another in our age.
\n\n\n\nCreative designers are…
\n\n\n\n…pretty powerful actors in society, as they determine to a very large extent, how communication is perceived in the wider world. Decisions and design choices now affect brands, individuals and thought silos more than ever before. This is mainly due to amplification — the type of amplification of voices and opinions that the internet brings.
\n\n\n\nCommunication, interpretation of ideas and perception has now been greatly increased per individual. What that means is that as a designer/illustrator, whatever you do to communicate an idea for a brand has the potential to be seen more and can deeply affect more people. Think about this on your positive and negative decisions (the ones that used to be swept under the carpet in the past). This amplification is not privy to affecting just your indirect communication, but those that come from within you — like your character, consistency, attitude, energy and actions.
\n\n\n\nA tale of Leonardo da Vinci
\n\n\n\nRenaissance art giant Leonardo da Vinci was a very talented, yet hardworking creative who lived by one of his most important motto that read:
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Ostinato Rigore”
Powerful words that meant “constant rigour.” The artist constantly searched for perfection and unmatched beauty in all his works, which makes the story of Leonardo a very peculiar one. Rigour here represents deep research, analysis and scientific planning in the creation of any art piece, and this is what great design is today — a form of art dipped in scientific thinking and problem-solving.
\n\n\n\nNaturally, Leonardo was a very rebellious individual, but at the age of 15 when he joined Verrocchio’s studio (1467) as an apprentice, he had to settle down and learn, because he needed to. He turned to be one of the best apprentices with the amount of work he put into the tasks and assignments
\n\n\n\nWhen he had learnt enough to be able to begin experimentation with his works, he took this up with the same motto and began to infuse subtle and major additions alike to his works. This came through days and hours of studies of elements in life and nature. Today, Leonardo is known worldwide as a great engineer, artist, and illustrator, and his works are preserved in galleries for years to come, as masterful pieces of art and design.
\n\n\n\nIf you must be successful…
\n\n\n\nAs an Illustrator or a Designer, you must pay attention to your direct communication with your work, language, posture, habits, audience and employers as much as you pay attention to communication in the little projects you are involved in.
\n\n\n\nYou must partake in your craft with your entire self. Native speakers of Nigerian pidgin have a very apt way of categorising this action, which is: to put body. Simply to involve self in your quest for greatness (if that is something you care about).
\n\n\n\nA few areas to watch as creatives asides craft are:
\n\n\n\nMany Illustrators and Designers ignore these little things and focus only on craft, which has only one outcome — monumental and repeated failure. Constant failure demoralises actual talented people, which is not an outcome that we want.
\n\n\n\nYou are playing a performance.
\n\n\n\nLike an Opera, every action you take is being watched and is a performance to a very large gallery of which the least number of watchers in attendance would be yourself. Hence, someone is always watching, even if you are doing it wrong — or right.
\n\n\n\nAsk yourself, would you be willing to sit through a musical (or comedy, etc.) event where the performer is doing a very bad job at it? A performance you paid to be a part of? Perhaps not.
\n\n\n\nFinally, the Internet.
\n\n\n\nThe Internet is a large Opera with an endless supply of creative performers and performances, and whatever act you put up could either land you your next gig or send your career crashing into the dustbin. Take it easy my DearDesigner, and be more intentional along this web of opportunity.
\n\n\n\nGood luck!
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AI (artificial intelligence) has become an over-hyped buzzword across many industries, and the design world is no exception. Wikipedia defined Artificial intelligence (AI) as intelligence exhibited by machines, like literally. Think about it! It has many applications in today’s society with its most common usage in medical diagnosis, electronic trading platforms, robot control, and remote sensing. More importantly, AI has shown us a path to how information can be aggregated, to a point where machines can mimic almost any intuitive decision that comes naturally to humans ( or mammals). On the other hand, we also have Internet-of-Things (IoT)—electronic devices communicating seamlessly with each other in a similar manner as in human communication.
How does any of these help designers build better identities?
\n\n\n\nDesigners empathize with user-goals and objectives to solve their problems. Often times, designers are caught in the tussle of figuring out how to match them with business or social impact goals. This makes designers fall back to user research and analysis to find patterns that provide insight into what users might want or need. Sometimes, I read design case studies on Medium and other platforms and I am shocked at the user research pool. For a product that is going to be used, or at least you hope it will be used by millions of people, your user test sample is just 10 people? All of whom are your friends or people you know?
\n\n\n\nSeeing that the enormous amount of interconnected devices allow for huge chunks of data to be shared amongst users (IoT enabled), we can implement AI algorithms to help aggregate them into user data models that can help inform us on user needs and wants. So the question worth asking is ‘How can designers leverage AI to help them make better human-centered design decisions backed with data (big data maybe)?’
\n\n\n\nNew brands spring up every day and old ones rebrand themselves, putting designers in the loop of getting brand identities that are ever-evolving with people, trends, and technologies. With AI, designers have a pool of available data to help build intuitive solutions for new brands and also use the same to rebrand legacy brands with better identities. Designers working with AI can create designs faster and cheaply due to the increased speed and efficiency it offers. The power of AI will lie in the speed in which it can analyze vast amounts of data and suggest design adjustments.
Before now, the issue was over the inability of designers across fields to collaborate effectively, today designers are faced with an even more daunting task; collaborating with machines to co-create solutions. Designers need not worry. AI and robots will not replace us—at least not in the short term. Instead of being a threat, augmented intelligence will present a series of exciting opportunities.
\n\n\n\nLeveraging those design opportunities is not going to happen by magic, but with designers co-creating with AI as our job sits in the cross hairs of art, science, engineering, and design. Technology in the past made us stronger and faster. AI will make us smarter. We just need to wait a little longer…
PS: I am no AI expert, I pretty much know nothing about AI & Design but this is just my two cents!
It starts with baby steps.
I’m usually fascinated by kids who try to act all grown up while mimicking every step of their parents. They dress, talk and walk like them and after all the charades, kids remain kids. Nothing changes. At the end, this mimicry only reminds us of their parents.
The approach in itself is not bad. As a matter of fact, it is helpful. When properly observed, you not only avoid making the same mistakes as your mentors, but also get exposed to intricate details of their workings.
In my opinion, if experience is truly the best teacher, benefiting from other people’s experiences should be a compulsory course. The reason is simple; we may not live long enough to gather all these experiences ourselves, therefore, it’s only natural for beginners to copy experts as they aspire to achieve the same level of greatness.
So, It’s no surprise to see young designers who learn by replicating the works of some advanced designers. As starters, venturing into a new discipline is hard; sometimes as hard as Olumo rock. To alleviate the pain and avoid wandering, we learn by duplicating existing ideas or projects – find what looks great, download and recreate. It makes the burden a lot easier to bear. And not just that, beginners tend to learn faster by recreating existing works of an expert.
However, depending on the signature works of experts robs you of your voice. As you acquire different voices of your favourites, you are likely to start producing noise. And the implication can be devastating; everytime you recreate a favourite designer’s work and share with your audience, you lose a piece of yourself in the process.
The question, however, is: when should a designer stop recreating the works of an expert?
Once you have gone past beginners level, take a break from replicating other designers’ works and focus on creating something unique for yourself. Start a journey towards self discovery/awareness. Look inward to find what makes you stand out. At intermediate level, you should learn to work without references.
The voice of an expert is already established and known to his target audience. Continuous replications of such style therefore means taking up his voice while losing yours. It’s the price you pay to be like him. Imitation makes us lose ourselves in an attempt to be like someone else. And if it doesn’t stop, you risk becoming a lesser version of your mentor, which eternally denies you the joy of creating projects that are reflections of your true self.
To be fair, designers often need to experiment with the works of industry experts in order to learn the ropes. However, once that is achieved, you should place a stop order on replicating the works of a mentor before it becomes a style you are known for. Remember, that style is owned by someone else – the expert. Adopting the same style will only remind your audience of the owner. That’s a terrible place to be.
Design is a creative endeavour; and as such, must be original. As much as there’s nothing new under the sun, design should be new and refreshing to the creator and his audience. This only becomes a reality when design takes up a unique voice – a personal signature. A voice, in design, is the signature style of the creator. This ingredient makes everything delectable even when the idea is as old as Methuselah.
As a Creative, you have to find your voice. This is possible by owning a style. Thus, you avoid assuming the posturing of your mentor. The style has to be consistent and known to your audience.
Some are of the opinion that designers are likely to find their unique voice by narrowing down on skillset. Wrong. Being a specialist can only get you closer to finding your voice. As matter of fact, there are niches within a niche. How far do you really want to go? The point is, you can be a specialist without any traceable or recognizable voice. I know designers who have mastered a niche area but still have no signature style.
A signature style is attainable by consistently doing what you love and sharing with the world. You are free to express your ideas as you deem fit with no restriction whatsoever.
Start by doing it for you. Ignore what works and do what you love. Clients only work with what works, therefore it might be too much risk to experiment with such projects. So I’ll suggest you create a personal project folder where you dump all your personal works. There you can figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. You can rely on intuition to be your guide instead of copying an existing art.
As you continue to create, over time, a similar pattern will emerge and become apparent in all your works. This discovery should lead towards owning a style borne out of your ingenuity. Reinforce this pattern further in your visual communication.
Share your art constantly with your audience until they absorb every part of it. This is very important. You only stop being a lesser version of your mentor when your audience starts taking note of what sets you apart. At this point, they recognise your voice as much as you do.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBy Yemi Fetch, Creative Director, Freak Creative Limited.
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\n\n\n\nThere are growing concerns about the level of professionalism in the graphics design industry. Ifeoluwa Sopeju raised concern about this, and I thought of adding my professional opinion. I teach Advertising professionals at the University of Greenwich, and I believe students should be prepared for what lies ahead in their industry.
\n\n\n\nFor some background, Sopeju shared a website design promotion from N27,000 to N1,000; logo on mockup for only N300, and teaching 20 Digital Skills for N1,000. These people have been called quack designers who are causing damage to the design industry. While some people might be seen as haters for complaining about these promotions, it is essential to have a holistic understanding of the issues at stake.
Before proceeding, allow me to explore those who might be influenced by these promotions.
\n\n\n\nThese groups of individuals are not the focus of this article, but they are the motivation, and hopefully, they can be brought into the fold.
\n\n\n\nChallenges
\n\n\n\nImportantly, we need to recognize the nature of the industry. The entry-level is low. Anyone with a Laptop and CorelDraw can claim to be a designer. The most professional course has a high entry-level, which makes it very much regulated. You can imagine how many years it takes to study Medicine, Law, or Architecture? These individuals invest lots of effort into their education development, and you can imagine why they make an effort to protect their profession.
Following on from the higher education requirement for a graphics designer, it is not surprising to know that the industry is not regulated, not recognized by the government, and even seldom recognized in the Nigerian higher education system. Therefore, the industry shouldn’t be compared with other professions because anyone with no formal education can be a graphics designer, while a formal education is not a prerequisite, it suggests the porous nature of the industry. You can not just claim to be a Doctor, without acquiring a formal degree
\n\n\n\nThirdly, we need to recognize the economic situation of Nigeria, which has led to an increase in quack teachers trying to make money and quack business owners who are looking for cheap service. Understandably, these people will often want to go for the cheapest offer, even though it is not guaranteed that it is the best.
\n\n\n\nFourth, quack can be a relative word. Creativity can also be relative; what you define as creative may not be creative to someone else. This subjective nature of art needs to be recognized as well, and it suggests why some people will not mind having anybody to design for them. They like what they see because they have not seen anything better or because that is the best they can imagine.
\n\n\n\nFollowing up on that, there are creative individuals as well who could offer a beautiful design at a very cheap rate. This suggests why companies like Wix are providing cloud-based web builders, allowing people to create a website using online drag and drop tools, Disha from Cregital allowing people to create a one-page site on their phone without paying thousands of dollars for professional website designers. No doubt some people will charge thousands of pounds, but there are people as well who can do it cheaper without compromising standards and quality.
\n\n\n\nCompetition should be recognized in the market space. Many advertising agencies are complaining that freelance graphics designers are taking their jobs. These freelancers are doing so because they can save on the overhead cost of running an agency. Now, a sole proprietor who is a graphics designer can position their brand as an advertising agency even if they are not registered with Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), or Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN).
Opportunities and Future Plans
\n\n\n\nMoving forward, what can we do? We in the case, I mean professional graphics designers who are willing to make changes, improve the perception of the industry ad offer outstanding creative services to customers
\n\n\n\nFirstly, there should be a definition of a professional graphics designer. Would graphics designer be adopted as a generalized name or people wants to be a brand designer or UX designer? It is essential to know who is fighting this battle and who can be called upon. Would you expect those who already have advertising agencies to be part of the group? Or they will be part of AAAN?
\n\n\n\nSecondly, with the recognition of who a professional is, it is essential for them to keep educating themselves. To increase their knowledge and be able to deliver when called upon. Professionals need to recognize that the competition is out there and therefore, they should not rest on their oars. Even when not officially affiliated with any professional body, individual professionals must take responsibility for their knowledge about design and the business of design.
\n\n\n\nThirdly, there is a need for professionals to come together and form a self-regulatory body or a professional association. The organization would need to present what makes an individual a professional graphics designer. Could this be the formal education that has been received, the number of years of experience, or the accolades the person has received? This organization should move beyond the Nigerian Designer group on Facebook to something that is registered and recognized. People may have to join by getting their works verified and possibly getting recommendations. There is the Design Council in the UK and The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) in the USA.
\n\n\n\nFourth, provided that this professional body is strong enough, they can start working with Universities and other educational institutions to develop curriculum that supports graphics designer as a professional. This means they need to work universities, possibly splitting it from visual design, mass communication, and/or journalism and creating a unique program/degree for graphics designers. There should be a curriculum that prepares the student for jobs as a professional designer.
\n\n\n\nFifth, while still waiting for the Universities to develop their curriculum to meet the needs of the students, it is essential for the professional body to provide opportunities for quality education through short programs and courses. This could involve working with existing academies, accrediting them, and certifying their courses. This could also lead to a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program that is recognized in the industry. Suggesting that anyone to be admitted should have passed courses from an accredited training institute. Anyone that wants to be recognized should be able to demonstrate their verified understanding of design.
\n\n\n\nSixth, there is a need to build collaboration with other stakeholders within the creative sphere. This collaboration may mean liaising with other professional bodies like Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), and Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) to work with accredited designers. This could also mean working with the advertising agencies, media houses, and other professionals to ensure that the place of graphics designer in the country is recognized.
\n\n\n\nLastly, educating the community is essential. While we cannot stop people from using the services offered by these “quack designers”, the professionals need to educate people about the business of design, the expectation from a graphics designer, and how to do business. The community must raise awareness about the damages quack designer can cause to a business. This education is essential because many may not be aware and therefore, the professionals have a role to play as a body and individuals to protect the industry.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nConclusion
\n\n\n\nGraphics design is a profession but not recognized as a professional profession. Many quack designers are coming onboard to disrupt the industry, albeit negatively. In this piece, I have tried to recognize the challenges of the sector and importantly highlight opportunities and a possible action plan. Few individuals must take the responsibility of changing the narrative of graphics designers in Nigeria by banding together to form a professional association that will be tasked with educating people and also developing the industry at large. It is, however, a long-term duty, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
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In 2018, I and a team of 5 applied to the United Nations Millennium Ocean’s Prize for a grant of $5,000 to carry out campaigns and sustainable projects to help in achieving the SDG14. Our campaign was targeted at creating awareness on the harm in disposing of plastics in water bodies and how this affects marine life and also, in turn, affects their health. As the lead strategist on communications, I advised on starting the planning process by considering how key audiences receive information (format, language, and context) concerning the environment and with whom they discuss or seek advice and guidance with regards to usage or misuse.
Also, our campaign follows a specific sequence that moves the target audience from awareness of an issue towards a behaviour resulting in a specific outcome. To have an effective campaign, I advised based on evidence and also experience that the campaign must also adapt to, and consider the context of, the community it serves.
Several findings led us to deliver our proposed campaign via illustrations using comical characters common to the community and also telling stories in their cultural context. At first, it was all laughs and exciting experience for kids and teens, as the message kept spreading it became a conscious decision and just as we predicted and hoped, kids would sing on top of their voices while doing environmental sanitation just to mimic the stories we shared with them and what was formerly a chore became an exciting collaborative activity.
In reaching an audience via digital channels, I think it is important to understand the target audience’s behaviour across several digital channels concerning the kind of campaign being created. Here are a few questions that provide context into these;
For example; while Twitter is fast becoming both a networking platform and also one for sharing of opinions, people still prefer sharing professional insights and connections via Linkedin. Also while people share pictures also on twitter, Instagram still holds the best channel for sharing audio-visual content.
Also, other important inquiries that help provide adequate insight are;
\n\n\n\nFor example:
\n\n\n\nAll of these answer the question of what channel to use and how to also track key results.
The best way to ensure that campaigns are accessible to a range of audiences is to share digital content across several channels that have shown great insights in reach and engagement. Here are a few;
1. Social Media: Stories are increasingly popular among Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube platforms as people continue to consume digital video content faster. Currently, over 970 million accounts are posting to their stories and 50% of businesses are taking advantage of the feature.
2. Retelling a campaign story using a trend: Incorporating video content of a campaign into a trend on or off social media continues to be important and shows no signs of being an effective channel to share digital content. For example, during Valentine’s digital campaign last year in Nigeria, a video campaign on domestic violence was incorporated with the ‘I got flowers’ theme and shed light on how “for love’s sake” victims have lost their lives. Very insightful campaign!
3. While working remotely with Funded Today, USA in 2017 via Upwork, lead generation was an important part of our personalized marketing process. Personalization is the key to every email marketing strategy because it shows customers that you care about their problems. In fact, 79% of consumers are more likely to buy a product or service if they receive promotions specific to them. Essentially, generic emails sent to a long contact list is not going to cut it. By setting up email triggers, you can automate emails to respond when users engage with your website or content. For example, if a customer browses a certain product, send a follow-up email with a promotion code for that specific good.
\n\n\n\nTo track, and monitor campaigns across a range of audiences, here are a few tools that I have used and have proven to be effective;
1. Google’s in-market audiences
\n\n\n\nThis feature lets you target consumers who are researching unique products or services. This report feature from Google Analytics reports finding the highest performing Affinity Categories and In-Market Segments. With unique product insights, you can build different ad groups around each of the audiences and create messaging that resonates with them. This works because you are making decisions that are backed by data by finding out who the best customers are and then going out to try and find more of them.
2. Using Google’s Ad Editor for Remarketing
\n\n\n\nIn Google Ads Editor, you can download, view, and assign existing audiences different ads at different points in time. Depending on a campaign type, we can target remarketing lists, custom combination lists, life events, and interest categories. Google Ads allows a marketer to do lots of A/B testing and set up ‘ad clusters’ to compare which campaigns are most effective.
3. Prioritize SEO
\n\n\n\nOrganic SEO is the best audience targeting there is because there is nothing better than simply being in front of the customer when they search for exactly what you can offer. If a brand ranks high for relevant terms, it is targeting everyone actively searching for a product and service.
I am a planner and more than often, I almost plan for all scenarios, this includes handling of emerging issues. Developing a strategy has helped me handle issues immediately they arise and also prevent them from distracting me from the big picture. The first step in developing a successful strategy is to create a process to identify emerging issues, the specifics of that process should include reaching out to appropriate quarters for resolution.
While running a campaign with a team of 5 people on the SDG14, a series of issues emerged as the campaign progressed. Engaging community leadership; while the community was friendly, it also took orders from a leader and his say was final. It was almost impossible getting him to approve the usage of his community as a case study citing that the campaign will put the community in a bad light.
I and my team anticipated this challenge and beforehand prepared an engagement process that is dynamic to several responses on different issues. It guided us in what to say and what to do when we encountered different challenges.
You are a designer. Congratulations, We celebrate you! But now you are charged by your team to brainstorm on ideas on this new platform you all have set out to build. You are sitting in this well lit room that could double as a speck-less isolation centre with a few of your colleagues, while the Project Manager walks in. She is dressed in event t-shirts yet again, and you are not surprised — that is her style.
\n\n\n\n“Illustrations!” her voice tears through your premature thoughts, of how she has no sense of style and nothing else to wear in her wardrobe. “what do we think about the illustrations for the landing page?” she continues, “I personally do not think we should work with pictures this time. Let us try something different, or what do we think?”
\n\n\n\nIndeed she has caught your attention. You remember that yours is not just a design role and that you are doubling as the team’s sole designer and graphic illustrator. You have to say something — you think to yourself, “I am not confused.” You came prepared.
\n\n\n\nEnter 3D illustrations. Dear Designer, it is not enough to have a personal style as an illustrator and of course master it, you also have the freedom to explore whatever style that feels interesting enough for you (or your team lead), and effective enough for the project to be marketable and pleasing to its users.
\n\n\n\nDon’t forget, Illustrators are often sought after for their personal artistic skill or aesthetic.
3D Illustrations
\n\n\n\nEvery few months product designers and print studios look for new ways to continue creating engaging visuals to infuse into the experience of their products or content for their campaigns. Highly prevalent right now — albeit a trend — is the use of extremely friendly characters for products and marketing. This is where the designer comes in, with 3D characters that almost feel very human and yet appear as rubbery toys that can easily be played with.
\n\n\n\nOf course the engaging potentials of this new style has already been tested by a few organisations to see how customers react to seeing them being used, but it is left for the designer to chose to use this style or not in projects they are involved in.
\n\n\n\nA 3D illustration is different from a 2D illustration in many ways. In this case, the audience sees objects (characters, items, etc.) in three dimensions instead of the usual two, and is able to work them rather easily. Explaining it lightly enough, the obvious benefit would be the ability to pose this model or character any how the illustrator wishes.
\n\n\n\nBenefits of 3D illustrations
\n\n\n\nThere are many other benefits however using in 3D models:
\n\n\n\nand many more…
\n\n\n\nApplications
\n\n\n\nHere are a few companies, studios or illustrators using this “new,” playful style in their works.
\n\n\n\n1. Pitch Software
\n\n\n\nPitch, the previous builders of Wunderlist have managed to design a page that sucks you in whenever you visit, with the interactions, type and of course the witty use of 3D illustrations allover their landing page. The same could also be said for their blog.
\n\n\n\nYou can also see a few other methods they have optimised this style to create the type of feeling they want for their product.
\n\n\n\nThe Scene and Character design of Pitch
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Leo Natsume
\n\n\n\nThis Brazilian designer is an example of an illustrator that shifts his style according to trends and still manages to keep his clients interested in his works. Leo now creates 3D illustrations to the patronage of handful of influential brands.
\n\n\n\n3. Kirill Emelyanov
\n\n\n\nDesigner Kirill from Portugal has also created a business pack under Arki Studios, which is a selection of a few icons that can be posed in Figma or Cinema 4D and have made these available as a freebie.
\n\n\n\nThe designer should note however that this is only free for personal use only. So, there is a lot of freedom to learn from this set and use freely for personal projects.
\n\n\n\n![\"Expressing](\"/static/9dbe815a2e474ad94bb461d304da15e8/1vNSJbdZ0EPkHqlyB_fOtcg.gif\")
Getting started with 3D forms
\n\n\n\nYou are a designer. If it were not for the bug called creativity, you would have been a Medical Doctor or an Engineer. However, your other career or hobby options are nothing compared to what you are right now, a designer! You can learn anything, but be warned, the learning curve for this one is rather steep.
\n\n\n\nHere are a few things to consider, before getting started:
\n\n\n\nSoftware and cost of machine
\n\n\n\nBefore getting started, you have to know that most 3D softwares, plugins and tools are not free. Here is a list of a few of these softwares that you could start with.
\n\n\n\nand many more.
\n\n\n\nYou also have to consider rendering engines that could go with these for some of the best results: Autodesk Arnold, Octane, Vray, Redshift, etc.
\n\n\n\nWhile for the hardware tools, you would most likely need access to a dedicated system that can handle most 3D modeling and rendering works. These types of systems do not come for cheap, and could range from a sizable chunk of your savings to all of your savings. Some very reliable ones come with in-built or external graphic rendering hardware like Nvidia GeForce or AMD Ryzen processing chips.
\n\n\n\nHowever you choose to go about this journey DearDesigner, we are with you all the way. Acquiring a new style or skill is not a thing for the faint-hearted. Best of luck.
I am always happy knowing I am a designer in Nigeria at this moment until a client negotiates a price lower than my minimum then I start getting angry and sometimes I rant about it, lol.
\n\n\n\nThen the cycle repeats itself, a crazy world.
Let me explain more.
So, I like to say technology arguably got into Nigeria less than 15 years ago. In fact, many of the startups and technology-driven companies that we are loving currently didn’t exist before this 15 years mark.
The difference is that within the last 10 to 15 years, so many people have taken up the challenge to solve several problems for us from payment to agriculture, even down to community building and relationships.
Yes, there are many problems worth solving in Nigeria and that is a good thing because it presents an opportunity for designers who have positioned themselves as problem solvers to thrive because we know design happens before the pixels.
Here’s another thought of mine.
I believe the next 5 years will greatly define the design/creative industry in Nigeria. Why 5?
5 years for me is enough to go from novice to pro and then with the increase in problem solvers, we would have more startups and that would be more problem solving and that would later translate into creating more innovative solutions and then more designers in jobs, then finally impact.
Yes, I know it’s a rabbit hole that can be ruined by government policies and several situations but I will be happy dancing in this hole for now.
Also, look at the current companies you use their apps that were founded in Nigeria, most weren’t existing 15 years ago but it wasn’t as if the problems weren’t there. E-commerce can arguably be one of the earliest tech innovations and the 2 current giants came up in 2012. lol.
\n\n\n\nWhen I used an android phone for the first time in 2013, hell I didn’t even know Nigerians could do something like that (excuse my young mind), now we are pushing problem-solvers around the world faster than our debt profile can increase.
A possibility means it can happen, not happen and even happen better.
But before then, what can you do as a designer (new or experienced)? You can decide to get ready by:
\n\n\n\nOr you can actually take the bulls by the horn and start solving a problem from the start.
\n\n\n\nGod knows the world needs more designers leading companies.
If you think I am far-fetched, try to remember what you were like 5years ago and where you are now, then try to write down what made you progress and why those opportunities you had came along, then repeat.
Yeeeaaaah, It’s a long road but we are already on the road.
Let me go and finish my portfolio, let my “advice no waste”.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Simeon Fadahunsi","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Simeon-Fadahunsi-black.jpg"},"authorLink":"http://linkedin.com/in/simeonfda"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABQAAAAUCAIAAAAC64paAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAADNklEQVQ4y01T2W4bORBscnh2N685NDotH7I1tnxFsrwKkgWMDfKyH7D//ymL8QEEKIAE2FXVLDahO99Mbobu5mayve+uNnm2iqnxFJA4t12a9KWfNdNlbKcOg1POSYPCeKEdVNBc3fbboR2G+mooyyXmllKOuSl9385X7WrdrS7K7IxLS5wQA2JEZPSMlqEZDvPdrtveleVlbCfrs0W7vMZY2uWiXVx0q/N6sY5NjyGHkDlm4sgxc0wca+i3x37s9izVnaX0drd5+/1fuzoPdZ+arjRdyC1j9BbZBT86M3MiipwayLMhpESW2aCE6uVyuXv8/uP5mFZbtD5gQI0kjZfaS4PSokZnvDfOcwLvGi+UFxqlFgCH60Xob89DOv08lfbaSI3CkNA41igcMQo5YbwlGJePA6kAYL+Zp/4eADZNftn/nZqZgQpF9VHjx001CoFylQOvcGxGGq6sBLm/WaZ+BwACYD3Jp2+nkOcO4A/yuz8opxwQ10SBMQROyvjD7XmajM4gJABc1u3r8a+SlxYAhXZCfUE7ixBSx6mkXOpuZjkd7q8+nYUUMPIv6nzYn0qZWxjN3XtApB26CBQKh5RKXU8XmOrX5yFMdhpAO45OHe+enh5efv98ezr+MhUiSDem48giYQK0jJ5iSvVkTqk5Pt+W6fC0OF8+7q1Sp5u71e2Lr1zwjFJ/Rqs8OvI+gheGKkfIMdeO4o/d5vj9383FzfPjA3fXZ4GH5xejogXx+WDSoEHyhJjBgeLKsaNAUSv/ul1vdv8AwP2iGR7eRFU9Xa8ny0cLFUmLQqP27AJhGO/shSLl0CJZRo3BkVMOtUuVPX17mVxsD8MwvTpoqVEhKUc+jMDgDIOXxiuHxpNl0uiEHcdAGgR91nf73X6ze+Yyd568Cymk3EyJIvlgFQKPboEds+Gg/PtfVe/DqK1QFUgttffEFEMspWlzN025DVz8SLac/KjkFZK045C/411Ck9RjnBoZQ6nb3PVpMs1NH3ODioBsiD4GH0kRCYN/kP3XZyBhgsVct/V0Vmar1Exiqr0JwD5HH9kGko6FprFU85cEfvgLg8oxx9J2ZbrITR9iTZj/Bx+rR8jIEerjAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/0629aa0a5d45de6799b383e38b6c456f/c1587/pasted-image-0.webp","srcSet":"/static/0629aa0a5d45de6799b383e38b6c456f/2e34e/pasted-image-0.webp 200w,\n/static/0629aa0a5d45de6799b383e38b6c456f/416c3/pasted-image-0.webp 400w,\n/static/0629aa0a5d45de6799b383e38b6c456f/c1587/pasted-image-0.webp 800w","sizes":"(min-width: 800px) 800px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":800,"height":800}}}}}},{"uri":"/pandemic-illustration/","title":"Illustration in the Time of a Pandemic.","slug":"pandemic-illustration","date":"20 May, 2020","content":"\nOn 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation characterised COVID-19 to the general public, as a full-blown “pandemic.” The entire world was officially confirmed as being in another world health emergency. Economies were guaranteed to be shut down, most businesses forced to close down and to be put at the potential risk of ceasing to be businesses. This is not the first time the world has been put in such a situation, but who this article aims to address are Creative Designers and Graphic Illustrators stuck in this general problem.
\n\n\n\nAs an Illustrator …
\n\n\n\nYour job or hobby is as important as you make it out to be. You are not a health worker, neither is your craft glorified as essential work, but who says it isn’t?
\n\n\n\nUltimately, you define your importance in difficult times like this, by asking simple questions like:
\n\n\n\nThe answers to these are: yes, yes and yes. How so?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“It is not so much where my motivation comes from but rather how it manages to survive.”
First, find your motivation.
\n\n\n\nThere are no truer words for these times than those of Louise Bourgeois, that as a Creative, you have to keep your motivation alive. It doesn’t matter where that motivation comes from and it does not have a constant source for every individual. It only starts from a question—that comes from a problem that needs to be solved.
\n\n\n\nProblem-solving is very common to every designer. It is the basis of our career. So, find your question from a problem and solve it.
\n\n\n\nOne hand, two hands.
\n\n\n\nThe size of the problem is only as big as the size (or weight) of your imagination, so think small, big or wide. Think anyhow you are used to. Find a note, fill it with ‘scrap’ thoughts and ideas.
\n\n\n\nWhen you find one that calls to you to solve, GET TO WORK. If that problem happens to be too big for you, find a friend, or a colleague, or a community and pitch it to them. Who knows, you might even create a new industry from the tip of your stylus.
\n\n\n\nNot everyone is going to solve problems.
\n\n\n\nDepending on your city, you may currently be on lockdown, or out there practising a version of social distancing while performing everyday tasks, but that has not stopped OTHER digital artists or professionals from creating. Instagram, Behance, Artstation, etc., are all flooded with creative works during this period and there is ample support from the design community, with a lot of free offers (for promotion and reach) online. These artists don’t seem to create to solve a problem, right?
\n\n\n\nWrong. Creativity for the sake of it always solves a problem (rather unknowingly). Think about this for a second.
\n\n\n\nSo, if your aim is just to create for the sake of it, do it. Start an #Inktober in May, call it #iMayInk, play around, do what you love, stay happy.
\n\n\n\nArchitectural explorations by Harrison Yinfaowei
\n\n\n\n10 Tips for Maintaining Creativity During Pandemic
\n\n\n\nHonestly, this is a list of 8 tips, with tips 2 and 3 added for emphasis; You have to be alive, well and in good physical health to make use of the other tips.
\n\n\n\nTip 10, however, comes last — isolated — because it is the next most important after tips 1–3. Your mental health is very important, especially in isolation.
\n\n\n\nLet’s talk about this. Tell a very DearDesigner some tips that have helped you, so far during this pandemic. We’d survive this together.
(Movie Starts)
\n\n\n\nClip of Derin and her new team at the office laughing at some joke someone made.
\n\n\n\nRecord scratch.
\n\n\n\nFreeze frame on Derin laughing.
Yup! That’s me. You are probably wondering how I got here. Well, it’s a long story. I warned you ahead. Get comfortable ‘cos this might take a while.
I’m going to divide this into sections so it’s easy to track where you are and know what you’re reading on.
\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION—HOW I GOT INTO DESIGN
My name is Aderinsola Oluwafemi, also known as, Atarah. Earlier this month, I got a job as a Product Designer after being in UI/UX Design for about 4-5 months.
Before I officially got into design, I was, and still am, a photographer. I got into photography when I was 13, in 2012, and for a while, all I loved taking pictures of were flowers and other aspects of nature.
After graduating from high school in 2015, I got into event photography. This required me to learn how to design photo books for my clients. From this, I learnt how to do basic designs using Adobe software – Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Over time, I began to do a few things like flyer/poster designs for my church and friends, social media posts and quotes for my online ministry, t-shirt designs for my Christian cloth-line and other designs requested by the family. I had never actually considered myself a designer. To me, I was just someone who knew how to use Photoshop for things other than photo editing.
I didn’t have a laptop of my own. My old one had developed issues in 2016/2017 so I used my mom’s laptop for all my design and photography work. 2018, I moved out of Lagos, and while transporting our stuff from the old house to the new one, the screen of my mom’s laptop got bad. It was impossible to see anything on it, let alone, design anything using it. We couldn’t get a new one so whenever I wanted to design, I would have to connect the laptop to the TV via the HDMI cable and use the TV as a monitor.
Fast-forward to early 2019, I officially decided I wanted to be a designer after befriending someone who was passionate about design and a great designer. He helped me improve on my skills and constantly motivated me to be better.
\n\n\n\nGETTING INTO UI/UX DESIGN
I got into UI Design in October 2019. How and why, I truly don’t know. The funny thing for me is, I had originally decided that I wasn’t going to be a UI/UX Designer for some reason. I had actually made up my mind that it wasn’t for me. It seemed like a difficult and impossible field to get into. I considered sticking with graphic design or becoming a logo designer, but one day—I still don’t know what possessed me—I found myself signing up for the Daily UI challenge and downloaded Adobe XD on my mom’s laptop.
My first challenge was to design a sign-up screen, but ended up going further than that and designed a few screens for a travel app. I was quite pleased with myself and realized that UI Design was probably going to become the love of my life. There was a time in my life where I felt less than everyone else because I didn’t go to University. But after discovering UI/UX, I didn’t care anymore. I had found something I loved to do and I didn’t need to go to school to do it. As much as I love photography, it never really gave me the amount of joy and peace UI does. There’s just something about creating something beautiful that makes me happy and fulfilled.
I decided that for my second attempt at UI, I was going to redesign the interface of one of my favourite apps – AnyBooks. It wasn’t really easy to do because of the whole laptop situation. Plus, where I lived, power supply wasn’t constant so it was difficult to design regularly. We also had guests staying over and whenever there was light (mostly at night), the TV was in use. The only way I would get to design was by waiting for everyone to go to bed (which was usually around 11pm/12am) and then I’d have the TV all to myself. This was basically my design routine until I was given a laptop in December as a Christmas present.
I finally completed and posted my AnyBooks redesign online. It was then that I officially joined the Design Twitter community and made a number of amazing friends who have contributed a lot to my growth.
A few days after my AnyBooks redesign, one of these new friends – Abayomi Semudara – called me “The UI Queen”. I didn’t believe I was because I was literally just a few weeks into UI, but I went ahead to make it my name on all possible platforms as per taking after my Father and calling the things that aren’t as though they were (Romans 4:17) 😅. On that day, the identity “Atarah, the UI Queen” was born.
THE IMPACT OF GREAT FRIENDS AND A DESIGN COMMUNITY + GROWING AS A UI/UX DESIGNER
All this while, I was only really involved in UI Design, but as my network of designers grew (most of them being UI/UX Designers), I began to understand what exactly UX is and how important it is. In my quest to know more and not really knowing where exactly to start, I began to ‘famz’ people 😂. I hopped into the Twitter DMs of every UI/UX Designer I admired and made every single one of them my design parents (a friend of mine recently called me a Reverse Abraham – the daughter of many nations 😂😂).
I can’t stress how important it is to have a network and community of designers – especially ones in the same field as you. While there are so many of them who have helped and are still helping me a lot on this journey, I have to give a special shout out to Daniel Abayomi, Mudia Imasuen, Aanu Sebiomo and Wiz. These guys contributed and continue to contribute a lot to my growth as a UX Designer. They want the absolute best for me and never fail to create time to answer questions I have, review work I’ve done, call me and basically give me premium UX masterclass sessions. They’ve had my back from the start and I’m so grateful for them. If you’re reading this, which I’m sure you are, I love you guys ❤️.
I was invited to join the Àşà Coterie community in November and was made a community manager soon after. It’s been an amazing experience and has exposed me to a lot of great designers. The community has contributed a whole lot to my growth, especially in terms of knowledge. There’s this thing we do – started by Dumss – where we have to read at least one design article a day and post what we’ve read in the Whatsapp group. I especially love the group for the discussions. I don’t think it’s possible to be a member of Àșà and not grow as a designer. Even my mom acknowledges the impact of being a member there has had on me.
Every designer – especially if you’re new/upcoming – needs a network and community of designers. There’s so much you can learn by having random discussions on various aspects of design.
It’s also easy to get overwhelmed and feel like an imposter. I struggled (and still struggle actually) a lot with this. I sometimes feel like I’m not as good as everyone thinks I am—like there are high expectations everyone has of me and I have to live up to them or I’ve failed. Comparing myself to my friends and role models and feeling like I’m not making any progress. Hearing all these design terms—lmao, the first time I heard of Affinity Mapping I had a ‘hedek’ cos what?—and not knowing what they are, I’ve had to constantly remind myself that learning and growing is a process. I can’t expect to know and understand everything from the onset. I need to take it one step at a time and improve daily instead of trying to go from 0-100 real quick. I’m saying this because there are a lot of people who compare themselves to people who’ve been in the field longer. The fact that you don’t know certain things YET doesn’t mean you aren’t growing or making any progress.
Asides from my friends and community, I learnt a lot by reading. I’m not really one to sit still and watch videos so YouTube wasn’t an option for me. Whenever I come across a subject I don’t particularly understand, I search for articles related to that subject and read up on it. This is the reason I have so many tabs open in Google Chrome.💀
\n\n\n\nGETTING A JOB
For a while, I wasn’t interested in applying for jobs. I wanted to be a freelancer but then I soon realized that I would rather get a 9-5 design job than stay at home and work. I’d already learnt a lot on my own, with the help of friends online and various resources but I wanted to be in a team with other designers I could actively learn from. I wanted to be accountable to someone.
I applied for a job at a company in January but didn’t hear back. I was presented with a number of opportunities but a lot of them were either looking for someone with a university degree – which I don’t have – or someone who had at least 2 years of experience. Seeing as that wasn’t going to work out for me, I decided to start looking out for internships but there weren’t many of those.
Just when I was about to give up, one of my design daddies – JayKay – sent me a message telling me of a friend of his who was looking for a design intern in Ikeja. I sent in my application and waited to hear back fingers crossed. They responded the next day but Airtel had been playing games all day so I didn’t see their email till I was headed to bed. I was given a task to do and I was to submit on and before 11:59pm the next day – which happened to be my birthday.
People that know me to know that I’m literally always in front of my laptop working on a design. I wake up, head for my laptop and sit there till it’s night and time for bed. I had decided that I wasn’t going to do this on my birthday. The plan was to spend the day with family, eating food and watching movies but I guess life had other plans. I ended up locking myself up in the room (to avoid distractions and conversations) and spent all day working on the task I was given. I finished in the evening but hesitated to send it in. I didn’t think it was good enough. I felt I could have done better but there was no time to start again especially since it had literally taken me all day to complete. I delayed for a while before eventually submitting about an hour to the deadline.
I didn’t hear back for a while. The anxiety was killing me. I didn’t know if I had done a good job or not. I was so stressed gosh 😂😂. But my parents and some friends reminded me to trust in God and that His will would be done. They sent me a few scriptures to meditate on and that helped me calm down.
I eventually got an email from them almost two weeks later saying they would like to interview me via Zoom. I set the interview for the next day. Guys, my boss has the best poker face man. I couldn’t even tell if the interview was going well or not. It was driving me nuts 💀. When my parents asked me how it went afterwards, all I could do was shrug cause I didn’t know.
While I waited for a verdict, I moved to Lagos so I could attend Social Media Week (I got free tickets from a friend – thank you Charles 💛). I packed like I was moving to Lagos for good because I hoped I would get the job and wouldn’t need to go back home after Social Media Week ended.
And that’s exactly what happened. I received a mail asking if I was free to come in for a brief meeting/interview. When I did, I was told I got the job and would receive my offer letter soon. That was probably the happiest day of my life. During all this, I was still under the impression that I was going to be an intern but when I got my offer letter, I realized I was being offered a position as a Product Designer. Why? How? I still don’t know. I’m currently in the process of questioning my boss 💀💀
I absolutely love my job and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing and welcoming team. If I could go back in time, I don’t think there’s anything I would change. Everything I’ve gone through – good and bad – has led me up to this point in my life.
If you’re a beginner in this field, I hope my story inspires you. One thing I’ll advise you to do is always share your work. One of the major reasons I’m where I am now is because I shared my work online. I understand the fear of being trolled or receiving negative or rude comments but don’t let that stop you from sharing your work. Always remember that you’re growing. Be proud of where you are (but be teachable and willing to learn and improve). Don’t let anyone bring you down or make you doubt yourself. You may not be where you want to be but you’re on your way there. Don’t give up.
Also, famz all your faves guys. Hop into the dms of everyone you admire and make them love you and loyal to you. This is what I did 💀. A lot of the people you look up to and see as unreachable gods of design are actually very easy people to talk to. A number of them are cool, humble people who are willing to help others grow. Just recognize those who fall into this category and slide into their chats.
Another thing: a lot of us who are just getting into the UI/UX design space tend to start with the Daily UI challenge. I’ve seen people on Design Twitter say that this challenge is useless and doesn’t help beginners build a portfolio. I’ve seen them look down on and talk down at people who do the Daily UI challenge. But don’t let all this talk get to you. All the work I’ve put out are Daily UI challenges – except the AnyBooks redesign – and they helped me build a portfolio that landed me a job as a Product Designer.
\n\n\n\nIf you want to stand out, I would advise treating these challenges like they’re actual briefs you’ve received from clients. This is what sets you apart from others who are doing the same challenges. Don’t just jump in and design. Yeah, it says daily challenge but nobody is actually chasing you to finish the challenge in a day. Take your time. Do research on what it is you plan to design. Understand how the process works. Prioritize the little details. See yourself as the user of what you’re designing. Picture people using the product you’re designing and make let your design decisions be geared towards giving them a great experience. These are the things that help set you apart from the average beginner.
Check out this short Twitter thread for more on this:
\n\n\n\nYou can check out my Disha page to see some of my works.
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\n\n\n\nIt is common knowledge that one’s environment at work plays a major role in how effective one is. This information is not lost on designers and their need to be creative, and has led to a spur in modern workspaces across the world. This is especially true in organisations that employ designers and other creative professionals and require them to perform at peak performance.
Creativity, in itself, has been described as a process and also an outcome (a creative solution) and as such, has steps to achieving it. These steps can be broken down into four phases; the Investigation/Research phase, the Unconscious processing phase, the Eureka moment phase and lastly, the Validation phase.
It is important to note that not all designers would admit to relying on a laid down set of rules to creating solutions (this might be because some have a more ‘unscientific’ approach to how they solve problems or express their ideas and are thus unaware of their ‘methods’) but more often than not, the above list sums up their process.
Why is it important to know this process? So, as designers, we can control the process and as business owners, you can foster the process. The latter is given credence by the saying, “What you cannot measure, you cannot manage”. How does one determine how much their work environment either bolsters or hinders productivity in general, and in relation to the creative process?
Needless to say, companies have in recent times grown to prioritise the role of the designer, employers have ‘stepped up’ their workspaces to amplify creativity. Get this wrong and you amplify the chances of receiving meagre returns from your designers, alienating them or worse, you run the risk of watching them move to your competition.
How then can an employer engineer the creative process?
Simple. By structuring the workspace to mirror each step in the creative process. Creativity is the bedrock of innovation and business owners must give room to their designers to do their best work by providing the best incentives and avenues to do so.
The average person performs one of four types of work at every stage during the day; focus work, collaborative work, reflective work and/or socialising [read: play]. These form the basis of a typical workday.
Focus areas
\n\n\n\nThese areas are dedicated to intense focus work designed to leave very little room for distraction. An average person spends at least 50% of their workday in these areas because it facilitates research and brainstorming. It is your typical workstation setup surrounded by people with similar work setups. Some organisations prioritise this and have their people spend more than 60-80% of their workday in these spaces as they give an impression of diligence and focus (albeit sometimes exaggerated) while some offices gravitate towards another extreme providing only focus areas in their workspaces to the detriment of the designer.
\n\n\n\nCollaboration areas
\n\n\n\nThese areas foster communication between employees and teams which is a key proponent for good design and creativity. The avenue to share ideas and bounce them off colleagues cannot be overstated and this directly inspires the unconscious processing phase as our minds piece and pair information together as our colleagues dispense them. They are usually defined as meeting rooms, huddle spaces or the unorthodox lounge in more contemporary organisations. Care must be taken to ensure they are evocative and are in no way similar to the focus areas because that can easily negate the essence of such areas.
\n\n\n\nReflection areas
\n\n\n\nEasily the most underrated aspect of the modern workspace. Spaces designated for reflection afford the designer privacy from the world. Akin to Archimedes and his popular eureka moment in his bath, reflection areas provide designers with room and avenues to ‘stumble’ on eureka moments that are a sum of all the research and conversations had on a topic. These spaces usually appear as private pods, phone booths and restrooms (no kidding). Underestimate these spaces at your peril.
\n\n\n\nSocialisation areas (Play)
\n\n\n\nAreas designated for socialisation between workers in an establishment. It is very likely that a company has more specialists beyond the designers in its ranks and these areas give the designers the opportunity to interact with them in the form of play and healthy conversations. More often than not, conversations had in these areas provide respite to the creative mind of a designer and can unconsciously become a catalyst for alternative solutions to problems the designer is currently tackling.
A summation of these different spaces forms a holistic environment that nurtures and drives creativity. Engineering your workspace to control the creative process is the closest method to building a formula that works.
However, a key factor observed here is ‘Choice’. Studies have shown that creative people are more expressive and spontaneous so affording them the ability to choose what works for them and trusting them to deliver based on that is very important.
It is not improbable that the designer stumbles on a eureka moment in an area designated for focus work but the chances of that happening are slim and the option to arrive at such amazing moments should be left to the designer.
It’s 8:45 am— I woke up after falling asleep in my Uber. “Wait a minute!!! I’m not yet at work?” I’ve been on this trip since 6:15 am.
\n\n\n\nI’m not sure what I should be worried about, my bank account or my punctuality.
\n\n\n\nI finally got to work a few minutes past 9. With an eye out for the HR look, I settle down to get a debit alert of approximately N4,000😭.. With no time to worry (and waste), my manager asks me for an update on my progress report on Lattice ( Oga calm down na!).
\n\n\n\n“Be calm”, I grumbled in my head.
\n\n\n\nHungry and stressed from the journey, I’d still need to do what I get paid for. My brain won’t start-up for about an hour—it needs silence from all the honks and exhaust fumes on Lagos roads.
\n\n\n\nAt work, I’d get all sorts of personal messages:
\n\n\n\n– “Pelumi, your brother has been posted to law school and his fees are about N500,000. so…”
\n\n\n\n– “Plumexy!!!! How you dey na, abeg my house rent no complete, I fit see like 30k from your side, I promise I’ll return it next week”
\n\n\n\n– “Plum how far now, are those videos ready, remember we have 6 more to do this week for the speakers coming to minster in church”
\n\n\n\n– “Babe, you haven’t been talking to me as much as you used to. I think we need to spend more time together and…”
\n\n\n\n– “Hi Pelumi, please provide the security levy for the month of January — N7,000, plus LAWMA levy of N1,000 making a total of N8,000. Courtesy, your Landlord”
\n\n\n\n😭😭😭😭
I’m frustrated.
3:30 pm, I’m worried about how long it’ll take to get home. I check Google Maps and develop a mini-panic attack from all the red lines I see everywhere.
\n\n\n\nOn my way home, I struggle not to fall asleep because I’m sitting at the edge of the bus with the door wide open—one wrong move and I’m in the ocean.
\n\n\n\nTwo hours of heat, lots of honks and exhaust fumes, and I’m an hour away from home, Lol.
\n\n\n\nMy bus driver decided to pick up passengers in the middle of the road which is illegal and unethical. He pumped the brakes abruptly and the recoil velocity forced-shut the doors.
\n\n\n\nGuess what? My leg is by the door and gets caught between—screams everywhere, from only me… I look around to find some sympathy, I wasn’t going to get any. No one noticed. They were either lost in thought or looking the other way.
\n\n\n\nI cried inside.
\n\n\n\nI got home after 3 hours of commute, bought food on the way home and slept off on the couch where I had dinner. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating like a bottle of cold water. “When will NEPA bring light now?”
\n\n\n\nI crawled back to bed hoping to get some sleep. 5 minutes later, my alarm went off, or so I thought. The time definitely seemed short.
\n\n\n\nMy morning prayer sounded like, “Lord, if you can grant me just 2 more hours of sleep, I’ll serve you all my days”
\n\n\n\nBut I had to get up. I wasn’t early yesterday, I can’t be late today.. .
\n\n\n\nWhile having my bath, I started to think “Should I order a ride or try to take a bus? If I keep taking cabs, I’ll be over my budget this week ooo. But it’s 6:00 am already, abeg let me order a ride joor, I’ll sleep more and I should make it to work earlier this time.”
\n\n\n\nit’s 8:45 am, I woke up after falling asleep in my Uber.
\n\n\n\n“Wait a minute!!!……arrrrggggghhhh”
\n\n\n\n”Here we go again!”
That’s a short version of what my everyday used to look like. This experience is one of the great many ordeals a lot of people in Lagos go through every day, and it’s not getting better.
\n\n\n\nI became a designer (by day) because I loved to solve problems and it was one of the platforms I could use professionally. My subconscious has tried, numerous times, to figure out the transportation problem in Lagos but it’s always been a dead end.
\n\n\n\nFeeling powerless and hopeless about solving this problem make me start to question my problem-solving skills.
\n\n\n\nI design solutions for various categories of human beings, but solving this problem seems beyond me.
\n\n\n\nAs a designer, I’m well aware that “teamwork makes the dream work”, collaboration is paramount and always necessary. As I work hand in hand with engineers to build solutions, I expect the politicians I pay taxes to, to collaborate to build grand solutions that would make life easier for everyone.
\n\n\n\nI’m young, I’m energetic. I’m supposed to spend these youthful years experimenting. Finding new solutions to problems and inventing/reinventing the wheel. But I’m plagued with solving “cave-men” problems — electricity, water, food, transportation.
\n\n\n\nIn conclusion, a large chunk of our processing capacity is being used on solving basic issues that shouldn’t be existent. In turn, that makes everyone give less than they can. On a larger scale, it decreases our level of innovation.
\n\n\n\nThe end.
\n\n\n\nPlease share your commute-stories with me in the comments and say hi on Twitter.
If I was forced to pick a side, I would go with “never, no”—pick your choice, LOL.
Stock Photography is existing photos created or made available for licensing—for a fee, or free in exchange for you to reference the photographer but there isn’t a way to monitor that, yet.
Funny enough, stock images have existed for a long time but are now more accessible, hence, the popularity. As a designer, you have used at least 50 of these images in your work since you started. Heck, there was a time when we had an issue of white faces on posters here in Nigeria. I wonder if it’s still a thing.
Back to the topic, stock Images are lifesavers, trust me!
You’d also look back at all the times you have visited Pexels or Unsplash to source for an image for your work. Your client probably decided not to pay for a custom photoshoot, so you go on with the search phrase “black man holding cup”, “black women happiness”, etc—some you’ll find, some you won’t. LOL!
Yet, stock images are everywhere, from church posters to billboards to presentations to advertisements—everywhere!
Although, it is worth noting that in the past 3 years now, we have seen an increase in the use of illustrations to replace photographs in numerous applications—the importance of using photos have not diminished in the visual communication space.
Last year, Unsplash found a way to get big brands to pay for images that generate revenue for themselves and creators since they don’t use the traditional ad screens leading to more sustainability for the market.
Undraw has provided designers, content creators, and illustrators the opportunity to even create their own libraries.
In 2015, Adobe launched Adobe stock and claimed that 85% of people who buy stock images use its apps.
No numbers to prove this but they had a point.
\n\n\n\nThey saw the market for stock photography and they entered with a shortcut, they bought a stock photo service Fotolia which had 40 million pieces of content.
That was a good start and I think you can say it paid off.
\n\n\n\nYet, despite its huge importance to visual communication space, there are also disadvantages.
Competing brands using the same stock photos unintentionally, consumers seeing the same face in the same pose in 5-10 different industries have become unintentional happenings in the business world today. Imagine seeing one image used over and over again—tiring!
Because of the threat it poses to their marketing efforts, brands who have the budget now prefer to take their own unique photos, rather than using stock images. Even better, smartphones have allowed smaller brand owners to take their own images with the impressive camera features being rolled out, week in week out.
\n\n\n\nYou would think stock photography is on its way out, but the major reason why stock photography won’t die is that new brands would always start up without enough budget to get a photographer, new photos would be curated for free download, and industries will keep on evolving.
Photography brings us closer. We see ourselves in them and can relate emotionally to it. A photo says a thousand words. What cheaper investment would you get than stock photography?
What do you think about stock photography? Share in the comments below.
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\n\n\n\nThe flat design era is one that a few designers would wish left them them as quickly as their salaries did when they needed to get a new house. On the other side of the ocean, other designers would wish flat design were tattooed on their palms so they could easily pass a fraction of it to everyone they gave a sincere handshake. Folks have different strokes. Perhaps you’re slightly uninformed, “but what is flat design,” you might ask?
Flat Design
\n\n\n\nFlat design by definition is flat design, or rather generously, any design that is considered flat.
\n\n\n\nMore critically, flat design tries to shed every form of ‘unnecessary’ depth from within itself, channeling that energy to showing hierarchy with colours — and their beautiful shades in response to minimalism. It makes an attempt to bastardise every form of skeuomorphism (If you don’t know what that is, you’re probably too young, but keep reading) from its execution.Paying no attention to all the technicalities of this method, it is expedient to note that flat design had it’s highest point in 2019.
Humans and Society
\n\n\n\nAn illustrator or a graphic artist has one job, which is to be creative and possess excellent artistic skills, which they would use to create drawings (finished or aborted halfway) to be consumed in their raw form (in publications, packaging, exhibitions) or shipped to another designer to work with.
All illustrators are either Human or — most recently — Artificial Intelligence, but mostly human, hence live amongst us walking the face of the earth consuming anime. So they are a part of society, but what is Society?
\n\n\n\nSociety
\n\n\n\nTo know what this means, we could use the 4th definition from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, that defines the word very controversially as:
\n\n\n\nThe group of people in a country who are fashionable, rich, and powerful.
As laughable as this is, it is clear enough. If there were a group of people in a country who are fashionable, rich and powerful, then there must be another set who are none of these juicy words. There must also be others who are black, white, green and purple; others who are yet to define their gender; others who have chosen to be single till an asteroid comes to earth for a visit; others that are obese and others who are world champions; redheads, blondes, locked-haired; others who would rather Make America Great Again; and others who prefer to be governed by a traveling president. Society is hence a very complex issue. So complex, there are millions of failures and wars caused by clashing elements, ideologies and opinions in society.
On the brighter side, there are many great achievements because society chooses to be what it is — society.
This jungle is what illustrators/designers have to navigate every day while crafting less harmful ways to communicate [with] visually. Herein lies one of the greatest puzzles humans will ever face.
\n\n\n\nTo be, or not to be
\n\n\n\nThese words were uttered by Hamlet when he contemplated death and suicide in one of Shakespeare’s plays of the same name — Hamlet.
\n\n\n\nTo be, or not to be, that is the question:
Unfortunately, this is the same fate the illustrator/designer faces when he has to create works for society. He has to choose to be, or not to behumans of flat, equivalent to choosing between the known Jollof rice or classic Amala for dinner — such a tough decision to make.
Some design leaders came to the conclusion (through series of talks, researches and multiple doses of empathy) to make illustrations as accommodating as possible in a bid introducing as much inclusiveness into the industry.
Their argument was that illustrations (and designs) of old were too stereotypical, with recurring aspects that didn’t capture the generality of society. For example, illustrators are thought to be obsessed with over exaggerated breasts for female characters, properly toned models as characters — fully built with toned muscles for males and the “perfect” build for females, complete with slender arms — for their illustrations. This transcended into the race stereotype, beauty, etc., totally ignoring the disabled, fat, genderless, and a thousand more diversities in society.
The problem was known and they had a solution.
\n\n\n\nTo draw without focus.
To draw without any specific focus on any of these complexities that was found on the humans of society. So with every illustration, they proposed that the illustrator/designer had to push the bounds of these complexities, ultimately birthing a new genre of illustration, Humans of Flat Design.
\n\n\n\nHumans of Flat Design
\n\n\n\nA wise man once said:
\n\n\n\nIf you want to kill a horse slowly, tell it not to gallop
Illustrators/Designers saw this trend one morning after their coffee and while some fell in love with it, others saw it as the ugliest thing that had happened since society first witnessed mass murder.
Influential brands like Google, Apple, Uber, etc., have all been observed to commission illustrators with this style. There are also useful libraries to create these illustrations on the fly by clicking simple buttons on your web browser.
To some, it was their chance to create without paying any attention to human/animal anatomy which is hard enough (still in doubt? try reading this simple book), while to others it was a total slight on their skills to see other illustrators earn money — sometimes even higher than they did — doing works like these:
And this:
\n\n\n\n![\"](\"/static/2826a24352818442c795df13fa555e78/1hLLpQM4twh6pCB-93WL5fQ.gif\")
These look strange enough, but this? Totally striking.
\n\n\n\nAlas! the movement Humans of Flat Design was created to capture this phenomenon of torture and bliss.
Humans of Flat Design is a critique movement created by hardened design critic, Eli Shiff and friends. Explorations of this style could be found in the sewers of dank mockery on twitter under the @HumansofFlat handle.
Finally
\n\n\n\nIllustrators/Designers now have an option to either create peak socially conscious drawings, while numbing their eye for inexplicable concepts like taste or correctness, or to create just as they want to — beautiful works filled with all the bias of their personalities.
Where do you stand dear designer?
In 2018. I came across the conversation about the ethics of being a Designer for the first time. It was a series of tweets by Seyi Olusanya, about Designers being required to get licenses to practice for ethical and accountability reasons. Not too long after, I ran into him at Lagos Meet and that conversation came up again. I knew then, it was something to be taken seriously, but I was not too bothered.
\n\n\n\nFast-forward to 2019, the conversation found me again. I read Ruined by Design, book by Mike Monteiro, about how Designers “ruined” the world, and what we can do to fix it. Whatever impact Seyi’s tweets had on my consciousness when I saw them in 2018, reading the book, reinforced the gravity of the situation. I needed to take Ethics and Accountability more seriously in my work.
Like a lot, if not all, of designers in Nigeria, I learned my trade on Youtube (plus some paid classes here and there), saw what my colleagues were doing on Behance/Dribbble and shared my fascination with design on Twitter with the occasional rant about clients and how they don’t take us as seriously. However, as I got deeper into understanding this thing I call my passion, realizing the potential it holds, and what it can/will become in the not too distant future, the weight of the responsibility of my job as a designer became more apparent. It’s now beyond pushing pixels, or beefing with CorelDraw users because you think Adobe Creative Cloud is the best thing to happen to design since Paul Rand.
\n\n\n\nReading that book shifted something in my head. I began to realize that, as designers, we find ourselves at the intersection of a Venn diagram that includes our employers/clients, the products we build and the users that use them. Thus, making us ethically liable for whatever impact the products (apps, posters, etc.) we design have on users. I realized that because of our unique position as the people who build/design these things, we should be gatekeepers, looking out for the best interest of the users.
\n\n\n\nWe can refuse to work on products/ideas that aim to deceive users (we have seen cases of this with Jumia/Konga Black Friday sales) or misuse their private information (e.g Facebook and Cambridge Analytica saga). We should always look out for the users. What is the point of building a product you can’t be proud of because of its negative impact on society? A product that deceives and infringes on users’ privacy.
I get it. We are all hustling and trying to get this paper. The point of this opinion piece is not to relegate that fact. We all need to eat. However, is it to the detriment of society? Think about it nah. Isn’t this the argument yahoo boys make? The country is bad, and we have to eat. So, damn the ethics?
\n\n\n\nThe design space in Nigeria is “fairly” young and still needs things to be put in place to be recognized as a truly professional career choice. However, while we are working to put these structures in place, where does the ethical argument fit in? Is it too early to begin this conversation?
\n\n\n\nNowadays, it is fairly easy to see 7 out of 10 (I have no data to back this up) “Design Twitter” bios with UI/UX Designer or Product Designer. A lot of folks are entering into those kinds of roles. It surely makes sense considering how design and technology intersect. So, for example, we have designers building products for companies like Cowrywise, Piggyvest, Kudabank—products that require users to provide sensitive personal information. There are tons of data that can be collected based on users’ interactions with these products. Who is going to keep these companies accountable when the line is about to/being crossed? Will the designers working for these companies defend the users when their bosses ask them to add features they know will infringe on the privacy of the users? Will they say no when asked to use the data collected for something unethical?
I believe this conversation is way more nuanced, and I can never touch every part of the overall conversation in this piece. My point, however, is that we need to begin talking about the ethical implications of our jobs as designers if we are not doing that already. We need to take that part as seriously as we watch Chris Do’s videos on the business of design or read Michael Beirut’s books on how to make great Brand Identities.
We need to hold ourselves, as well as the people that employ us to build these products accountable. If you think it’s not that deep, just wait till people begin going to jail for unethical practices.
\n\n\n\nUltimately, I believe we work for the people and we should care about how our work affects them.
\n\n\n\nLet’s get talking.
In design generally, psychology plays a major role, two fields in design that heavily leverages on it are User Experience and an element of brand strategy called Brand Archetypes. Knowledge of these two fields is what helps brand/project managers excel at their job and what—always—causes the rift between them and brand designers.
\n\n\n\nWhat are they and how do they leverage on psychology?
\n\n\n\nUser Experience design is user experience design (through whatever medium). It is the steps and decisions taken to tailor the relationship between an interface and a user. The interface being anything a user can relate with, ranging from cars, doorknobs, to even showerheads.
\n\n\n\nBrand Archetypes, on the other hand, are a way to anchor your brand against something iconic—something already embedded within the conscious and subconscious of humanity. In the minds of both the brand owner and the public, aligning with a brand archetype makes a brand easier to identify.
\n\n\n\nThese are some examples of brand archetypes, and some brands and their archetypes:
Brand Archetypes are what determines what your brand’s personality is, it’s the tone of voice, visual design language and a host of others, it can be likened to a spark that comes before a fire during ignition.
\n\n\n\nFirst, to correct some wrong notions, UX design is not only for interfaces but user experience design can also be carried out for anything humans (or even animals) interact with, from events, apps, spaces and even physical products.
Use cases
\n\n\n\nA couple of examples of a situation where a brand’s archetype and experience design come into play are:
The copy and visual design are influenced by the Rebel brand archetype, their typography and colour choices follow this archetype.
\n\n\n\nA closer glance through the Backmarket website would let you have an idea who their target audience is, and how they have done proper UX design and communicate with the right Archetype to them.
\n\n\n\nSimply put, the User Experience of a product or service can be likened to the background work, while the Brand Archetype deals with what channels they use in this communication and what design and copywriting choices they take in meeting this goal. The situation where Brand/Project managers, Copywriters and Designers always have issues arise when information about the former or latter are muddy and not concise, where the brand manager is trying to sell a product to a specific niche and the designer and copywriter are not clear on how it should look and work or how it should speak to the audience.
Peep the similarity between the iOS control center and Siri Remote. Down to the iconography and button arrangement, it’s ‘One Brand’. The Apple TV button against the Apple TV app Icon. Makes one wonder if they had designers and engineers from different divisions in one room(that’s a crowd). Now have a look at the TV app icon in the third image used in iOS and tvOS from December 2016 to March 2019 against the Home/Apple TV button on the remote. Now that’s a brand that loves its users(and money🤧)
Conclusion
\n\n\n\nIn whatever product or service an entity might decide to offer users, there should be a meeting point between these two at the core of any organization. You can’t have users feeling disconnected when interacting with product and organizations, it throws the entire brand off balance. That’s why Apple has ecosystems, they have successfully tailored similar experiences across a range of products. The simplicity you feel while holding an iPhone is the same you feel while holding an Apple TV Remote. Imagine having to interface with another Apple device and it feels different from the rest? The experience feels truncated and you do not see the brand as with the same personality as before, it feels more insincere and faked.
\n\n\n\n\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Eximia Design Studio","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Eximia-Design-Studio.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/eximia-dt"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/png;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/c2eb1f493ec1c16ca99f2bec860f48d2/eb960/Brand-Archetypes.webp","srcSet":"/static/c2eb1f493ec1c16ca99f2bec860f48d2/96428/Brand-Archetypes.webp 133w,\n/static/c2eb1f493ec1c16ca99f2bec860f48d2/a4ef4/Brand-Archetypes.webp 266w,\n/static/c2eb1f493ec1c16ca99f2bec860f48d2/eb960/Brand-Archetypes.webp 532w","sizes":"(min-width: 532px) 532px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":532,"height":582}}}}}},{"uri":"/young-designer/","title":"Dear Young Designer, 5 Things You Should Keep in Mind.","slug":"young-designer","date":"11 February, 2020","content":"\nI trust this finds you well.
I write you this series because I truly understand the struggle of pivoting from good to great. When I started out in my design career, I had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Over the years, I have collected a number of experiences that I think are worth passing along.
I hope you learn a thing or two.
\n\n\n\n1. You won’t always produce Dribble-Worthy Designs.
\n\n\n\nI know this may sound strange, but the reality is even the best designers have to compromise with a lot of things in the world of work. You will create designs that you are not proud of and that is totally fine – don’t beat yourself up. You will produce designs that look good today, and tomorrow, you’re asking who made this horrible design.
However, you can still win with these not-to-great designs by ensuring the experience is optimized for conversion. Your focus should be on the right metric which is solving business challenges with your design; if you are able to do this even with compromising design quality, you’ve won—just not the way you want to.
\n\n\n\n2. Be Flexible with your ideas/process.
\n\n\n\nWhen you start out, you will receive some thumbs-up and a lot of thumb- down on your ideas and approach to problem-solving. Don’t let the thumbs-down weigh you down. Instead, ask yourself critical questions like “why might this design direction not work?”, “Why does the other solution work?” and “how can you apply these to related design problems?”.
\n\n\n\nYour ability to keep an open mind when it comes to your ideas and that of others will help you go far real quick. The most important questions to ask are the “why questions”. Once you know why, it would be easier to design creative solutions.
3. Be patient, it takes time.
\n\n\n\nLike with everything, it takes time. The best designers were once beginners. You will need a lot of time and patience to produce high-quality work. I see a lot of young designers make the mistake of focusing on the shiny finished designs on Dribbble rather than the process.
You see, when you understand the process, you can create amazing things—even by glancing through several designs, you can describe how a design style was achieved. Learning and mastering this takes time, however, once you get the hang of it, you are set for life.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. You will need an eye for good design.
\n\n\n\nForget about using excessive shadows for a minute, and take a look at some of the leading products in today’s market – AirBnB, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Now, try to analyze these products end to end and think, for example, about why the designers opted to display certain menus, first, on mobile.
Think about how everything on the product is interconnected, think about how the business makes money and how the designers ensure the designs help the company increase revenue. This exercise will sharpen your mind and give you a more “productified” mind and approach.
\n\n\n\nYou can also develop your design eye by thinking you were the designer of the product. Look at everything, one by one and then as a whole. The easiest way to distinguish between a junior and senior designer is their use of typography, spacing, colour and alignment. If you can train your eyes to look out for these attributes in your design, you will almost always produce stunning work.
\n\n\n\n5. You won’t always follow industry best laid out processes.
\n\n\n\nIn the real world of work, your clients will not always have the budget to accommodate your design process. Take heart, it is a universal challenge. You will still be expected to produce quality work that converts even if they have a tight budget.
While you might be able to get away without performing user testing on some projects, the experience and data you have gained from another user testing will come handy when you are making design decisions on projects where you know you might not really be able to test with a lot of users.
The art or skill of combining text and pictures in advertisements, magazines, or books. That’s what you will find when you type Graphic Design in the Google search bar, and this indeed was what I watched a renowned designer back then on campus do when I went to him for guidance. He would look through some examples and whip some elements, shapes and assets together and viola, you had magic. I knew it worked but I also knew way too early that there had to be more. My challenge with taking stuff from the internet was always that “shebi it is somebody that imagined and created that, my career can’t be simply about building off the back of that”.
\n\n\n\nNow, ignore Google’s primary word dictionary and take a further step to the next result from Wikipedia: “Graphic design is the process of visual communication and problem-solving through the use of typography, photography, and illustration.” Now that’s more like it. Process and problem-solving being the keywords, and based on those, it supports my resolve that designers are designed to design i.e seek understanding, think through and create visual communication solutions to problems—which may mean that there is an actual problem, by typical definition or that the desired point is intended to be reached.
It’s fine if at this point, you still insist on just putting something together and I should say it’s been a pleasure having you read up until this line. See you later.
Now to what I propose that every serious designer takes seriously:
Designers are like small gods, literally and it is important to focus more on the main tool—as we should restate for the umpteenth time—which the brain/mind and not the software. When as a designer, you realize that a business can sell more simply because you did your due diligence or that more lives can be saved because you communicated a health risk warning poster right, you can begin to take the craft more seriously, realizing that the impact of the work demands more than trial and error.
One big addiction for designers when starting out is an over-reliance on photos, templates and styles from the internet. Yes, there might be the place for recreating existing designs to hone your software skills, and following a style because it had to be done faster and you couldn’t yet demand the right process from your Uncle who needed a flier for his programme in church, but the problem is when you remain at that stage rather than commit to advancing your skills and career as a CREATIVE designer.
There are several ways a designer can begin to actually design, but here are two that comes to mind as at the time of going to press with this. [*winks*]
1. Begin with understanding
\n\n\n\nIt helps to view design as intelligence made visible, as Alina Wheeler would put it. That great work hanging on a wall or a screen and having its desired impact on people is a result of a mind that is informed and inspired in the direction of the problem to be solved, the people at the centre of the challenge and the potential solutions and opportunities. Hence it helps to begin with as many questions, reading-up, investigation and research as is achievable for the purpose of gaining more context.
\n\n\n\n2. Begin on paper
\n\n\n\nNow, while we all agree in theory that design is beyond the software, we do not do enough with bringing this belief to life in our action and process. This is not to say if you begin on your laptop, then you are putting the digital tool ahead of the mind but it is to say that beginning with sketches on a sheet of paper (they don’t have to be great) or markerboard can help you to really focus on what’s on your mind before you ask for the help of technology, and this can increase your attention to the real work of trying to achieve certain goals. This can also aid your creative flow.
These are just two points of several others, and maybe it also makes it easy for you to remember and act on them.
Perhaps here lies an answer to the ever-lingering question of what makes one a Senior Designer. Let’s say you will find the intentionality of ‘process’ and ‘problem-solving’ in their work while junior designers put things together as they hone their software skills and find their footing. Just perhaps.
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\n\n\n\n‘Hide Balance’ is a feature you’d find on many modern banking and payment apps. From the name, it’s obvious what the feature does — hide your account balance/assets from an app’s dashboard. For example, say you’re on a bus, you can confidently launch your banking app without exposing your account balance to the passenger next to you.
\n\n\n\nIt’s a pretty nifty feature because, to be honest, keeping your money safe starts with starving prying eyes (or intruders) of the knowledge of how much is in your account.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf they don’t see, they don’t know.
But as vital as ‘Hide Balance’ is to safeguarding consumers’ assets, many companies are not using it the right way. More precisely, they are not designing the feature well enough to serve its purpose— security.
\n\n\n\nUsing two of my favourite payment apps—OPay and Barter (by Flutterwave) — every day for the last 3 months opened my eyes to how far-from-perfect the ‘Hide Balance’ feature is, and how it can be improved.
\n\n\n\nPay attention.
This header describes the state of OPay’s ‘Hide Balance’ feature. From the app’s dashboard/ homepage, you can hide your balance by tapping the ‘Hide’ button. A user’s balance can, likewise, be swiftly revealed by tapping the ‘Show’ button.
\n\n\n\nThis is cool if you quickly need to veil your balance in a public bus, a crowded park, or while standing on a train. Should a stranger pick up your device while the payment app is still active in the background, (s)he can easily unhide your account balance without even trying too hard.
\n\n\n\nThe same applies if your password gets compromised. Should Mr. X steal my phone and log into my OPay app, seeing my account balance gives him an idea of how much he can/should steal. A well-hidden balance, on the other hand, will leave him puzzled.
A. Repositioning the ‘Hide Balance’ function from the Dashboard/Home screen to the Settings menu.
\n\n\n\nAccessibility-wise though, I’d score the Dashboard-placement of the Hide/Show balance function a 9/10. But security-wise, it’s a 2 — because it makes things too easy for an intruder.
Unlike OPay, Barter (by Flutterwave) require users to open the Settings menu to hide & unhide their account balance. This is impressive and I’d give the app a 5/10 Hide Balance Score. However, where Barter comes up short is replacing the original balance (i.e. figures) with images of coins.
\n\n\n\nI believe this tells an intruder there’s something to be seen and gives him/her more reasons to keep digging.
If the intruder is smart enough, (s)he’ll launch your Settings menu, unhide your balance, and (most likely) steal your cash.
\n\n\n\nSecondly, a user’s balance is too easy to unhide. A single tap of the “Hide my account balance” function exposes all the customer’s asset.
A. Totally hiding users balance
\n\n\n\nIt’s not enough swapping the original balance (figures and numbers) with alphabets or images of coins. If users choose to hide their balance, all hints of it should disappear from the app dashboard — completely.
\n\n\n\nB. Authenticating Balance Unhide
\n\n\n\nReinputting account password (or PIN) to unhide assets creates some sort of friction — which is vital for security. Authentication could also be biometric — fingerprint, Facial ID, Iris scanning, or Palm unlock.
The Hide Balance feature becomes unavailing if a hidden balance can still be easily viewed in an app’s transaction history, wallet, virtual card, etc. Hiding my account balance on OPay and Barter doesn’t exactly hide them system-wide, it only does that at the dashboard/homepage level.
\n\n\n\n
Not hiding account balance system-wide only makes sense when the users have complete control of their devices/accounts. Should their devices/accounts get compromised for a minute, it wouldn’t take an amateur intruder (or thief?) that long to figure out how much a customer’s account holds and how much to steal.
Whenever a user toggles on the ‘Hide Balance’ function, all hints of available assets (monies, coins, investment balance, bonuses, etc.) should be totally hidden in every way possible — from the homepage, wallet, history, on virtual cards, etc.
\n\n\n\nFor Barter, the company could improve account security by redesigning users virtual card to exclude available balance whenever the ‘Hide Balance’ function is active. See image below.
OPay, on the other hand, could conceal users’ original balance, bonus, as well as total balance with abstracts (alphabets or asterisks) whenever the ‘Hide Balance’ is triggered. Additionally, the ‘Balance after’ (see red arrows in the image below) should also be concealed as a part of ‘hide balance’ execution.
Lastly, authentication should also be required to unhide assets in customers’ accounts.
\n\n\n\nIn conclusion, I believe the idea of the ‘Hide balance’ feature is to make it difficult for anyone who isn’t the owner of an account to see how much assets it hold. So whenever a customer wants his/her balance hidden, it should be executed in the best way possible, every way possible.
\n\n\n\nAddendum: All designs, redesigns, modifications were done using Figma and PhotoScape.
It is fast becoming a common knowledge that design is not just about moving pixels or the use of design software or tools to create beautiful and appealing visuals. Design is basically about solving problems–for humans, companies, organizations or businesses.
\n\n\n\nIf this has become a common or universal consensus, then what is design without a designer? An honest response would validate the relevance and importance of a designer in the grand scheme of things, problem solving.
In my opinion, designers are beginning to grow in their numbers across various industries and sectors providing valuable solutions to businesses and organizations where they operate in or find themselves. With this, recent conversations are leaning towards how designers are critical to business success and should be part of the decision-making process for businesses and most importantly, have a seat at the C-suite level meetings.
\n\n\n\nPermit me to digress a bit.
\n\n\n\nMany years ago, when I opted to specialize in Painting instead of Graphic Design during my first degree, I never knew or thought that I could work as a designer in the corporate environment or in industries/sectors unrelated to design. I felt the biggest place a designer could work would be in the media or advertising industry.
\n\n\n\nIn fact, while I was in university, I did not know about so many advertising agencies until I graduated. Well, maybe because I majored in Painting and not graphic design, so there was no need to research on them.
\n\n\n\nAt the time I was studying Visual Arts at the University, graphic design assignments and projects were executed in the most traditional way you could ever think of—the use of paper, pen, ruler, brush, gouache, etc. No computers at all. This made me uninterested in specializing in graphic design as I felt it was going to be a waste of time for me, since I would not be able to use a computer and any design software to execute my assignments and projects, coupled with the fact that I never imagined the massive prospects studying a course like that could afford me.
\n\n\n\nHowever, in an interesting turn after completing my NYSC, I left painting for graphic design. This was because, at that time, I had become more or less financially independent from my parents. I needed to start making money and I found out that practising painting would not make me realize that goal of financial independence quickly.
\n\n\n\nPainting was actually very costly compared to graphic design. For every prospective painting project or gig, there was always the need to invest or spend money on buying painting materials (brushes, canvas, oil colour, acrylic, stretchers, frames etc). Whereas, for every prospective graphic design project, all that was (is) needed is a personal computer (PC) or laptop with a few design software installed (usually a one-off investment) and your creative thinking. Also, the daily and recurring need for design services influenced my decision.
From the foregoing, you would see that for me, at first, deciding to switch from painting to graphic design was more about the needed to survive. Surprisingly, while I began learning design on my own and honing my skills, I landed my first paid employment with The Guardian Newspaper as a Graphic Designer. At this point, I was still limited in my orientation as to what I could achieve as a designer, but things changed soon.
\n\n\n\nTwo years after, I was amazed that an auditing/accounting firm would/could require the services of an in-house designer. After going through the interview process, I landed my second job at KPMG. I spent two years at KPMG before I moved to Deloitte & Touche, where I had one of the best and most fulfilling career experience as a designer. After a year and seven months, I was poached by Visionscape Group but finally bade 9 to 5 goodbye after a short stint at the multifaceted environmental utility conglomerate.
\n\n\n\nSo you see, I have never worked in a Creative or Ad agency (although I honestly wish I have/had such experience), so I will be sharing tips on how to thrive as a designer in an unusual, unfamiliar terrain, from my experience.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs a designer, you can work anywhere, no matter the industry or sector.
More often than not, to optimize cost, organizations need design services and would most likely employ the services of an in-house designer than outsource their design needs to an agency (ad, design, creative or marketing). So if you are a designer who ends up working as an in-house designer in a (non-design/creative/advertising agency), you are a ‘Corporate Designer’.
\n\n\n\nBack to the crux of the matter, you may ask, what do I need to do to thrive in such an environment?
\n\n\n\nIn no particular order, the following tips worked for me in the course of my career and time in the corporate world (other designers may have different experiences based on the culture of the organization, company or firm they work or worked with).
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe honest truth is that not every designer is the best fit for certain industries. Some designers would thrive and flourish well in an advertising agency, others in a design agency, some in the corporate environment, and others in industries unrelated to design. In knowing yourself, you need to ask yourself, what kind of designer do I want to be? With this, you are able to appraise your areas of strength, weaknesses and innate inclinations. Some designers and creatives can deal with putting on a tie, suit, and shoe to work while others love casual feel; something as simple as this can affect how you work. The more reason why a deep soul search will help to reveal where you would thrive the most.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAll through my career in paid employment, my bosses came to realize that I offered more value other than the role assigned to me as a designer. Case in point, while I used to work at KPMG, 95% of my daily activities was nothing related to graphic design. I was seconded to the Research and Knowledge Management unit which was meant to be for a few weeks, but I ended up spending two years and more in that role. This was in addition to my role which still including churning out design materials for the company.
\n\n\n\nIt was quite a struggle for me to settle in that role, but I took up the challenge. I have got my former boss-turned client to thank for this. Many of the skills that I have acquired and developed today aside from technical design skills were discovered and harnessed in that role.
\n\n\n\nMy writing improved, my communication skills were sharpened, and my confidence level was groomed, as I was attending meetings with my boss and managers at senior management level. This afforded me the opportunity to know more about other aspects of the business, which I probably would not have been interested to learn about.
\n\n\n\nThe experience gained can never be traded for anything. The advantage of gaining other soft skills in addition to technical skills is that you are not just seen as a designer or pixel-pusher, but you are seen as a problem solver—ready to help your organization achieve more. It is one thing to be a great designer, but it is another thing to be perceived and seen as one who solves problems for the company.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDuring my stint at Deloitte, which happened to be the most fulfilling experience in my career, I never knew what my colleagues (senior and junior) saw in me as I did more of creatives and visuals for the firm. However, in less than six months of resuming at Deloitte, I was nominated for three awards out of the six available categories, namely, Proud and Passionate, Differentiating Deloitte, Innovative and Shows Initiative. From the feedback received, most of my colleagues said it was well deserved and that I should/could have won the three, but for the sake of giving other nominees a chance to win.
\n\n\n\nMuch more than these, I was co-opted into the Strategy Team for the firm. At the time, I was the only junior staff on the team which had managers, senior managers, associate directors and partners. You will thrive if you’re able to bring something else to the table other than the role you’re employed for.
I ensured that in the delivery of my task, I was friendly, warm and approachable. My interpersonal relationship with colleagues and partners from different divisions was one that worked in my favour. I was basically the go-to guy for anything design-related.
\n\n\n\nMy experience working in the corporate environment taught me patience, tolerance, understanding, communication and empathy because I had to interface with different arms of the firm on a daily basis. This leads me to the next tip.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI understood that I was employed not just as a designer but as a problem solver to help the company and firm achieve their goals and objectives. There were times where I would have to go out of my way to ensure that a proposal submission meets deadline or an article is published in the dailies amongst many others. However, I ensured that it was something that was reasonably within my power to. At some other times, I would have to explain why certain things were not possible and feasible given the time constraints.
\n\n\n\nBeing a designer in such an environment is not for the faint at heart, if you ask me. If you are only concerned and interested in nothing other than pushing of pixels, you would be missing out on making an impact. You need to understand that you are in a different space, totally different from an advertising, design or brand agency. Like I mentioned earlier, there is a need to be self-aware. Know whether you are cut out for such or not. Do not be desperate to get a job anywhere, you may end up in a place that is not a fit for you.
\n\n\n\nI remember when I moved to Visionscape from Deloitte, a designer was employed to replace me but surprisingly, after several months of search, interviews and recruitment process, the designer resigned in about a month after and went back to the agency where the person came from. Weird? Strange? Unbelievable? Well, it is not. The designer just could not cope with the environment, the so-called ‘regimented’ creative environment in that short while.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAre you finding it difficult and struggling to thrive or survive in your role as a designer in your present workplace? Feel free to apply these aforementioned tips. Be open to learning new things different from design. Be adaptable. Offer more value beyond pushing pixels. Have the right attitude and personality.
\n\n\n\nThese tips are based on my personal experience which worked for me and saw me thrive during my time in the corporate environment. It might be different from other experiences so if you have other thoughts aside from the ones I shared, feel free to contribute to the subject under discourse.
\n\n\n\nThanks to Tunji Ogunoye for providing such a platform. I have learnt quite a lot from the articles written by fellow designers and have been inspired by the profiles of amazing designers and creatives in the industry. Thanks once again for providing value through this platform.
\n\n\n\nI wish you all the best and look forward to an astronomical growth for designers and the design community at large.
A junkyard will be what you make it; it can be full of trash or little pockets of treasures you discover when you need them. From the stray items you come across and say “hm, interesting” to tools you find during a search for something but cannot find immediate use for, your junkyard takes them all.
In the creative context, it can be physical [notebook or documents] or not [if you have eidetic memory]. Sometimes, you even have a mental junkyard without knowing [memories and experiences].
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe quality of the ‘junk’ forms a major part of the quality of the creative ideas you have.
Kayode Olowu
Yorubas have this saying loosely translated to “…it’s what the bird eats it uses to fly” and that’s a perfect analogy for what a creative, or anybody who wishes to rise must do. While there are mountains of textbook knowledge and hacks out there promising to help you set yourself apart as a creative, you’ll only be setting yourself up for mediocrity if you don’t have what storytellers call “range”.
What experiences do you have? Or, to be succinct, what experiences have you chosen to have? Everybody lives in a bubble but some people move between theirs and others easily and with intent. The fact that you’re a designer does not mean your experiences or learning arc should be situated only within that context e.g you can broaden your horizon into architecture. Look into history. Step into the world of science and its accompanying fields. Go to dances. Take walks through your village on visits. Sometimes walk rather than ride short distances. Experience your surroundings and their components. What do you see? What can be applied? Where can you take ideas and how can you adapt them?
A large percentage of what’s done in design and art is a combination of existing works. And yes, this is a good way to learn; mimicking I mean. But when it comes to the work you submit as a testimonial of your capability, do you have something that has a depth of thought and experience?
\n\n\n\nYour junkyard is your idea generation bank and when there is nothing in there, you get to withdraw mediocrity in different forms e.g a quick look at my mental junkyard will reveal stencils and stickers on Danfo, credit roll from animated movies, my son’s colouring book, comment sections of social media platforms, dirty kitchen sink, @Sirjoancornella’s page, and other random things.
When you are deliberate about soaking in as much experience and knowledge as you can, your junkyard grows to help execute works that meet global standards. A mind that is intentional about continuous growth never gets comfortable in a comfort zone. It keeps morphing and morphing into something better. Always.
Now, dear designer, what’s in your junkyard?
From a freelancer to an intern to a junior designer and even from the senior designer to creative director to becoming a partner at a growing design agency, the one thing asides skills that have always kept me awake—sometimes, leaving me depressed—was the concept of pricing design. For the last 4 years, I have always had several theories about how design is priced, some were right, some were wrong, some are now outdated and until recently, I still didn’t have a clear direction on how I should charge for design.
\n\n\n\nSo here are my top three theories over the last 4 years and my thoughts on them.
\n\n\n\nRight!
\n\n\n\nOn the surface, it may seem like everyone is bothered about how well they’ve charged but in reality, we are all bothered about how well we’ve kept our interests. We feel bad when we see “them” charge so high, yet when a client knocks on our door, the question we always ask ourselves, in several forms, is “hope I haven’t cheated myself?”
Yet, when Designer X writes out his rate card, he is busy thinking about Designer Y and how much he currently charges as the right price and the benchmark to aim for while beating himself down on how wrong his prices are.
However, contrary to some popular opinion, your prices are only a reflection of your clients’ capacity—not your skill, or experience, or ‘brand’. So, the aim should be to charge a number that accurately represents your value and the client’s investment relative to a particular outcome.
Wrong!
\n\n\n\nWhile this is heavily opinionated in the design space, perception is perception and reality is reality. If you are do not think you are worth so much and you act like you are worth so much, what you create is a sub-standard product.
\n\n\n\nLooking the part without being the part is not being fair to yourself, and your clients. This is where we flip the script and ask ourselves, “hope I haven’t cheated Miss Client?”
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOutdated!
\n\n\n\nWhile this is the mainstream pricing model for a lot of design service businesses in Nigeria, it is also the mainstream cause of complaints from the same set. Someone, somewhere, right now, maybe you, is dreading a call/email of a client asking for one more deliverable not previously stated in the initial agreement.
The amount of time and effort you put in, and the number of deliverables you submit doesn’t always accurately represent both interests—you and the client. This is why you get brain freeze when an unusual client (someone far above your design income range) asks you for an invoice or a rate card.
\n\n\n\nYou blow everything out of proportion and when the client casually asks why you charged so much, you stutter.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTry this!
Set a minimum level of engagement, a price that you wouldn’t go below with your client, and this is entirely based on you. Remember, there is no right or wrong price. Then, as Coker Oluwafemi told me and I paraphrase, “audit the value—the amount your work will make for their business—and charge relative to it to ensure you are not undervalued and your clients are not cheated”.
In certain cases where the final price is below your minimum level of engagement, after negotiations and discussions, it would mean that your client cannot afford you and your price is ‘unfair’ to that client.
\n\n\n\nPart ways on the transaction and move on!
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":" Praise Philemon","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Praise-Philemon.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/praisephilemon"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/82c0ae50cbbdf37d7edb8828ebb25d1a/e5a5c/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-15-at-12.03.47.webp","srcSet":"/static/82c0ae50cbbdf37d7edb8828ebb25d1a/485d1/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-15-at-12.03.47.webp 268w,\n/static/82c0ae50cbbdf37d7edb8828ebb25d1a/2bf4d/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-15-at-12.03.47.webp 536w,\n/static/82c0ae50cbbdf37d7edb8828ebb25d1a/e5a5c/WhatsApp-Image-2019-10-15-at-12.03.47.webp 1072w","sizes":"(min-width: 1072px) 1072px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1072,"height":712}}}}}},{"uri":"/nigerian-designer/","title":"Life of a Nigerian Designer","slug":"nigerian-designer","date":"20 September, 2019","content":"\nGrowing up in Nigeria is very different for everyone, but if you are a designer, chances are high that you would think differently from an average Nigerian. That can also can be very challenging, seeing the level at which we seem to have normalized mediocrity. This feeling is worsened when you realize that you don’t have the power or influence to change it yet.
In this article I’ll be sharing the realities of different Nigerian designers, drawing from my encounters with some of them, personal observations and my own journey as a designer.
Being a Nigerian designer comes with so many challenges outside the mastery and practice of design itself. Most Nigerian designers have their own unique journey to design, but a lot of us can relate with one or more of these scenarios:
\n\n\n\nYou are self-taught with no formal training in Design. You start by playing with a software and intrigued by what it can do, you spend hours watching several tutorials and learning different techniques. Then you move unto the next software and the next one after that. You design a poster or a business card for free and it gets printed. Wow! You are beyond flattered. Now you are a designer.
\n\n\n\nYou believe you are good because your friends on Instagram say so, but being honest with yourself, you know there is still a gap between what you do and the kind of works you admire.
\n\n\n\nYou start paying attention to what other designers are doing all over the world, get stuck on Behance browsing through hundreds of portfolios and looking for works that stand out to you. In no time, you begin to imitate those works, mastering many new techniques and getting better.
At this point, you are super proud of yourself.
\n\n\n\nThen you get your first gig, then another one and another one. At this point, you decide that this is what you want to continue doing and so you apply for a job. Now you get paid to do what you love, bearing little to no risk, plus you even get side gigs from time to time and made extra cash (it didn’t even matter how much you charged).
You are beginning to get stressed out seeing that there are some other parts of this that are not as fun as you thought. A client asks you if know a printer and you instantly become a printer seeing that you could make some extra cash. Before you know it you’ve gotten into trouble. Now you’ve learnt your lesson and promise yourself to never try it again.
\n\n\n\nYou have very few good examples that you can emulate, and you only know a handful of “designers” around you that are doing very well.
\n\n\n\nYou want to teach what you know but you are scared and overthink the whole thing. Now you are angry at someone else trying to do the same with the little they know. You become motivated and call for your first class but no one wants to pay. Some honest people will tell you they can’t afford it except you can teach them for free or subsidize your fee (5k).
It took so long for you to hear that design is not about Visuals or software; it was a hard pill to swallow. You wondered what they meant, but now you know that there is still so much to learn.
The truth is we all still have a lot of growing to do if this will become what we dream of it.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs a Nigerian designer, you just got back from school ‘in the abroad’, where you experienced the impact of design on a different level. You are back home now, angry at everything, constantly comparing and criticizing everything and everyone. Still disappointed by the so-called Nigerian Big brands.
\n\n\n\nYou want to work in a reputable agency that will help you grow but you are probably underwhelmed by most of the ones you’ve come across.
\n\n\n\nYou see “shitty” designs (graphics mostly) around you every day, and you are upset because you know even when you were just a beginner, you could have done better.
\n\n\n\nSince you couldn’t find any agency you will be proud to be part of, you considered starting one with some friends. It’s getting tough, you are all getting broke. Everyone finds their way. Survival calls. You see big local projects go to agencies outside the country and you are mad, wondering what is so different from what you can already do.
As an agency owner, you’ve worked hard all these years and you are finally landing some big clients. Now you need more hands to get the job done. You reached out to friends to recommend other designers you can afford to pay. You realize how much more they still have to grow. Everyone that could be a fit is either too expensive for you or lacks staying power as they are also trying to be like you. Your sustainability is in question and you have a hard choice to make.
\n\n\n\nYou are now very confident cos you’ve sat in the room with many big Nigerian clients and now you know it’s a piece of cake to deal with clients but you are scared of new environments. Sometimes, you are intimidated by new opportunities because you think you are just a local champion.
\n\n\n\nYou struggle to balance doing great work and making so much money. You are tired of the typical Nigerian clients, they just don’t seem to get it. After stressing you so much, they end up not paying well or they hold on to your balance for as long as they want.
\n\n\n\nYou got frustrated with the situation, take the laws into your hands and ruin the relationship. Now you wish you were more patient with the client. What sort of blackmail is this?!
One of my favourite quotes reads:
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Be a yardstick for excellence, most people are not used to an environment where quality is expected.”
Steve Jobs
This is very relevant in our case as Nigerians, and if you are not careful as a designer you might actually chart the course for mediocrity and ultimately have no relevance in helping us move forward.
My question is are you really that excellent at what you do? I mean, confident in what you can do to add value anywhere, even beyond Nigeria?
Here is the reality, a lot will change in the coming years and there will be a huge difference between those who commit to the process and those that did not.
\n\n\n\nProblems are simply opportunities for design in disguise- unknown
As a designer in Nigeria here is a secret, you are surrounded by things that can make you relevant—problems. Don’t run from it as it will require you to develop the right mindset to match up with the skillset you’ve built.
To be honest, there are a lot of enterprising opportunities here in Nigeria and if you are brave enough, you can take advantage of them. There are also a lot of problems with the system; leadership, traditions, many of which already affect you.
You have probably considered leaving for South Africa many times, sorry… Canada. Yes please go if you desire it and have the opportunity to. Design is relevant everywhere in the world, and you can make us proud from ‘the abroad’.
However, I do have an interesting narrative in my head about how these smart young Nigerians leaving the country will end, but it is a story to be shared another day.
I must say though, that it does take bravery and exceptional intelligence to have the option of leaving this country and then deciding to remain, especially as a creative person in process. More often than not, being in Nigeria seems like a disadvantage.
I said to myself, “Sojii, if you’ve truly decided to stay here you must never for one day complain about your situation, take it to your advantage and don’t limit your mind by where you are.”
I’m not a competitive person, but I strongly don’t ever want to feel envious of any designer anywhere in the world. I must never feel underachieved or uninspired by my growth nor feel disadvantaged in anyway.
This mindset is only valid when you work the work, and trust me there’s a lot of work to do. My goal to influence design globally and not just stay here as a local champion. I have my unique context and constraints and I will use those as my starting point. As Lexain once told me, no designer is allowed to complain about problems or difficult situations.
As a Nigerian designer you might be ‘broke’ many times and many of your friends who envy your autonomy will be confused by your bank account. Many a time, your being broke is not just as a result of bad client situation but also the part of your own self-management. I mean you know what I’m talking about (it reflects in different areas of your life. Doesn’t it?) . We love autonomy, but not always the twin, discipline.
When it comes to your finance, learn your minimums. Know how low you can maintain and don’t allow yourself to go any lesser than that. Once you are out of cash for too long it might start to disturb you and eventually your work. Your ship starts to sink. Sometimes, in such a situation you might just need to be strong enough to get through while at other times, you may have to change something. Know when to do which. As much as you can, do what other financially smart people do to build wealth (Save, invest, insure…)
1. Desire
\n\n\n\nGrowing up in an environment where almost nothing is working, you have developed a desire to see transformation. your advantage here is that beyond desire, you’ve got what it takes to effect change. Like I always say
\n\n\n\n“So much can be done where so much has not been done.”
2. Pioneer
\n\n\n\nUnderstand that this is still a young industry in Nigeria and you should be glad you are one of the first or second generation of designers. So if you work smart, you will be glad you stayed.
3. Global relevance
\n\n\n\nDesign all over the world is evolving and even masters of design are catching up to fit into new roles and functions of design. So you are very lucky to be around at such a time as this. You are like a foster child of all of this evolution. Be smart. The world needs you.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIt takes a level of self-leadership to make a real difference in an environment like this. Most of the things that will help you build a successful career may not be in place. However, if you happen to be around now, to join in and build for the next generation, welcome to the builders club. Lol
Now you have a responsibility bigger than yourself and it takes a lot of hard work and patience; just like anything worthwhile will require.
I can safely conclude that most of us are really working hard to figure this thing out and some of us simply appear better than most of us. However, the number of committed Nigerians working hard at this thing called “design” is a glimpse of hope to what the future holds for us.
It has taken me so long to put this together and I appreciate Tunji for the Honor and the Patience to follow through with this. Thanks for being an inspiration.
\n\n\n\n“Books are conservative. Doing too much is a dangerous attempt at distracting the reader. So be simple and minimal.”
(paraphrased)
Those were the words of a former employer when I started editorial design. By Editorial Design, I mean books, articles, financial business reports, coffee table books, novels, and everything print and paper. I had been given a simple task to do but as a young designer who basically knew nothing, I was thinking too hard to make it look so colourful and busy. I didn’t know that design, even the simplest, is first a business of function and then aesthetics and my definition of aesthetics as at the time was basically “busy”.
This was a defining moment in my career as a designer and most importantly, a book designer.
While people think that almost anything can go for a book or any designer can design a book (considering the flexibility of ideas and concepts), layouts require more attention to details, I can tell you that I’ve made a few mistakes while learning on this journey, costly mistakes at that —the kind that costs your employer or client huge payment or makes you trash thousands of copies to reprinting new thousands.
If you are a younger designer coming through the ranks with this experience, you’re not alone. Lol. Mistakes are how you learn.
I’m going to be talking mostly about novel layouts in this article. Not a lot of designers, even writers and readers know that how a book is laid out affects the flow of reading. Of course, the importance of the sweetness of the story cannot be overemphasised but if you really want to help the reader focus on that sweetness and avoid distractions, keep it simple. Sadly, you almost always have to be a designer or be extremely familiar with books and editing to spot these loopholes, although as a reader, you may have a feeling that things are not right, but you are not just able to point them out.
Simplicity here talks about a lot of space (not excess, just perfect), font choice, line spacing, margins, and of course, proper bleed for prints.
While it’s possible that printers can screw up a print, you have to ensure that there are safety nets on all sides and that when push comes to shove, the only person we’re beating up is the printer, not you, if at all we have to beat anybody (lol).
I actually quite agree that there are no rules to anything because sometimes innovation requires breaking a lot of rules. However, there are basic rules that should guide every aspect of design. In fact, to break the rules, you have to know them so well. This is the reason why every designer (even developers), has to at one point in their career, design a book or learn the ropes. It can help set a foundation for arrangement, alignment, font and leading choices.
One other thing to consider in book design is the resolution.
\n\n\n\nPersonally, the blurriness that comes with low-res photos annoy me but sometimes you have to deal with clients who reiterate in a strong voice “use it like that”, and you really do not have a choice. You have to “use it like that”. Some even send you pictures in MS Word. *tears *. And are you even a designer if they haven’t told you to fetch “Author Picture” from Facebook?
Until recently, when we started having digital options, books are usually printed and the importance of high-resolution JPEGS cannot be over-emphasized. Even as books become digital, high-resolution images should never be compromised. The advent of good phone cameras getting more pixels with every brand upgrade, should mean, No excuses! Demand high-resolution pictures.
Lastly and most importantly, before starting a book layout, ensure that both the author and editor have done the thorough job of ensuring that all is well with the manuscript and it requires very little or no editing before heading out to print. Considering that there’s going to be an intense proofread of the layout, this will save you a lot of back and forths that comes with proofreading. Proofreading time really isn’t editing time. Set this up straight with the author. In this business, time is money and you don’t want the things you should’ve avoided from the start to take all of the time you could have spent on other projects.
I guess we have to stop here until next time, until then, note one thing:
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAttention to Details is the God of Design!
Ibukun Shobola
Ibukun Shobola is the lead designer at Showballer Visuals, a growing design company with strength in book/publication designs and layouts. Since his graduation from the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Benin, Ibukun has acquired experience working with Kachifo Limited and Narrative Landscape Press; designing for remarkable Nigerian authors—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Omoni Oboli, Bayo Olupohunda, Ayisha Osori, Nkiru Olumide-Ojo among others. He has a certificate in business development, branding and strategy from 02 Academy, Lagos. He is also a guitarist, part-time actor and model.
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DESIGN
\n\n\n\nFundamentally, design can be defined as a problem-solving process/product. It is a resultant product (physical or digital) or process that is crafted to efficiently serve a purpose—at the core, it is largely functional and aimed at solving an established problem.
\n\n\n\nSince everything designed takes a form, shape or look; it is impossible to explain design without the concept of aesthetics. And yeah, aesthetics as popularly thought to be, is not beauty; it is rather the relativity of beauty to the ugliness of a subject matter. It is a biased approach to consider a subject matter only in the context of beauty and not ugliness. “Aesthetics” says the house is 60% beautiful and 40% ugly while “beauty,” says the house is very beautiful.
\n\n\n\nIn brief, when it comes to a good design, “Aesthetics” attracts while “function” sustains experience. For instance, if you are to make a choice between two similar fruit juice brands (that you haven’t seen before) in a store, you will most likely choose your preferred option based on look and feel. However, what will determine maybe you become a second-time buyer (or even a loyal one) or not, is the content.
\n\n\n\nFunction meets aesthetics on the outside.
\n\n\n\nEssentially, everything around us is a design in the context of a problem. Your teacup helps contain your tea, your tee-shirt protects your body, and your notebook helps keep your records. All of these products are designs that solve a specific problem(s). When a design does not solve the problem for which it was created, then it seizes being a design in the context of that problem.
\n\n\n\nDesigns are problems specific!
\n\n\n\nDESIGNING FOR HUMANS
\n\n\n\nHumans are a bit complex in make-up and behaviour, thus, a need for a specific design approach called “Human Centered Design”. Human-centred design is a design concept with emphasis on solving specific human problems through an in-depth understanding of human psychology and anatomy to create meaningful products and processes.
\n\n\n\nPsychology defines the behavioural pattern and mind system of humans while anatomy gives an insight into the body structure of humans. For instance, a tee-shirt design for Kola, who is short, lives in Maiduguri, has high perspiration level and a muscular body structure will take into consideration all these details as it will suggest the specifics for the design in terms of the shape, material, and even patterns.
\n\n\n\nHuman-Centered designers are like gods; they create experiences that affect humans physically and psychologically through designs. For example, the colours, height, and shape of a room can affect the mood and behaviour of the occupants.
\n\n\n\nNUDGE AS A DESIGN APPROACH!
\n\n\n\nOver the years, human-centered designers have been accused of forcing their design solutions on the subject matter (humans). It is not hard to find that example of an unauthorized footpath that passes through a piece of land and the design solution adopted is a fence around it. This solution usually looks forced and does not respect the self-decision of the subject at the same time. However, Design Nudge is an intelligent design approach that respects the decision making of subjects. The “nudge” theory, as presented by Richard Thaler who won the Nobel economics prize (for his contribution in behavioural economics), is a concept where people are driven to make better decisions and display a result of positive reinforcement through subtle changes in policies.
\n\n\n\nNudges do not necessarily make it impossible to do the wrong things, but they make it easier to do the right things as people tend to make decisions unconsciously. A nudge helps redirect them toward a better one and they are usually not mandates. This concept has recently been adopted by designers to solve human-centred problems effectively.
\n\n\n\nAmsterdam’s Schiphol Airport urinal design is a good application of this design concept. For several years, the airport was faced with the problem of urine spillage that messes up the urinal section of the restroom. A radical design solution such as splashback screens that let urine in but not out, rubber floor mats could have been applied. Nonetheless, without altering the behaviour of the cause, all these approaches will only solve the problem temporarily. In the early 1990s, the cleaning manager at the Airport eventually adopted a design nudge concept by settling on photorealistic images of flies on the urinal right near the drain. The idea was to give people something to aim at.
\n\n\n\nWhy a fly? It is small, annoying and a little gross but not scary like a spider, which might discourage people from using the urinal at all. As Aad Kieboom, the Schiphol Airport manager who oversaw the introduction of urinal flies told Work Magazine in 2013, “a fly may have unsanitary connotations, but that is exactly why nobody feels guilty aiming at it!”
\n\n\n\nKieboom reported an astonishing 80% reduction in urinal spillage after introducing the flies. He estimated this resulted in an 8 percent reduction in total bathroom cleaning costs at the airport. Since then, urinal flies have begun showing up in restrooms all over the world.
\n\n\n\nIn another instance, the Massachusetts General Hospital Cafeteria used a light system to discourage their staff from making unhealthy food choices. Using a coloured light system—red, yellow and green—healthy options like vegetables and salads were labelled green and positioned on the shelves at eye level while the unhealthy ones were with red lights and on lower shelves.
\n\n\n\nThis colour and positioning tactics helped them record an increase in green item sales from 41% to 46%, and red items were down from 24% to 21%. Two years after implementing this idea, red light beverage purchases were down by an encouraging total of 39%.
\n\n\n\nAlthough Nudges are relatively new in design applications, they have however proven to be an effective approach to solving human-centred problems.
\n\n\n\nReferences:
The Washington Post By Christopher Ingraham, October 9, 2017.
Works That Work, No.1, Winter 2013.
As the design space evolves, we would continue to have conversations around roles that come with growth in the industry. Who is a senior designer? What are the experiences that he or she should have?
\n\n\n\nSometimes last year, a new acquaintance reached me via DM on Instagram, he asked me why I was called a Senior Designer and what it entails. This happened just about a year into when I assumed the role at FourthCanvas and was the first time I would ever encounter such a question. So while I answered the question in the best way I could as at that time, it prompted a more conscious effort to study, research and understand the hierarchy system in the creative sphere.
\n\n\n\nAround the same time, some of my designer friends got employed into different roles in their respective new coys – Graphic Designer, Brand Manager, Art Director among others. According to Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne’s Becoming A Graphic & Digital Designer, there are four levels in a typical design team – Entry (Intern, Junior Designer, etc), Support (Design and Art Director Associates, etc), Creative/Senior (Senior Designer, Art Director, Senior Art Director etc.), and Managerial levels (Creative Director, Chief Creative Officer, Design Director, etc.)
\n\n\n\nHowever, the Senior Designer role or its equivalents across different departments and setups is the heart of the Design team. It is the threshold of real significance in any career. The centre and pivot of the team—a lot revolves around him/her.
\n\n\n\nIf you are on the design journey and or excited about better understanding the role of a Senior designer, here are some characteristics of the level across leadership, mastery, experience, and process.
\n\n\n\nLeadership is 360-degrees; as John C Maxwell taught in The 360 Leader. The Senior Designer, being the centre of the design team should lead up, down and sideways. Lead up to the managerial level by taking directives from him, helping him provide guidance for the junior level and, lead down to the support and entry levels by providing guidance on tasks and their overall growth career-wise and lead sideways to his peers—other Senior Designers—by sharpening each other towards mastery. Overall, the Senior Designer should prepare himself to take up Managerial roles on the team.
\n\n\n\nThe requirements for the Creative Director role are beyond skill mastery or experience. Leadership is key here and the best time to prepare for leadership is before you attain the position.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMastery of skills – the Senior Designer is not one who is unsure of his skills and strengths or who is still shaky in design thinking, problem-solving and execution—the Senior Designer doesn’t just know, he or she is assured. Mastery is a product of sheer understanding of the basic as a master doesn’t outgrow the basics. Because the design field has different specializations like branding, Ads, Digital Ads etc, there is usually a temptation to try to master all. Although the senior designer may, in addition to his mastery of the subject of ‘design’ have an idea of all forms of design, he must, however, pick a niche and exhaust it as much as he can—this is true mastery.
\n\n\n\nExperience – the consistency of result at a particular level and a track record of growth over time. There are works to show for the level—has a portfolio to show for what has been learnt over the years. A senior designer’s body of work should show consistency at a high level including personal experiences to back up most of his deepest philosophies, standards and perspectives. The Senior Designer has to be able to teach, guide and speak from experience, both his/hers and others’ he has learnt from and experienced as entry-level designers should be able to learn from all these.
\n\n\n\nProcess ensures success can be replicated. It ensures that the result is not a hit in the hit-or-miss roller coaster. The truth about teaching is that you cannot teach shortcuts as they’re not replicable or sustainable. The process is a major evidence of true success as if you can’t explain how you arrive at your results or solutions in a way that is tangible and measurable, it is safe not to trust your results.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn conclusion, creative departments, everywhere, must be clear on roles and hierarchy between the team, this isn’t to create an unnecessary class or undue protocol but with an understanding that proper hierarchy within the team gives room for learning, feedback and order. At any time, the aforementioned characteristics can be used to select people into their proper role.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":" Tunji Ogunoye","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Tunji-Ogunoye.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/tunji-ogunoye-01275075"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/png;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/c76c02053c26c76dc4cfbd0e31bff72f/62859/So-you-are-senior-designer.webp","srcSet":"/static/c76c02053c26c76dc4cfbd0e31bff72f/405d4/So-you-are-senior-designer.webp 160w,\n/static/c76c02053c26c76dc4cfbd0e31bff72f/dde70/So-you-are-senior-designer.webp 320w,\n/static/c76c02053c26c76dc4cfbd0e31bff72f/62859/So-you-are-senior-designer.webp 640w","sizes":"(min-width: 640px) 640px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":640,"height":426.99999999999994}}}}}},{"uri":"/career-and-life-lessons-from-2-years-as-a-ux-researcher/","title":"Career and Life Lessons from 2 Years as a UX Researcher","slug":"career-and-life-lessons-from-2-years-as-a-ux-researcher","date":"21 May, 2019","content":"\nI have been a UX Researcher for almost 3 years. In that time I have worked on over 30 products, written multiple articles, run almost 10 workshops (with over 120 people), and given 4 talks. Along the way, I’ve learned some lessons and would like to share some of them with you.
Plan before you start, and document your plan
\n\n\n\nResearch plans have made my life easier. Before I started using them, it was hard to keep track of what I was doing. A written out research plan helps guide the entire process from defining objectives and research questions, to who to recruit and how to recruit, determining research methods, creating screeners and scripts, budgeting, identifying required resources and equipment, timelines, and milestones. This is your source of truth for what you’re doing and what’s happening with a particular research project, and this ensures that everyone is on the same page.
It especially helped when I started freelancing because I was able to clearly define the work I’d be doing and not underprice my work. I was also able to clearly define outcomes and deliverables for clients.
\n\n\n\nAlways do a pilot
\n\n\n\nSo you’ve made your infallible research plan and everything is perfect. You have all your questions and your script is tight. You launch into your session. Then 10 minutes into the session, you realise that nothing is going according to plan or you’re asking irrelevant questions.
\n\n\n\nPiloting your studies will help you identify whether you’re asking the right questions, using the right methods, and help you catch mistakes or issues. Always test everything, whether you’re doing remote usability tests, surveys, interviews or any other method. It’s best to pilot with someone from your target group, but you can pilot with your colleagues or friends.
\n\n\n\nParticipant recruitment is not as easy as it seems
\n\n\n\nBecause my first project was redesigning the company’s website and all the stakeholders (management, employees, and community members) were somewhat internal and easy to access, participant recruitment wasn’t something I considered until I had to work on my first client project. It’s easy to think that participants are everywhere, just waiting for you to snap them up, especially when you’re giving incentives, but I’ve found that this is often not the case.
\n\n\n\nYou have to think about how you’ll recruit participants, where to find them, how you’ll reach out to them, if you’ll be giving incentives, what the incentives will be and more.
\n\n\n\nRecruitment can take a considerable amount of time to plan depending on a number of factors including user group, location, research method you’re using, session length and so on. These also influence the size of the incentives you’ll have to give. Always factor this into your research planning, and if you’re a freelancer, factor this into your fee.
\n\n\n\nNot all deliverables are relevant all the time
\n\n\n\nUX research is probably the least flashy component of Design and deliverables are one way to visualise the work that we do. Think personas, customer journeys, user flows etc. There’s the temptation to always have the same deliverables for every project that you do, but that’s not necessary. You have to think of the best way to relay information gotten for each study you run. You also have to think of who you’re sharing this information with and what the best way to present it to them would be,
\n\n\n\nEmbrace awkward silences
\n\n\n\nIt’s tempting to want to jump in when your participant becomes quiet, but you might lose valuable insight. Participants are more likely to continue talking if you just wait a bit. Staying quiet will also help you avoid talking over the participant.
\n\n\n\nAlways take notes, even if you’re recording
\n\n\n\nTechnology won’t always work the way you expect it to. Things will crash, restart, or just not work. So write your notes and don’t rely on video or audio recordings.
\n\n\n\nAnother reason to take notes is that there are some things that you might observe that won’t be picked up by the recordings, and there’d be no way to get these insights if you’re not writing them down. If you can manage it, have someone else in the room to take notes so you can focus on the participant.
Remember Sod’s law
\n\n\n\nEverything that can go wrong will. People won’t show up for their sessions. Equipment won’t work. Recordings will erase. Prototype won’t work as planned. Only 1 person will show up for a 7-person focus group session.
\n\n\n\nThere are three things you can do when things go wrong: (i) use your contingency plan (ii) work around the issues, (iii) call it a day. There’s no hard rule for what to do when things go wrong and you can only get better through practice
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPractice, practice, practice
\n\n\n\nThe best way to get better at conducting research is by actually conducting research. No amount of reading articles and books and watching video tutorials and taking online courses can equate actually getting out there and doing something. It can be terrifying the first time, but it gets easier, and the more you do it, the more efficient you become.
\n\n\n\nTry to practice different methods and not stick to the same two or three for every project that you do.
General life and career lessons
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIt’s not who you know or what you know, but who knows you know what you know.
I first came across this quote a few years ago, and it has become especially remarkable in the last 2 years. All the jobs I’ve gotten (both full time and freelance) were through referrals. Someone who knew me or my work contacted me or recommended me. If you’re great at what you do and nobody knows it, then you might not get far. There’s the myth of the silent genius who focuses only on working and never toots their own horn. In my experience, life rarely works that way.
\n\n\n\nIf you want to be top of mind when someone with your knowledge and expertise is needed, asides from being good at what you do, you have to be visible. Give talks, write articles, create videos on YouTube or Instagram around your topics of interest, tweet. Find the platforms you’re most comfortable with and take the first step to put yourself out there.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYou can’t take every opportunity — get over your FOMO and learn to say no
Being visible means you get a lot of opportunities—job opportunities, speaking opportunities. You can’t take everything for various reasons. Sometimes, they’ll overlap, you might be unable to attend because you’re ill, it might not be the best fit, or you want to be with your family or friends instead. Or it might be something else entirely.
\n\n\n\nIt’s important to think deeply about the things that are important to you and why. This will help you filter out the things you don’t care about and help you say no more easily. It’s okay to turn down opportunities. I’ve personally turned down an offer to another organisation because it didn’t fit into my interests at the time, and I was happy with where I was. I also turned down speaking opportunities because they were not paying speakers or providing transportation and accommodation.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBe flexible—start somewhere and take everything one step at a time
\n\n\n\nBefore becoming a UX researcher, I was a writer, social media manager, and content creator. 6 years ago, I didn’t know this path existed, I only stumbled into it by chance. I was curious about tech and figured that I’d probably work as a Psychologist at a tech company or write blogs for tech companies or something similar. Up until Usable, I had never heard of the field of UX or Design in tech. As far as I knew, to be part of building products, you had to become a software developer. I was also convinced I was going to immediately go a do a PhD in Social Psychology after university.
\n\n\n\nBut then I discovered UX, gave it a chance and loved it. I don’t (and I’ve never had) a 10-year or 5-year career plan. I only know the things I enjoy doing and the things I don’t, the things I’m interested in and the things I’m not, and the things I’m curious about.
\n\n\n\nDon’t be stuck on dreams you set for yourself 10 years ago, and learn to go with the flow.
\n\n\n\nKeep track of what you do
\n\n\n\nIt’s possible to lose track when you’re working. What I did to help me keep track of my work was to create a document I updated with highlights (1/2 lines) and pictures of what I did and the impact. That way, I wouldn’t have to struggle to remember when I’m rewriting/updating my resume or creating a case study.
To be honest, I don’t always do this, but I try to as much as possible.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing which I started recently was to create a sheet with all the products I’ve worked on, talks I’ve given, and workshops and masterclasses I’ve facilitated. Keeping track of my previous work history made it easy to compile this document.
\n\n\n\nAnother example from my work is that keeping track made it easier for me to create a handover document when I was leaving my previous role.
\n\n\n\nKeep learning and experimenting
\n\n\n\nIt’s important to open your mind to the opportunities that exist around. Imagine if I had closed my mind to UX and insisted on going to do a PhD in Psychology. I may or may not pick it up again in, say, 3 years from now, but I’ve decided to focus on Design for now.
Maybe I’ll discover another opportunity and develop new interests and maybe I won’t be working in UX or Design in another 2 years. Who knows. Once upon a time, I took HTML and CSS and Javascript lessons. I’ve done lessons on Python, SQL and more. I’m experimenting and learning, and this way I’ll discover more opportunities and find how and where my interests intersect.
Know yourself
\n\n\n\nDifferent things work for different people. What works for you might be to have a strict plan to follow, but that has never been my thing. Know yourself. Know your strengths. Know how you flourish. There’s no one way to break into most things. Find what works for you and stick with it regardless of what other people are doing.
Being a Generalist or a Specialist is a perennial discourse in the design industry. Should a designer specialize in a specific design methodology or offer a broad range of design skills? These are the questions some design experts unpacked in this episode of Crunch Talk.
Coker Oluwafemi, Fungi Dube, and Samuel Fabayo talked about the difference between a Generalist and a Specialist, the pros and cons, and their influence on the future of design.
Who is a Generalist? Who is a Specialist?
\n\n\n\nThere’s an obvious similarity in the definition of these terms by the three designers. To them, a generalist is someone with broad knowledge and competence across many design practices and fields while a specialist is someone who concentrates primarily on a particular design skill.
\n\n\n\nCoker says a generalist is someone who can do wide-varying things that can eventually connect. While a specialist is someone who has mastered a particular skill and who continually gains proficiency in it.
\n\n\n\nIn Fungi’s words, a design generalist is a person who can pivot several disciplines because they are competent in various design disciplines. While a specialist has targeted expertise; they have deeper and more streamlined knowledge relating to a particular discipline.
\n\n\n\nTo Samuel, a specialist is someone who’s been focused on specific design practices for a long period, while a generalist dabbles in all types of design practices without necessarily focusing on one.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the pros and cons of each?
\n\n\n\nFungi mention that the advantage of generalizing as a designer is making you a more confident and adaptable designer; you can pivot to any area of design for as long as you have the necessary skill set. It also gives you access to a bigger market and more volume of work. One disadvantage she states is how being a generalist may essentially drive your market share down due to competition for projects as you are serving the bigger population.
\n\n\n\nShe also mentions some pros of being a specialist. According to her;
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpecialising allows for you to elevate your offering as your work is valuable to a prospective client or employer because you can offer specialized creative solutions. Your work looks more consistent and it follows that because you have mastered that specific skill, you are in a position to command a higher price for it.”
One of the downfalls of being a specialist is that you would have to turn down or outsource inquiries that fall outside of your niche. He also mentions that it takes a lot of ongoing practice and time to truly master one thing.
\n\n\n\nFrom Coker’s standpoint, the pros of being a Generalist designer are enormous. As a generalist, one tends to have broad knowledge and diverse skills; this allows for more creative thinking when reaching for a solution to a particular problem. He opines that knowledge is power, and that ability gives one the power to see things differently.
\n\n\n\n“You can individually work to complete end-to-end projects, you can serve clients and employers more efficiently, and you entirely understand and can take ownership of the final solution” he concludes.
\n\n\n\nCoker shares the same sentiment with Fungi on the con of being a Generalist. He agrees that one may have to outsource specialized work.
\n\n\n\nHe further delves into the advantages of being a specialist. He explains that a specialist is a master of their skill, and they have a deeper understanding of it. A specialist is known for their skill and has adapted a unique and defined working process for defining it.
\n\n\n\nThe con of being a specialist according to Coker is that your ability to expand over time may be affected, also your specialty runs the risk of becoming obsolete as the world advances.
\n\n\n\nWhich advantage does one have over the other? And which circumstance makes one more adviseable than the other?
\n\n\n\nSamuel believes that the advantage of one practice over the other is dependent on the type of work environment that each type of designer finds themselves in. According to him; a generalist tends to thrive more in an agency where there’s more opportunity to be creative and expressive. Specialists, on the other hand, are better suited to work as consultants or as in-house designers focused on a specific design discipline.
\n\n\n\nHe states that it also depends on the personality of the designer. “A lot of designers become generalists because switching from one design practice to another helps to break the monotony that comes with specializing.”
\n\n\n\nHe summarizes that factors like work environment, personality type and general interests make designers choose one over the other.
\n\n\n\nCoker gave a rather direct approach to this question. He says the advantage of being a generalist over being a specialist is
\n\n\n\nthe ability to combine different skills towards solving a problem. While the advantage of being a specialist over being a generalist is the ability to deeply understand a particular skill.
\n\n\n\nFungi, however, gave a different perspective on this question. She believes there is merit to both and this can be debated as such. Applying substantial knowledge over a breadth of design disciplines can just be as beneficial as streamlining and applying more targeted expertise. The value of a specialist who delivers and the broad application of a generalist cannot be ignored.
\n\n\n\nShe adds this;
\n\n\n\n“I believe that effective and credible design thinking requires that you can strategize like a generalist and deliver like a specialist. It all comes down to subjectivity; which path fulfills you most, the type of work you prefer to do, and identifying a niche in your market.
\n\n\n\nCircumstantially – generalism would be ideal if you are still starting in your creative journey or you intend on being part of a design team.
\n\n\n\nSpecialism would be the preferable route if you intend on following a personal passion and ultimately becoming an expert/industry leader.”
\n\n\n\nAnother point of consideration she mentions is that with time, designers get better and build a more quality client base. The best time for them to consider specializing is when they start to step more into their own as they may want to work fewer hours, whilst still retaining value, both in the work that they do and the demographic that they cater for.
\n\n\n\nIs being a generalist/specialist related to being a beginner or pro?
\n\n\n\nCoker does not believe there is a relatability between being a generalist/specialist to being a beginner or pro. He opines that specialism and generalism are more or less abstract concepts. He further explains that beginners can choose to specialize or generalize and he uses UX design as a concrete analogy. A beginner can choose to generalize to better understand the discipline — that beginner can learn UI design, prototyping, user flow development, UX design, etc. Another beginner can alternatively choose to specialize, to master just one aspect e.g prototyping.
\n\n\n\nIn the broader view, a pro can decide to also generalize or specialize in different design disciplines — that pro can learn UI design, graphic design, web design, game design, etc, or can alternatively choose to specialize to master one aspect; e.g graphic design. Generalization and specialization should be informed by one’s career path, and varying interests or lack thereof, He concludes.
\n\n\n\nFungi share a different stance on the subject matter. She affirms that being a generalist means you are a beginner and being a specialist means you are a pro.
\n\n\n\nBy definition, being a specialist implies that you have a certain degree, and over time with dedication, mastered a skill and are highly proficient in it. We all are beginners at one point and have to build up from a blank canvas. As such, we tend to absorb a lot more information and explore more, making us, to a degree, generalists. From my experience and observation, especially if we also consider influential world design leaders and educators, an increase in overall experience paves way for a more streamlined approach, whereby generalism naturally shifts toward specialism
\n\n\n\n– Fungi Dube
\n\n\n\nFor Samuel, he shares the perspectives of both Coker and Fungi. While he believes that being a generalist/specialist does not necessarily relate to being a beginner or pro, he mentions that a lot of designers start their careers as generalists as it is an essential part of the discovery process. In his words;
\n\n\n\n“Dabbling into different design practices helps with understanding where our interests lie. So, most times when a designer becomes a specialist, it is because they have dabbled in different practices and have finally settled on a sweet spot. Majorly, this sweet spot is a combination of at least two design practices that provides a strong foundation for specialization. For example, a product design specialist should have great UX design and visual/graphic design skills.”
\n\n\n\nHe also bases his argument on the stance of his experience. He believes that specialists that have been generalists at the early stage of their careers make better design leaders because they can guide younger colleagues that are still in the discovery stage.
\n\n\n\nWhich one are you and why?
\n\n\n\nCoker is a generalist. Being a generalist allows him to serve his clients by focusing on the problems they wish to solve in a project. It allows him to bring forth his wealth of experience and explore it substantially. He works to imagine the best way to approach the problem, and the most suited skills to bring on board the project.
\n\n\n\nSamuel shares an interesting approach to this question, he believes himself to be a specialist with a generalist mindset. What this means for him as a User Experience Designer is the ability to tap into other design practices when he needs them to meet objectives that make the User Experience better. “On my journey to being a UX designer, I have been engaged in almost all kinds of design practices from Architecture, to brand and editorial design and these skills still come in handy when solving problems as a UX designer,” he says.
\n\n\n\nFungi, however, has tasted both worlds. She was a generalist for the first two years of her design career, she is now a specialist and has been for 5 years. Years of applied experimentation, research and experience with other various design disciplines led her to a place whereby she had a full discovery of the kind of work and the kind of projects that excite her and push her creatively. She says this;
\n\n\n\n“Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favourite books; he talks about the 10,000h rule. This is a principle that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class in any field and “deliberate practicing” speaks of practicing in a way that pushes your skill set as much as possible.
\n\n\n\nI narrowed my scope down to solely brand design, including packaging (which I absolutely love), and have been deliberate about sharpening this particular skill set because this is the kind of creative work that fulfills me.”
\n\n\n\nWhich is the future of design? Generalist or specialist?
\n\n\n\nInterestingly, the three designers firmly believe that both roles have significant relevance in the future of design.
\n\n\n\nCoker thinks both kinds of designers will thrive in the future. Generalists and specialists both have a role to play, he explains. generalists can see the overview; the entire picture and specialists can understand a particular thing deeply. “I see a future where generalists and specialists get to work together, allowing for broader thinking around problems and masterful executions.” he inputs.
\n\n\n\nSamuel holds a stance that both roles are important in the future of design. He gives different reasons for his stance.
\n\n\n\nWe need the generalist’s wide approach to problem-solving because recently generalists have been very valuable to early-stage startups where speed is very important and the lines in job descriptions are blurred. We also need the specialist’s depth of knowledge in solving niche problems like brand strategy or service design.
\n\n\n\n– Samuel Fabayo
\n\n\n\nFungi also agree that the future of design comprises both generalists and specialists. She preaches this belief because it becomes essential to have a cross-functional and well-distributed team if a startup or firm is considering having structured design teams. “You essentially would want designers that can do a bit of everything to collaborate with more specialized designers to produce a more robust design outcome,” she concludes.
\n\n\n\nOther things worthy of note on this subject matter
\n\n\n\nCoker advises that designers should generalize before specializing. Generalizing allows you to try things out, it makes you understand how different aspects work together and allows you the freedom to pick your interests when you may eventually decide to specialize.
\n\n\n\nHe also adds that there are no absolute generalists or specialists. “We are hybrids that tilt that scale to a degree, we have a bit of both if we look closely enough,” he mentions.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA key take-home is to always take the time to learn about and do the things that fascinate us, or work with those who can do those fascinating things masterfully well. There is the benefit of compounded experience as a generalist, and there is the benefit of masterful competence as a specialist.”
– Coker Oluwafemi
Fungi sets herself as an example. She shares insight on how the beginning of her design career was purely experimental and extremely chaotic because she tried out and worked on anything and everything as long as it did not compromise her value system.
\n\n\n\n“I was curious and open to learning; the pressure of wanting to and possibly not having the choice to decline work as I was at the very start of my journey took me to a place of self-actualization. Amid all the chaos, I naturally gravitated towards the design discipline that fulfilled me the most; and I haven’t looked back since.”
\n\n\n\nStaying curious, open-minded and experimenting allows you to discover where your interest lies and thus allows you to streamline, should you desire to do so. She concludes that without the “chaos”, one can never be truly exposed to how vast the design space is and what it can offer us.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Hidayatullah Bamidele","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DearDesigner_Icon-01.png"},"authorLink":null},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/b9f8758f0fcbe4c5e1cc3fc7a21355dd/d51bf/DD-Post-Image.webp","srcSet":"/static/b9f8758f0fcbe4c5e1cc3fc7a21355dd/aa3f3/DD-Post-Image.webp 480w,\n/static/b9f8758f0fcbe4c5e1cc3fc7a21355dd/42d4c/DD-Post-Image.webp 960w,\n/static/b9f8758f0fcbe4c5e1cc3fc7a21355dd/d51bf/DD-Post-Image.webp 1920w","sizes":"(min-width: 1920px) 1920px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1920,"height":1282}}}}}},{"uri":"/who-is-a-senior-designer/","title":"Who is a Senior Designer?","slug":"who-is-a-senior-designer","date":"15 March, 2022","content":"\nIn this episode of crunch talk, Aanu Sebiomo, Akin Theodox, Damilola Marcus, and Olalekan Akinyele unpack the context of being a senior designer, what makes a senior designer one, and the popular misconception surrounding it.
\n\n\n\nWhat makes a Senior Designer one?
\n\n\n\nThe four designers echoed similar thoughts on the subjectiveness and vagueness of who a senior designer is.
\n\n\n\nAanu gave his answer taking Nigeria into context. He believes the absence of a structured system of learning design makes it difficult to say what defines a senior designer, unlike the international community where there are universities where you can study and get a degree in design. According to him, if there was a learning structure for design, the hierarchy could be measured by how long one has earned a degree. He defined a senior designer as someone who has a couple of quality years of experience, who doesn’t just design screens, but knows how to effectively combine form and function.
\n\n\n\nFrom Theodox’s presidential perspective, confidence, work output, and people management are three important things that qualify anyone to be a senior designer. Spearheading design decisions confidently, managing people, and taking the role of “top person” on a project from start to finish. Interestingly, he believes that all of these points are relatively reliant on your years of experience as the aforementioned points are things that take years to become good at.
\n\n\n\nDamilola believes that there are three things to look at when you’re trying to define who a senior designer is. First, time could be a defining factor for some people, with the idea that the longer you spend in the design space, the closer you get to attaining the “senior designer” position. To other people, however, it is more of a measure of skill and what you’re able to do as a designer. And lastly, some designers may feel that a managerial appointment or agency standpoint is what makes them senior designers.
\n\n\n\nTo Lexain, what makes a senior designer one is not about the years of experience they have, but is largely dependent on environments in which they work, who they work with, who they learn from, the kind of projects that they embark on, and the kind of projects they work on. “Someone that has been working as a designer for 10 years in an environment like Shomolu cannot be compared with someone that has been working as a designer for 10 years in an advertising agency,” he said.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the responsibilities of a senior designer?
\n\n\n\nIt’s not much of a coincidence that the designers mentioned the Leadership role as a distinct responsibility of a senior designer. They believe the key responsibility of a senior designer is the ability to assume a leadership role, manage people efficiently, and have a strong understanding of the design works and their details. They also mentioned other various roles of a senior designer.
\n\n\n\nIn Aanu’s opinion, a senior designer’s responsibility is paying attention to little detail. They know how to align design business values. They help achieve financial business goals. They help proffer solutions to people’s marketing problems. They look at functionality, business goals, and the visual part of things and get the team to make the final decisions.
\n\n\n\nDamilola adds that a senior designer’s responsibility varies from organization to organization but she agrees that there are commonalities in terms of what the expectations are for a senior designer. According to her, a senior designer is “someone who can take genuine ownership of a project”. This person has moved from trying to figure out the fundamentals of design to exploring, expanding, and experimenting in a very meaningful and impactful way.
\n\n\n\nTheodox opines that a senior designer manages people, makes confident decisions while working on projects, and spearheads design tasks that consist of a team of people. They are people who create frameworks that help a project succeed and put people on tasks.
\n\n\n\nLexain asserts that senior designers should have the skill set to start a project from conception and ensure that the entire project is complete and deliverables are met.
\n\n\n\n“Senior designers create original works. They review the works of their subordinates and the people working on them. They know how to use different graphic software. They know how to apply typography techniques, manage and combine fonts. They know how to create fantastically and adhere to all the principles of design.”
\n\n\n\n– Olalekan Akinyele
\n\n\n\nA senior designer thinks functionality first, then aesthetics later.“If you are creating a product, you should know that the product is meant to solve a problem whether it is digital products, a software product, or a hardware product, it must solve a problem.” He concludes.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s the importance of the number of years in making a senior designer?
\n\n\n\nDamilola holds that people have different opinions as regards this. The number of years could be an important factor for some people because it’s a simple way to gauge. They believe doing one thing for many years makes one adept in it. She, however, doesn’t share that notion. She looks out for someone who has an excellent grasp of rudimentary design principles and has adequately explored that and also brings unique perspectives into that thing with strengthened meaningfulness.
\n\n\n\n“There are certain environments in Nigeria that do not allow people to truly flourish as designers. You may spend several years in those kinds of organizations or environments and not have gained much. So, that for me is the least important thing”, she says.
\n\n\n\nAanu states that not having a structured learning environment makes it difficult to determine if years of experience are important in determining who a senior designer is.
\n\n\n\nHe mentioned that no written rule suggests a senior designer must have a certain number of years of experience. “Who do we say the senior designer is? How do we measure the quantity of experience one has? Is it quality years of experience? Have they been exposed to the right things? Did they work with teams? Did they work with businesses and help them achieve their goals? These are the questions to put into consideration. Although the number of years is important, the quality of the experience is more important.” he concluded.
\n\n\n\nLexain also added his fresh perspective. To him, the years of experience don’t matter. It’s all about the growth mindset of an individual. Using his career story as a case study, he started his career in 2011 professionally as a graphic designer and was open to learning. He talked about how he wanted to learn everything and the number of tutorials he watched just to stay on top of his game and in one year, he was promoted to the senior art director role.
\n\n\n\nHe mentioned that one thing he noticed helped him grow over the years is that willingness to learn, that growth mindset to always want to do something new. The environment also contributed to his growth as he had competitive colleagues.
\n\n\n\n“A designer might have spent several years in a certain organization and they probably didn’t grow that much. It boils down to the task they are willing to take, how they are taking ownership of projects, how they’re managing the process itself, the end-to-end process from the conception to the completion of the project. So, I think those are key as against just watching out for how many years this person has spent.”
\n\n\n\nTheodox’s opinion is a bit different from the others because he believes it is important to have a certain number of years of experience working fully as a designer before you can call yourself a senior designer. These years of experience are to gather the necessary set skills one should have as a senior designer and these skills are not learned overnight. However, implementing and putting them into effective use is what makes you a senior designer.
\n\n\n\nHow many you know, designers have you met?
\n\n\n\nGiven a range, all four designers have met only a few designers. By Aanu’s definition of who he thinks a senior designer is, he has only met with a very few of them. Theodox has met three designers physically and seven of them online.
\n\n\n\nDamilola thinks there are not many senior designers in Nigeria, especially in her niche which is brand identity. However, she has met a few in product design. Over the course of his career, Lexian has met a few in every agency he has worked with. In about a decade, he has met five designers.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the popular misconceptions of who a senior designer is?
\n\n\n\nOne of the popular misconceptions Theodox mentioned is how people sometimes think being a senior designer at one company automatically translates into you becoming a senior designer at another company. It doesn’t make you a senior designer even in the normal freelance world. So while you are a senior designer in a company, you might be a junior designer in another company. He paints the scenario of working in a local company as a senior designer and you go to an international company like Google, you might just be an intern there.
\n\n\n\nAnother misconception worthy of note by Damilola is the fact that people measure being a senior designer by the number of their years of experience. She also mentioned how people assume they are senior designers once they have worked with big names. It could mean that they’ve acquired one of the necessary aspects of being a senior designer. That’s the way Damilola looks at it as opposed to working with big names or being in the industry for a long time.
\n\n\n\nTo Lexain, one of the misconceptions that we have sometimes is that we think that most people that call themselves senior designers could deliver on what we expect them to deliver. Sometimes, you could be disappointed with what you get.
\n\n\n\nAre any other things worthy of note on the subject matter?
\n\n\n\nLexain gave insight on how designers need to start looking beyond just executing ideas and doing eye-candy visuals that might not solve any problem. Designers should be interested in looking at how to solve problems, how to take charge of projects, and how to let their voices be heard in terms of having strong opinions. Their opinions should come from a place of depth in terms of the amount of research that they’ve done, the knowledge they have on the subject matter, and how much creative juice they have.
\n\n\n\nDesigners need to pay attention more to the way things work, not the way things look so that they can be able to improve on their work so you can equally improve people’s lives, their standard of living, and the quality of their lives eventually.
\n\n\n\nDamilola mentioned genuine autonomy to work is important because you can have a well-rounded view of design. You’re able to stretch the boundaries of it, you’re able to execute as execution is a strength of a senior designer.
\n\n\n\n“Execution, articulation, both verbal and visual, ability to lead to the quality of the work, a strong grasp on excellence, grasp of rudimentary knowledge, a groundedness on what the industry trend is, knowing when to follow it or when to leave it, having a network, having a reputation, clients relations, mastering skills as opposed to starting to learn them, reliability and dependability, ability to take ownership of not just parts of the project but the entire project to truly lead it with your understanding know-how and the value of your design techniques are what makes you a senior designer,” she concluded.
\n\n\n\nTheodox concluded that senior designers are responsibility takers. They are people who put people at the core of their decisions. They are people who create frameworks that help a project succeed. They know what should not be and are unwavering about it. Years of experience and the diversity of what they’ve worked on have helped them gain a lot of clarity on a lot of topics and a lot of discussions. A senior designer is not someone who just has years of experience as a designer, nor is someone who was appointed by a company as a senior designer. He is someone who can perform all these qualities or fits into all these qualities.
\n\n\n\nAanu advocated for a structured learning system. “We need to have schools where people can learn design, graduate, have years of experience, and do internships. These would differentiate them from someone who’s just coming into the school of design, or an intern,” he said.
\n\n\n\nIf a structure is absent, it might be very difficult, especially here in Nigeria to distinguish between a junior and senior designer. He recommended that we push towards having the standard curriculum so that in the n coming years, we would have structured education for designers.
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The questions of whether to join a design team or to work as a sole agent and the effects of both situations have remained for as long as anyone can remember. In this episode of Crunch Talk, Harold Agaju, Sherman Baloyi and Tunde Mason all came together to air their distinct opinions on the pros and cons of both working conditions, while also sharing their individual experiences.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the peculiarities of working as a freelancer and working on a team?
\n\n\n\nTo Harold, the major twist is with control. According to him, a freelancer has more control over their design process. While it may seem nice to shoulder the end-to-end responsibility of a project, it’s daunting. On the other hand, Harold explains that working with a team gives you less control; a designer works with existing blueprints and on the parts set out for them.
\n\n\n\nInterestingly, Sherman agrees with Harold. As a freelancer, Sherman believes you have the creative freedom to choose projects that suit your style and extend on your preferred niche. “Working with a team limits the extent of your creative freedom,” he repeats.
\n\n\n\nTunde, however, brought an entirely new perspective to the conversation when he mentioned the distinction between project size and timing for each side. While a freelancer works on a large number of projects at a short time constraint, a team player has the luxury to spend more time on projects. Thus, the latter has more time to iterate the work done and the former comes up with a minimum viable product to just keep going. That seems like an interesting insight from Tunde.
What are the pros and cons of each?
It isn’t shocking that there are a lot of overlapping insights from the three designers while discussing the pros and cons of the two working citations, however, there are opinions that stand out. Harold mentioned that what is considered as a pro and con boils down to the preference of a designer. “To me, control is a pro as a freelancer. I can direct the project from beginning to end. The onus is on me and I can’t give excuses. But then, control is also a con. You can burnout easily since you are in control of the entire project—end to end”
\n\n\n\n“To me, control is a pro as a freelancer. I can direct the project from beginning to end. The onus is on me and I can’t give excuses. But then, control is also a con. You can burnout easily since you are in control of the entire project—end to end”
Harold Agaju
As much as Sherman agrees with Harold on the lack of so much control, creative freedom as he calls it, he believes it’s dependent on your level of expertise and job title. Being in a senior role still allows you a level of creative freedom despite being with a team.
\n\n\n\nTunde tabled the earnings that come with both, but with a more different approach. To him, a lot of Nigerian clients demand a lot from freelancers while paying so little, which is a con. But this isn’t the case with foreign clients. “If you can build a retainer relationship with these (foreign) clients or get into a platform like Toptal, your income can increase dramatically over a short period,” he explains. Harold endorses that freelancing pays much better than working with a team.
\n\n\n\nAnother factor this trio brought up that’s worth mentioning is the speed with which decisions are made. As a freelancer, you make decisions really fast as it all lies on you. However, with a team, decisions drag because “everyone has to be carried along and everyone’s ideas have to be considered,” as Harold puts it.
\n\n\n\nWhat advantage does one have over the other?
\n\n\n\nTo summarise everything said by Tunde and Harold, one could easily say freelancing lets you have a wide range of design knowledge while working with a team enables you to dig deep into an aspect of design. Tunde explains that projects come to a freelancer from a wide variety of industries while a designer working with a team “gets to spend more time fine-tuning details.” Harold supports this motion as he says that while working with a team, a designer has easy access to immediate and helpful resources; a team member can help if one should get stuck. A luxury that a freelancer doesn’t have.
However, to them, a freelancer gets to work on different projects which a team player might not have access to. Also, a team
Sherman added that an advantage working with a team has over freelancing is the support and validation from your peers. You have a lot of fresh perspective on your work and do not get stuck in a loop of designing with the same style every time.
Discuss growth concerning each scenario.
\n\n\n\nSherman and Harold held opposing views about growth for a freelancer and a designer working with a team. To Sherman, a freelancer has more growth opportunities. It’s more than design knowledge—a freelancer takes on a project, makes mistakes, learns to close deals, make business moves and has different experiences across the board that someone working on a team may never be exposed to.
Although Harold holds the same views on the wide range of experience set, he believes that being on a team helps one grow faster, have access to helpful resources and network with other designers-cum-team members, all of which are especially helpful for a junior designer.
Over the past few years, the conversations around design and art have gotten deeper and more intertwined. While the two concepts keep gaining ground within society, the question of what differentiates design from art hovers constantly.
\n\n\n\nIn this article, Sarpomah Boakye, David Ofiare, Ariyike Adetimehin, and Morenike Olusanya attempt to explain how art differs from design, their roles, and their collective influence on today’s society.
\n\n\n\nWhat is Art? What is Design?
\n\n\n\nWhile defining the terms, they all agreed on one key element—that Art is chiefly a form of expression while Design is primarily targeted at problem-solving. To Sarpomah, Design is a specification of a process, referring to requirements to be satisfied and thus conditions to be met for them to solve a problem while Art is the creative and emotional expression of mental imagery. David also shares similar sentiment on the definition of Design. He rules that Design is simply problem-solving. For every design task, the designer comes in as an external element (in most cases) to throw light to rather dark situations or to make dim ones better, through visual communication. On the other hand, he looks at Art on a higher level, which is human expression. Art for him is not subject to debate or criticism; the Artist can choose to close their ears to feedback.
\n\n\n\nAriyike and Morenike also share similar sentiments on what Art is; expression for aesthetic purposes. Morenike also goes ahead to rule that defining or putting art in a box is almost impossible because it is present in so many forms; from paintings to music, to dance. So, art is very subjective and we cannot classify art in one way, because it’s so many things.
\n\n\n\nAre art and design different?
\n\n\n\nDavid opines that indeed they are, for the simple reason that Art is more prestigious (which he offers as a personal opinion), because the artist is King and has a ‘throne.’ “You cannot unseat him.”
\n\n\n\nSarpomah however gives a different perspective. Asserting that while Art and Design are separate ideas, they still share common mediums. Both art and design are meant to communicate. Art communicates indirectly while design communicates directly. Both require a medium (stone, paint, electronic screen) to become obvious. But beyond the medium of expression, they do not share any similarities. According to him;
\n\n\n\n“Design is focused on achieving solutions with measurable results whereas art is more concerned with expressing ideas through emotions that may have more than one sense. Art does not have a set of standard rules whereas design does. Art is something you make, it’s not necessarily just something you look at but to perceive and have a thought about what has been created, in other words, Art usually asks questions. Art is created to provoke thought and emotions in the consumer to be appreciated.”
\n\n\n\nDo the opinions people have about the “Design vs Art” debate affect how they do their work?
\n\n\n\nFor Morenike, she agrees that this perception affects how she views her work. She says;
\n\n\n\n“I was a designer for 3 years of my life and I studied design in school. While I wouldn’t say design is harder than art, we can say it is more technical and complicated and it requires a more defined thought process because the design is always for a purpose. Meanwhile, art is not always for a purpose; you can create art just for the sake of creating art. So, when I was in school when people referred to my design works as art, it made me feel some sort of way because it is not the same.”
\n\n\n\nDavid has a rather direct answer to this, citing feedback as a major determinant of this. For him, opinions on design should always affect how the Designer works, because feedback is very important in communication, which is what design aims to provide. While for art? Nobody wants your feedback, except the artiste wants to involve you.
\n\n\n\nSarpomah explains that a variety of reasons affect this, including time and the actual designer or artist. For him;
\n\n\n\n“Art forms have always been created to communicate important messages and to inspire people to act and think. Before humankind learned to read, we depended solely on word of mouth or visual symbols to express meanings and to learn something. This is not a new idea.
\n\n\n\nAudiences have always been varied. Mostly different, defined by different social and geographic perceptions/constraints and whether or not they shared or share similar sets of meanings. With increased communication between groups may come increasingly different levels of literacy and social diversity within and the awareness of this between societies, as well as a possible increased social interaction between societies, hopefully, humans can learn to respect one another’s differences. Design is very personal and individual, it’s a good thing too because it would be awful if every company’s website looked the same. We’ve seen a big shift in design as businesses have moved away from busy, colorful pages full of content in favor of lots of whitespaces, layout design, text alignment, simple messaging, and pages that are elegant, functional, and direct.
\n\n\n\nSo basically, art is used to communicate different messages within different contexts. Art forms continue to communicate to people but it does so in a varied way to a potentially wider mix of diverse audiences. Making art for a specific audience requires that the art-makers think of their audience when they create. The human experience is not massive or unilinear (in the sense of traveling from simple to complex), Different views of the world are expressed in the process of making art to different audiences. Not everyone ‘gets it’ at the same time”
\n\n\n\nAriyike Adetimehin espouses that it does. She adds this
\n\n\n\n“I would like to think that it does cause your opinion of how things work. When I create art, I am typically doing stuff like illustration, I have a personal illustration account where I put up glimpses of thought that I had during my day or crazy things I am thinking in my head and then I just try to put it down. For me, I don’t put too much thought into it. So sometimes, I have some very off-brand things there but at that particular moment, that was what was in my head, that was what I was thinking about and that is what I want to share with people. Design is different because when I design, it tends to be a bit more structured, I follow a process, I take time to read more about what people are doing, what are the new things that people are designing particularly in my field of product design. So, it affects how I do my work in that way but I can’t speak for other people cause I am not in their heads.”
\n\n\n\nWhich came first? Design or Art?
\n\n\n\nFor this question, everyone had a similar standpoint. That Art came first.
\n\n\n\nSarpomah offers an academic explanation of the history of art. According to him, we understand that Art came first; the first real drawings and paintings were those created by Cro-Magnon man 30000 years ago on cave walls and that the first real sculptures and clay models were those of Upper Paleolithic Eurasia. Art started with the cavemen as they were living in the prehistoric era, the cavemen started with paintings of animals on their walls in the caves, especially when they go hunting, as to what they see out there. They come back and draw/decorate/engrave on the walls of their caves.
\n\n\n\n“Graphic design proper began after the invention of the printing press in 1440, but the roots of visual communication stretch back to caveman times. Subjom animals to hand imprints to events like hunting, and they’ve been found all over the world (Australia, Spain, Indonesia, France, Argentina, just to name a few). Historians debate the fine details as to who these were meant to communicate with (whether each other or their gods), but one clear thing is, right from tone clear thing played a knack for communicating with visuals.”
\n\n\n\nMorenike also shares a similar sentiment with Sarpomah, citing that she believes that art came first and then the design was a gradual offshoot after people realized that art could also solve communication problems as opposed to just providing a means of expression and aesthetics
\n\n\n\nWhat role do they both play in today’s world?
\n\n\n\nAriyike thinks that for different situations and contexts, both art and design have their uses and are important for a variety of reasons. To her, design is very very important in creating societies and systems that work for the people they are being designed for; whether it be in education, in the design of major cities, governments, and down to the creation of solutions like applications and even Industrial Design. And then, art to her is more relevant on the expressive side. An outlet to let go and express emotions and feelings per time. She says this;
\n\n\n\n“For me, design ultimately is utilitarian. Its purpose is to ensure that whatever solution is being created, in whatever way, whatever kind of solution it is, whether it is something abstract or tangible, that that solution serves the people it is being created for and helps them achieve that goal effectively, in the most effective way possible. Good design makes sure that people use solutions that have been created for them in a very ubiquitous manner, they don’t have to think too much about it. And then, art is more of a means of expression, it is an outlet for letting go of emotions and thoughts and bringing people together, creating common ground for sharing ideas and stuff like that in the way that music does or the way that art that pushes you to think, when I say art I mean like paintings and stuff like that. I think that is the role that art plays, bringing people together and helping them find a common ground.”
\n\n\n\nFor Sarpomah, art and design have three major roles in our society today; economic value, cultural promotion, and fostering learning and innovation. He adds that from a cultural standpoint, strong art education can give young people an appreciation of why art matters, where it comes from, and where it fits in a wider social, historical and political context. As well as being an enjoyable and pleasurable subject to study, art gives students an understanding of the world, and themselves, by looking at what’s been expressed by others before them. While providing that cultural appreciation, art and design are skills that are transferable to every other subject on the school curriculum, and critically, are necessary for a wide array of jobs. He adds that it’s a misnomer to believe that children (and adults) are either ‘scientific’ or ‘artistic’ (for instance). Art and design have a central role in the pursuit of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, encouraging innovation, analysis, and evaluation – skills that are undoubtedly valuable in school, and well beyond into the workplace.
\n\n\n\n
Morenike has this to say on the roles of design and art;
“Design solves communication problems. I feel like design is a very important part of this world and it is everything. And it is evolving very quickly. I think they both play very very important roles. Design (more communication and solving role). Art (more expression and aesthetics roles and therapeutic roles as well)”
\n\n\n\nDoes this argument matter?
\n\n\n\nDavid has a firm stance and says this argument matters because he “thinks people need to understand the differences, to know where to draw the line.”
\n\n\n\nAriyike and Morenike however have a different perspective, citing that the argument isn’t very important. For Ariyike, they are both important for different things and she thinks the argument is a waste of time.
\n\n\n\nShe adds;
\n\n\n\n“There are different situations where you are making art and that is what you are doing and then there are situations where you are designing and that is what you are doing and both are necessary. I don’t think the argument is important.”
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\n\n\n\nWith a strong passion for creating and designing, and drawing inspiration from Steve Jobs and Dieter Rams, Funfere trod that path by bagging Bachelors and Masters degrees in Industrial and Product Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia and Domus Academy, Italy, respectively.
\n\n\n\nFocusing on sneaker design, furniture design, appliance design, packaging design, motorcycle design, sustainable design and humanitarian design, Funfere Koroye started off designing footwear, then mobile phones and packaging for the food and beverage industry. He has worked with JUMP Footwear, African Basket Ball League and Tecno Mobile. He currently works as a Design Director and Footwear Engineer at Thandos and as a Brand Designer and Packaging Developer at Fusion Design Lab. He is also a co-founder of a tech and design startup- The Nupe Project, an initiative focused on solving the many challenges affecting many third world countries specifically, while simultaneously fostering the ignored 1% of African talent in hardware development.
\n\n\n\nFunfere is an innovative designer whose work process, for over six years, include sketching, 3D modelling and hands-on prototyping. He starts with a problem that a hardware can solve, after which he conducts a research on the users. Then, his next step is to make sure he creates an existing product from the market and if none exists, he creates one from scratch. Over time, these processes have helped him prepare designs and specifications of products, both virtual and physical and he has helped businesses reach their customers more efficiently.
\n\n\n\nFunfere Koroye’s skillset which spans across several industries has received global recognition in Africa, China, Italy and Australia. He is a recipient of The Lord’s Achievers Awards for Innovation and a nomination for The Future Awards Africa Prize for Technology- 2019, to mention a few.
\n\n\n\nFunfere’s heart and genuine compassion for helping many individuals inspire him to design. He has had the opportunity to design, plan and develop industrial, commercial and consumer products for mass manufacture. Some of his innovations include designing a diffuser system which repels insects by using a mist system and an automated timer, and a tube-like water filter that fits into most regular plastic bottles with the sole purpose of distilling unclean water inexpensively.
\n\n\n\nAlso, in 2018, working with a Tanzanian company named and his team at the Nupe Project designed an energy hub distribution model to provide affordable electricity in every single home in off- rid communities.
\n\n\n\nFunfere’s biggest challenge is that the country is slow in enforcing change due to poor governance which has increased the poverty rate and has caused people to focus on getting their daily bread rather than seeking knowledge on how to move the country forward. However, he appreciates the power of social media which has given him a platform to reach more people with his message.
\n\n\n\nFor great knowledge of the product design career, Funfere recommends blogs and resources such as Dezeen, Art Daily, Yanko Design, Concept Kicks, Furniture Details and Goods We Love. He advises young designers who want to follow his footsteps to derive joy and satisfaction in consistently coming up with hardware solutions to make lives better, just as he does.
\n\n\n\nFunfere Koroye opines that Nigeria’s education system is a bit lacklustre in the field of technology but he believes that curiosity is the fuel that fires up innovation in technology anywhere in our world.
\n\n\n\nFunfere Koroye works with the amazing team of Michael Omotosho, Dami Onanuga, Ifedayo Ojo and Anjola Badaru on the Nupe Project. The team has experience in hardware manufacturing.
\n\n\n\nFunfere Koroye aims to be at the frontline of hardware development in the continent and work with large enterprises like Dangote or Mobil to show that design thinking can take African companies from brands to innovative experiences and to use design innovation to improve the lives of millions.
Due to speech impairment, Yemi started learning design at a very tender age, as an escapist means to express himself without the burden of speaking with his classmates. Whatever challenge it meant for a child to rely on art for self-expression, Yemi took up that gauntlet and fashioned it into a profession. And so, with the help of videos, blog posts and other digital resources, the professional journey of one of Nigeria’s finest creative designers was set in motion.
\n\n\n\nA professional designer of over 10 years, Yemi has been featured on Abduzeedo and Envato Tuts+, among others. He has worked for famous brands like Bet9ja, IKEDC, Queen’s Danish Biscuit and Honeywell, and has worked with the likes of Purple Crib, SuchBrand, Lexain, Femi, and Jide Odukoya.
\n\n\n\nHe started out as an Art Director at SevenSeries Idea where he worked for 5 years with an active supervision of print design. Afterwards, he moved on to start his Lagos-based Freak Creative, where, as Creative Director, he researches brand stories and crafts captivating custom lettering that resonate with the target audiences.
Yemi Fetch believes design is meant to solve communication problems, enable brands to control their narratives and allow people to share their stories; painting thoughts and imaginations on canvas. “Design fills a huge communication gap.” he says, “For me, empathy should be at the core of every design.” Specializing in lettering and how it evokes emotions and shapes perception—how it influences behaviours and meaning—Yemi is convinced that the future of typography is bright and promising.
\n\n\n\nIn a quest to find a balance between the practical and the theoretical, Yemi doubles as a design instructor. In that capacity, he interacts with younger designers and habitually challenges them to be curious, meticulous and be interested in the business of design. “You’re not a cat; curiosity won’t kill you” he says. Some of the useful texts and blogs he recommends for upcoming designers include: Thoughts on Design by Paul Rand, Lettering Daily, Ellen Lupton’s Thinking with Type, Type Gang, Good Type, Design is a Job by Mike Monteiro, Handmade Font, Typematters, and most of Malcolm Gladwell’s books on strategy.
Both as teacher and participant, Yemi Fetch’s design process runs through a similar thread: first he receives inspiration, then he identifies the problem, and then he makes sketches to conceptualize his solution. By the time he takes the work through further refinements and illustrations, what follows is a final application of treatments.
\n\n\n\nPredictably, Yemi draws inspiration from people like Paul Rand, Becca Clason, Hermann Zapf, Steven Bonner and Chris Do. “People inspire me to create because I create for people.” He says. “Also, cultures and environment inspire me.”
He wrote his first book, Lettering Pro, to get more designers to focus on Lettering. This Yemi Fetch, weird and sarcastic, cannot himself focus on any work without his headphones on.
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\n\n\n\nAt 15, he started doing professional pencil portraits during his internship at Wisnik Art Studio. It became a holiday pastime until he proceeded to study Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. There, he majored in Graphic Design and learnt digital arts via personal studies and YouTube tutorials.
Bolaji describes the design and digital art as essential frameworks for the future, as humans greatly consume digital contents and these contents make up most parts of human daily lives. He is inspired by the hope which his works continue to offer people.
Bolaji Olaloye’s design process starts with the thought of a concept in his mind, then a representation of the concept as a rough sketch. He solidifies this concept by backing it up with references. Once satisfied, he proceeds to make a clean line art, flat colours and details like light and shadow.
\n\n\n\nWith this design process, Bolaji’s works have earned him a number of awards and recognitions, notable among which is a showcase at the 2019 Mortal Kombat Reveal Event held by Netherealm Studio, London. In 2018, he completed a 365-day art challenge on social media.
\n\n\n\nBolaji, as a growing artist, was challenged with the ‘poor-artists’ stereotype—the idea of art as a mere hobby and never a “real job.” He jolted himself out of this pervasive misconception and began focusing on personal studies and self-development so as to fit into the fast-evolving world of digital art. He foresees that art will be felt and experienced in some of the most unimaginable ways possible.
\n\n\n\nFrom Ifesinachi Adrian to Amardo Rillo, Bolaji has worked with a wide range of creative minds in the industry. He collaborated with them and worked on projects on character designs, storyboards and comic books. He has also been greatly inspired by Nigerian and foreign digital artists such as Godwin Akpan, Princess Kay, Duks Art, Etubi Unucheyo, Mohammed Agbadi, Harrison Tombra, Mikki Montllo, Sean Galloway, Jason Gonzalez, Goro Fujita, Max Grecke and his brother, Bunmi Olaloye, whom he partnered with to create the popular #WeAreNigerianCreatives movement. Today, the nerdy Bolaji Olaloye is an inspiration to upcoming artists whom he urges to be consistent and immerse themselves in the fundamentals of arts. He recommends ArtCampofficial and Lowtwait as twitter handles that daily give helpful tips on art.
\n\n\n\nThrough his works and voice, the nerdy Bolaji Olaloye continues to reflect truth and advocate for good mental health among artists.
His design journey started in 2008 when a friend introduced him to Adobe Illustrator after he had seen a mind-blowing illustration made by Data Oruwari. Femi has since gone on to work in various creative capacities in companies like Jumia, iDEA Hub and Re:write, bringing to light his multifarious passion for new technologies, politics, human rights issues, environmental causes, community development, design and space exploration.
\n\n\n\nFemi has also worked with many highly reputable brands including Harvard Business School, Access Bank, First Bank, Nokia, DEMO, Commonwealth Africa, Total, Oando, Workstation, Mobile Monday, The Australian Festival of African Film, First Ally Capital, Open Banking, and Africa Technology Foundation.
\n\n\n\nEven though Femi has always been art-oriented, he learned by gathering information via tutorials, webinars, online courses, case-studies and workshops on design. His interests in strategy, marketing, advertising, law, psychology, and business management, continue to shape his pragmatic approach to creating brands with authentic stories.
\n\n\n\nIn an imminent future, as Femi sees it, design will become invisible yet tremendously powerful. Visual or not, design has always been about strategy — the underlying structure of communication. It is the organization of ideas into functional and aesthetically-pleasing components.
\n\n\n\nFemi is a design guru but his growth has not been without the challenges of time and the recurrent need to be valued as a strategic partner. He emphasizes a step by step approach to any design process with particular attention to details. He has worked with diverse creatives and he is currently working on YAZA Africa, a media fashion brand for African women, and Spark+, a platform that celebrates extraordinariness.
\n\n\n\nWith his projects aligned with his passion, Femi also demonstrates a deep interest in building a vibrant design community for members to connect, share and grow more easily. He is the convener of Lagosmeet, the largest designer meetup in Nigeria attended by a wide variety of creatives— illustrators, graphic, product, visual, brand designers , art directors, etc.
\n\n\n\nCoker is a product of immense influences from designers all around the world, Data Oruwari, James Alabi Abinibi, amongst other reputable individuals, who have challenged the status quo. In turn, he mentors upcoming designers, advising them to invest in themselves—especially time, knowledge and education.
\n\n\n\nWith his impact growing large and wide, there are clearer indications Fisayo Oluwafemi Coker will have his dream vacation in Vienna, Italy soon.
\n\n\n\nPhotography by Adetayo Adegbola
Meet Bryan Anoruo, Founder SpencerZill, Multiple Award Winning Creative Motion Designer, CG & VFX Artist.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPreviously, Bryan worked with Cregital and it was one of the best things that happened to his growth as a motion designer. Thereafter, he worked with Deviant Marcus, an advertising agency in which he spearheaded the creation of campaign materials and animations for clients. Bryan, no doubt, knows his onions. Besides overseeing the affairs of SpencerZill and GoMotion, he also works as a Senior Motion Design, CG & Visual Effects Consultant at Viacom International Media Networks Africa, MTVBase Africa, Nickelodeon and RedBoxAfrica.
At 17, Bryan’s passion for design was first ignited. He derived fun in adding glows to pictures he took of himself and his mum. His lifelong enthusiasm for blockbusters like Odyssey induced his curiosity about the thrill of visual effects. Fascinated by the creatures, adventures, stories and effects in the movies, Bryan got his first laptop which enabled him to surf the internet and discover the limitless world of design.
Bryan Anoruo obtained his first degree in Computer Technology at Babcock University. He is currently on his Master’s degree program in Advanced Visual Effect in London. He believes the Nigerian designer will better proficient by either learning online with constant practice or studying outside the country to gain access and exposure to better facilities and tools.
\n\n\n\nDesign, to Bryan, is a tool for empathy and compassion and to deliver user-centred solutions. He believes that accepting the difficulty that comes with progress and leveraging that to create experiences through design, is priceless.
\n\n\n\nThe most difficult part of his design process is getting the ball rolling on an idea and then solidifying it for the next steps. Although, the concept or idea is usually laid out already when he is working on pretty simple projects, in really complex works he takes notes and drafts sketches when ideas come to his mind. He derives fun from the tedious progression from the concept phase, where all the pre-production happens, gathering inspiration and references, sketching storyboards, writing shot lists, and exploring techniques. After this concept stage is locked in, he proceeds to the development stage and then the animation stage with animatics, and finally, the fleshed-out animation edit and hi-res rendering.
Through his career in advertising, Bryan has learnt to let go of things he loves, to develop an increasingly thick skin and to see things for what they are and not what he wishes them to be. Over the years, he’s had great opportunities to work on several amazing projects for Comedy Central, Glo, DSTV, MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom, Hyundai, SoundCity, 9mobile as well as product commercial VFX and motion design for movies and TV Broadcast.
\n\n\n\nWith a specialty in motion design, CG and visual effects, Bryan has earned for himself recognition, winning the bronze award for best design without footage at 2019 Promax Global Award and Best CG Animation at the 2018 Promax Global Award.
In a challenging sphere of trying to keep up with the rapidly changing technology and techniques, Bryan gets inspired to create designs that will alter people’s perspective and resonate with every generation. He believes the future of design is in motion and that the country will be where it’s going to be via the creative industry.
\n\n\n\nOvertime, Bryan has been greatly influenced and inspired in the design world by artists like Andrew Kramer, Andrew Lebrov and Elon Musk and presently, he inspires upcoming designers whom he advises to understand the principles of design and animation which supersedes trends. He recommends articles, podcasts and write-ups on motiongrapher.com and medium as inspirational contents and tips.
\n\n\n\nBryan and his team at SpencerZill continue to break stereotypes and fearlessly challenge the status quo. In a thoroughly divided world, Bryan Anoruo is committed to bringing people together through compelling stories that defy impossibilities.
\n\n\n\nMeet Kanso Ogbolu, Creative Director at O.B.K Studios
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs a child, Kanso was surrounded by design and creativity. His mother worked in advertising and his father exposed him to educational books, paintings, statues, toys and a vast collection of music albums. He then went on to obtain a degree in Architecture from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He believes, notwithstanding, that formal education is necessary only up to secondary school certification level, and that young people should thereafter choose their own paths along informal settings.
\n\n\n\nA designer of about eleven years, Kanso started out as an intern and junior architect with two architectural firms before proceeding to Noah’s Ark Communications as a Digital Executive and rose through the ranks to become the deputy group head before creating O.B.K Studios.
\n\n\n\nEach day’s work plunges Kanso into a chain of recurring processes: identifying characters, creating environments, building dialogues, designing sound, stalking his favorite animators in search of similar things they have done. He then drafts his storyboard, illustrates his characters and environments, rigs the characters, animates them, reworks the sound design and initiates a final clean up.
\n\n\n\nSome of Kanso’s hilarious and somber animations have gone on to convey deep and clear messages that live-action sequences may not have so achieved. EFInA is a case in point.
\n\n\n\nWith a specialty in motion design, film animation and motion graphics, Kanso’s works have earned him numerous recognitions, such as: appearing in the prestigious Luerzer’s Archive Magazine, winning the grand prize in the Multichoice at 20 logo design competition in 2013, and winning two Gold Awards at the 2017 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival.
He views the designer as a mini-god who must create solutions to problems until the problems fade away. But this mini-god faces various challenges. In Kanso’s case, the challenges include regular power outage, lack of manpower, late payments from clients and, especially, clients’ lack of understanding of the kind of work that goes into animations.
\n\n\n\nKanso has worked with creative minds like Tolu Itegboje, Bolaji Iwayemi, Elozonam, Wande Thomas, Geezy, and Nengi Adoki. He has been a part of several other projects with Gokada, Jara, Mr. Eazi, Falz, and Big Brother Naija. He is currently working on animations for an FMCG and season 4 of the reputable Freak The Fxxk Out – an anthology of short creepy animation stories with which he aimed to draw attention to the horror genre.
\n\n\n\nKanso has been greatly inspired by motion designers such as Motion Markus, Giantsagram, Cub Studio, Emanuele Colombo and Linetest Collective. And today, he’s an inspiration to upcoming motion designers whom he advises to stalk their favourite designers and for whom he often recommends tutorials on YouTube, Vimeo, and VideoCopilot.
\n\n\n\n33-year-old Kanso, who was once a rap artiste, now looks into the future of design and sees an array of endless possibilities.
Meet Noella Ekezie, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Ellae Creative
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nReputable for translating business requirements into creative, high-impact solutions, Noella’s specialism in brand identity development was influenced by her brief stint at a branding consultancy at the dawn of her career. There, she was part of the team that worked on the Heritage Bank rebranding exercise that exposed her to the impact of branding processes on corporate organizations.
\n\n\n\nHer engineering background affords her the\nanalytical skills with which she has built an enviable problem-solving career.\nShe views design as a transformational creative process that is essential for\nvisual communication, raising visibility, reinforcing messaging and driving\nconversions.
\n\n\n\nNoella usually starts her design projects with strategy. Then ideation, which builds up into the collaborative and iterative design phase. Finally, the production phase—where digital assets are created and a high-fidelity version of the product is validated with stakeholders and end-users. This process has birthed many remarkable projects such as Union Bank’s UnionOnline and Union Mobile which are being used by over 2,700 staff members and almost 2 million customers. Another project worthy of mention is the Google Footprint Project, by the end of which over 100,000 business premises were listed in Lagos in a 3-month period.
\n\n\n\nSome other local and international brands for which Noella and her team have worked include: USAID, BASF Germany, Nike Foundation, Exxon Mobil, Citibank, Cognizant, Girl Effect, Sterling Bank, Keystone Bank, Paga and Wakanow. Accordingly, she has earned for herself numerous recognitions like: Grand Jury Member (Design Category), Lisbon International Advertising Festival 2018, four-time medallist at the Transform Awards in Dubai, and Mentor at the Cherie Blair Foundation, the Tony Elumelu Foundation and For Creative Girls. In 2018, The Guardian named Noella Ekezie among Nigeria’s 100 Most Inspirational Women. Noella believes design helps to develop a broader, more divergent view of problems and distils that big picture into actionable ideas based on more convergent thinking. Earlier in her career, she was beset by the rarity of industry champions before she began to draw inspiration from Paul Scher, Michael Bierut, Stefan Sagmeister, Ije Nwokorie, Pentagram, Landor, Interbrand, Wolf Ollins and Anagrama. In her shortlist of recommended books and blogs are: Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler, Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton, Creative Workshop by David Sherwin, 99u, Just Creative, Brand New and Logo Design Love.
\n\n\n\nTo Noella, the future will include tools and methodologies coming from strategic foresight: technologies such as AI will drive parametric design which will enable designers to quickly and easily create millions of variations of their work and, as a result, dramatically increase productivity. In turn, future designers will need to push boundaries and keep focus on design innovation. She then advises upcoming designers to diversify their skills to maximize opportunities for passive income, to build strong personal brands and develop powerful networks, to pursue formal education when and where possible, and to learn to market and sell their services on value instead of price.
\n\n\n\nNoella’s Ellae is the backbone behind initiatives like Designers Arise Platform and Tech and the Girl, and the team is preparing to launch Ellae Central, an online training platform for creative professionals.
\n\n\n\nNoella Ekezie—married with four kids—is\nalso a brand strategist, front-end web developer and lover of research.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"DearDesigner","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ddd.jpg"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/fbee0eb5d4b2f77658486822b5dff49d/569fa/Noella-Ekezie-and-Team-DearDesigner.webp","srcSet":"/static/fbee0eb5d4b2f77658486822b5dff49d/28603/Noella-Ekezie-and-Team-DearDesigner.webp 256w,\n/static/fbee0eb5d4b2f77658486822b5dff49d/1f824/Noella-Ekezie-and-Team-DearDesigner.webp 512w,\n/static/fbee0eb5d4b2f77658486822b5dff49d/569fa/Noella-Ekezie-and-Team-DearDesigner.webp 1024w","sizes":"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1024,"height":731}}}}}},{"uri":"/niyi-okeowo/","title":"An Intimate Portraiture of Niyi Okeowo","slug":"niyi-okeowo","date":"08 July, 2019","content":"\nMeet Adeniyi Okeowo, a multi-disciplinary designer and photographer.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNiyi Okeowo obtained his Degree in Mass Communications from Covenant University, Nigeria. Apart from co-owning a design studio with a specialty in Art Direction, he also simultaneously freelances as a graphic designer. He is also a photographer with deep interest in travel and intimate portraiture. Through his collective work in visual design and photographic storytelling, he continues to demonstrate his passion for problem-solving.
\n\n\n\nDesign includes\n“understanding the problem, researching the problem and those affected by it,\nand finding effective ways to solve the problem.” Niyi thinks that design\nshould solve problems critically and creatively, employing visual and\nnon-visual elements. This is the process he brings to his work as an art\ndirector. He believes that beyond its aesthetic value, design must be\nhuman-centered; that empathy must form the core of its features.
\n\n\n\nSince 2012, Niyi has worked as a graphic designer with a variety of talented individuals and brands like Fidelity Bank and SME Market Hub. Most notably is Ndani, where he’s worked longest, combining graphics design, photography and motion design. All these years, he has drawn inspiration from Da Design Studio, Tobias Van Schneider, Fabio Sasso, Karo Akpokiere, Ola Olowu, Daniel Emeka, Behance, Artstation, Abduzeedo, From Up North, Shockblast, 99designs, Form Fifty-Five, Creative Review, Digital Arts, BP&O, and It’s Nice that. Mortality has also always been a huge inspiration to Niyi. “Knowing that I will die someday inspires me to get my ideas out there before my time is up,” he says.
\n\n\n\nNiyi is one\nNigerian multidisciplinary designer who loves research, loves music and enjoys\ntalking to himself in first, second and third person pronouns. He challenges\ntoday’s designers to learn and teach two major things: the business side of the\nindustry, and the history and principles of design.
\n\n\n\nComing from a\npast in which, prior to learning Photoshop, his notebook drawings meant the\nworld to him, Niyi Okeowo now he sees a future in which design is a seamless\nvirtual real-time collaboration.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"DearDesigner","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ddd-1.jpg"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/620fcc440b9ea9f728a22f3ea15d94e9/f5a35/Mortality-Niyi-Okeowo-DearDesigner.webp","srcSet":"/static/620fcc440b9ea9f728a22f3ea15d94e9/5e2f3/Mortality-Niyi-Okeowo-DearDesigner.webp 188w,\n/static/620fcc440b9ea9f728a22f3ea15d94e9/eee4e/Mortality-Niyi-Okeowo-DearDesigner.webp 377w,\n/static/620fcc440b9ea9f728a22f3ea15d94e9/f5a35/Mortality-Niyi-Okeowo-DearDesigner.webp 753w","sizes":"(min-width: 753px) 753px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":753,"height":1024}}}}}},{"uri":"/joe-tamunotonye/","title":"A Joe’s Journey","slug":"joe-tamunotonye","date":"24 May, 2019","content":"\nMeet Joe Tamunotonye, Design Consultant and Product Designer at Big Cabal.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEarly 2011, while in college, a friend introduced Graphics Design to Joe, sparking his curiosity about its theories and software. He went on to bury his head in books, figuring things out on his own before finally dedicating a whole year to immerse himself in the craft.
\n\n\n\nOver these seven years of active designing, Joe has worked in a variety of Design-related roles at Portrait Media, Mesh Advertising and Design Studio, Ringier Nigeria and now at Big Cabal Media where he serves as the Product Designer. Along the line, he earned recognition as an upcoming designer in 2016 and was identified among the Top 10 industry experts in design by Facebook Hub in 2018, the same year he spoke at TEDxPortHarcourt Salon.
\n\n\n\nAs far as design is concerned, Joe believes there is no single source of inspiration. It sometimes comes through nature, people, animation, philosophy or through his wife. Regardless of the source of inspiration, “every design should cater to a need; should solve a problem – business problems, customer problems, or societal problems. I believe the solution should be so simple it scales, that is, it becomes applicable to other cases or fields.”
\n\n\n\nA recent example is the ‘Get Your PVC’ campaign sponsored by Facebook in partnership with Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). There has always been the problem of uncollected/abandoned Permanent Voter’s Cards in the country. Prior to the 2019 general elections, INEC and civil society organizations sought to minimize the disenfranchisement usually accounted for by abandoned PVCs. Joe and the content team at Zikoko created a lightweight explainer to help Nigerians get their PVCs as simply as possible.
\n\n\n\nThe results were outstanding and that put Joe’s team under Facebook’s radar to sponsor future projects. This commendation could also be extended to his earlier works with Business Insider, New York Times and Ringier Africa Digital Publishing.
\n\n\n\nJoe Tamunotonye’s design process often depends on the complexity of the project, timeline, and deliverables. For a typical six-week project, for instance: “First, a sit-down session with the client to define the problem, understand their business objectives, their market and competition.” Next is to define the desired state and agree on the success metrics. Finally, we decide on the price, timeline and deliverables. Then, the craft; based on the sit-down session, I research, create a stylescape (mood board), share the stylescape with the client for feedback and validation. Then I build a prototype and share again for feedback before the creating the final piece.”
\n\n\n\nBut Joe is never satisfied with his stature as a designer; often nursing doubts about his accomplishments and hungry for improvements. Drawing influences from Donald Okudu, Dieter Rams, Paul Rand and Johnny Ivy, Joe looks into the future of design with hope and courage, affirming that design will evolve based on human-versus-business needs.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"DearDesigner","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ddd-1.jpg"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/258f0056defe759d9e100b183d17580a/b98cf/Joe-Workspace.webp","srcSet":"/static/258f0056defe759d9e100b183d17580a/2c60a/Joe-Workspace.webp 625w,\n/static/258f0056defe759d9e100b183d17580a/43e26/Joe-Workspace.webp 1250w,\n/static/258f0056defe759d9e100b183d17580a/b98cf/Joe-Workspace.webp 2500w","sizes":"(min-width: 2500px) 2500px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":2500,"height":1406}}}}}},{"uri":"/susan-onigbinde/","title":"Raised by Design: Susan on the Path of Purpose","slug":"susan-onigbinde","date":"24 May, 2019","content":"\nMeet Susan Onigbinde, the Founder of DODO Design Agency
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn retrospect, Susan recalls with relish the immense encouragement she earned from her parents: as a child, she visited museums and art galleries during family travels and her father always encouraged her to do “a-drawing-a-day”, a task that had indelible impact on her long before her creative journey took shape at SCAD.
\n\n\n\nTo Susan, the reality of design and creativity is that it is a problem-solving mandate from God; one of the greatest gifts bestowed upon humans. She believes strongly that one of the design’s powerful impact on problem solving is the innate human characters like trust and understanding that it brings to the process.
\n\n\n\nWith a background in branding and graphic design, Susan, in ten years, has carved out her path to learn, master and specialize in design strategy, business design and UI/UX design. She has worked and studied alongside other creative geniuses from US-based companies like Frog Design and IDEO.
\n\n\n\nSusan sits at the center of a dynamic industry; new tools, new trends and new challenges emerging daily. Yet she sticks to her inner vision of an improved entity. So whether it’s a system, service or product, she imagines only the manifold possibilities for improvement. She encourages young designers to take a cue; to read every book on design and business they find, to look beyond the software and drill down and focus more on the core processes and principles of design.
In the future that she sees, more and more designers will drive solutions and creative innovations to tackle global problems. Proof of this is when Susan and a team were called upon to help the Rockefeller Foundation (and Pyxera Global) use design to figure out Nigeria tomato loss problem, post-harvest.
On what her design process looks like, Susan says she always starts with the person experiencing the problem. She seems to be saying: It’s not about the clients, but about the clients’ customers. Her focus, always, are the final consumers.
\n\n\n\nSusan Onigbinde is inspired by the great works of Hartmut Esslinger, Howard Schultz, Tony Fadell, Jony Ives, Dieter Rams, Don Norman, Steve Jobs and Paula Scher. She leads the team at DODO Nigeria, where her calling, purpose and passion for design and Nigeria find tangible expression.
\n\n\n\nPhotography By – Gbemiga August
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"DearDesigner","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ddd-2.jpg"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/3173bc808c2e80e842b697dff2435700/87439/Susan-Onigbinde-Teamwork-DearDesigner.webp","srcSet":"/static/3173bc808c2e80e842b697dff2435700/7dad0/Susan-Onigbinde-Teamwork-DearDesigner.webp 375w,\n/static/3173bc808c2e80e842b697dff2435700/57584/Susan-Onigbinde-Teamwork-DearDesigner.webp 750w,\n/static/3173bc808c2e80e842b697dff2435700/87439/Susan-Onigbinde-Teamwork-DearDesigner.webp 1500w","sizes":"(min-width: 1500px) 1500px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1500,"height":1000.9999999999999}}}}}}]}},{"name":"Inside Teams","slug":"inside-teams","posts":{"nodes":[{"uri":"/a-peek-into-acumen/","title":"Transcending Agency, Embracing Tech—A Peek Into Acumen’s Processes","slug":"a-peek-into-acumen","date":"04 August, 2022","content":"\nLet’s meet you all, including what you do at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: My name is Melissa Okeibuno and I’m the People and Operations Manager at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nTaiwo: I’m Taiwo Farawe and I’m the Mobile Development Lead at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: Hi, I’m Precious, Lead Product Designer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nAyo: I’m Ayo Onasanya. Founder, Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nElvis: Hey guys, I’m Elvis, Lead Engineer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nLanre: Hi everyone, my name is Lanre. I’m a Product Designer at Acumen Digital.
\n\n\n\nNice, we have a full house. So, what is Acumen Digital?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We are a software and product development/design company based in Lagos, Nigeria. We also have a substantial presence in South Africa and have been hyper-focused over the last one year on building internal tools and products that we are releasing to the market.
\n\n\n\nOn one side, we have Acumen agency, the company that supports several of our clients. Our clientele includes the likes of Republic. As a multinational (by some definition), we also work with several companies in the US, Europe, Africa and even Asia. Basically, we are everywhere.
\n\n\n\nBeyond just working with these clients, we also bring all the experience we’ve gathered from these companies home to create something meaningful. Not just for the sake of profitability, but to also solve immediate needs that we find within our environment, as well as pressing needs that we come across as we try to tackle challenges that come up or as we develop products or solutions for our clients. This is why we took the step of setting up a studio.
\n\n\n\nThis change in our direction does not necessarily preclude the fact that we are still a product design company, we just changed how we approach work with several of our clients. That’s just the summary of what we used to be, where we are now and where we’re going.
\n\n\n\nBased on this description, we can say that there’s the part of Acumen working on a product that will soon be released to the market. How does this dynamic work? How do different departments function on each Acumen product?
\n\n\n\nAyo: Right now, we are about 50 people at Acumen and all of us are involved in everything we do from the labs to the agency side. We try to make sure that for each product being built, there are teams. Consequently, every team has its product manager, designers, developers; frontend and backend, people who make sure that we are testing as properly as we should, and that we are releasing these products into the market.
\n\n\n\nWe tend to treat each product as a standalone company, and not just a piece of software. In addition, we take all we do seriously—even though we do have a lot of fun while doing it. We are methodical in how we operate and this outlook influences how the company is structured.
\n\n\n\nCan you share with us some of the tools Acumen is currently working on?
\n\n\n\nAyo: One of them is live right now — Robinapp.co. This product allows you to quickly integrate DMs and chat functionalities into any app that you are building.
\n\n\n\nSo let’s assume that DearDesigner would like to build a community of designers who can interact, find mentors and other community-focused features. You may want to integrate a messaging feature, perhaps even charge for messaging the way Linkedin does. What we have done is to build a chat/messaging feature and equip you with all you need to put it on any product. You can decide how to use it.
\n\n\n\nSo you have technology as good as Whatsapp or Slack, and you can put it on your product. It’s similar to Uber where you can chat with drivers on the app. There are a lot of products that need chat features, but it’s not the core of what they do. Hence their initial technology needs do not cater to this particular challenge. This is why we’ve built this tool; so that entrepreneurs can focus solely on what the core of their product is, and still find it easy to integrate a chat feature on their products in less than 5 minutes.
\n\n\n\nWhat was the process like working on this product? What were the key milestones, and challenges, and how did you solve them?
\n\n\n\nElvis: It was an interesting experience. One of the milestones we had was to first and foremost build a “Proof of Concept” to be sure that the idea works. When we had the proof of concept, we took the product to the design board to map out how we wanted it to work, and how we wanted the user experience to be across various points. Then we started building layers upon layers until it went live.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: We had to create some sort of design language that suits all types of users from different fields. We tried to balance the design language; from the colour to the fonts and all. We did a lot of user research and competitive analysis of different competitors in the field as well and saw how we can improve our product based on the feedback we’ve gotten from all kinds of users. I won’t be overstating it if I say that the design of this product is top-notch and world-class because we’ve outdone ourselves in the design team.
\n\n\n\nWhat were the challenges you faced in designing and engineering this project?
\n\n\n\nElvis: For engineering, we faced a lot of challenges because we were working in uncharted territory. We had to learn and unlearn a lot of things as we went along in building the product.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: On the part of the design, I’d say from the onset, it looked like designing a chat system was as simple as ABC. But I think that was one of the problems that we faced, we initially had to do a whole lot of iterations to make sure everything was balanced and up to standard. We thought it was simple, just “send and receive messages”, but we eventually did something that could stand the test of time and stand with competitors.
\n\n\n\nFrom what has been mentioned, the Acumen team works in a pod-like manner where every project or activity has its stakeholders. However, for a 50-member team with about 2-3 products, how does it work?
\n\n\n\nAyo: In terms of how we work, this is like an agency and in an agency’s usual day-to-day, everything is due yesterday. So we have had situations where one member can be across multiple pods. However, we try as much as possible to ensure that each team member is focused on one thing at a time. Unless there isn’t someone at hand or if it’s urgent, we could always sync with the project managers in-house and say “Hey, we have a high-priority task at hand and this is a show-stopper”.
\n\n\n\nA show-stopper here at Acumen means that the person or persons who have been contacted need to drop everything they are doing and focus on one thing only, even if they were not a part of the initial core team.
\n\n\n\nOne of the things I should also mention is that although we work in pods, we try to make sure that everyone across the company understands the “how” and “why” of what we’re building. Such that in cases where someone is on leave for 2 months, someone else should be able to pick up what they were doing, oversee that and make sure the work goes on.
\n\n\n\nHow did Acumen evolve into a product design and development company from the usual agency model?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We were first a “product design only” company. This was our biggest strength and we wouldn’t take up any service if we didn’t feel like we were super good at it. We had customers coming to us with questions like “Do you guys handle social media management or digital marketing?” We say no and go ahead to refer them to our sister company. We wanted to be hyper-focused on things that we are confident to offer.
\n\n\n\nWhen I moved back to Lagos, we spent the first 2 years just doing strictly product design. We had the opportunity of redesigning Trove, we worked with Ventures Platform. We worked on Rise. We designed a couple of products in the Nigerian space. After a while, we started to find that a lot of our clients kept saying things along the lines of “Your designs are great, your designs are awesome, but we need it to be coded. Can you guys make it and make it as good as you made the designs?”
\n\n\n\nWe already had a sense that this was going to happen and internally, we’d been setting up a full-scale design and development team—but we were not yet offering it as a service. We had hired a few developers at the time who we kept working on internal experiments; building small things here and there. When we felt confident in them, we decided to go all out and start building these products we had already designed for clients. That’s how we became a fusion of design and development. And now we’ve pivoted a little bit away from that and are now focusing more on building products for ourselves and not just for clients.
\n\n\n\nLanre, as a product designer at Acumen, how do you get your task done? What’s the process like for you?
\n\n\n\nLanre: I’d say, the fact is clear that I have a great team at Acumen. There are instances where we have things to deliver the following day and another client suddenly drops something you need to treat urgently. You’re confident in the knowledge that someone else can cover for you if they’re not too busy. We don’t work in isolation. So before we do certain things, there are times I’d have some calls online, we brainstorm together, and go through mood boards together. Everyone goes about their thing, and then we come back again to check together. It’s all about teamwork at Acumen, not about working alone.
\n\n\n\nSo, Melissa, let’s assume that there is a need to hire a new designer. How does that process go?
\n\n\n\nMelissa: Whenever we are scouting for new talents or when we put it out there and get CVs, we do an internal review of the candidates’ portfolio and we shortlist. Our process is pretty simple but still, it is divided into 3 phases. We first interview the candidate; I usually handle that. And then the next part is to bring Precious in. We ask a few design questions, and then give them a take-home task and a deadline for it.
\n\n\n\nWhen they turn that in, we review it again internally and shortlist it again. If we have shortlisted 3, we have to do further reviews because it means that 3 people are good enough to join Acumen. Then we do further probing, ask more questions and if we find that we can take 2 people in, we go for it. But if we only need 1 person, we go for the best.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the 3 key things you look out for when hiring design talents for Acumen?
\n\n\n\nPrecious: When hiring talents, we look out for their confidence and their ability to present and defend whatever designs they’ve done in the past. We ask them to go through their portfolio, and also highlight which would rank as the favourite project they’ve worked on. It could be live or it could be a mock project but we want to see their ability to solve problems and speak confidently about what they’ve done. That’s the key thing we look out for.
\n\n\n\nAyo: The three things that stand out for me are vibes, skills and hunger. Firstly, they must have the right vibe. We are very big on culture and we’ve been able to grow quickly because everyone is working as a team and not as individuals and everyone understands the goal in front of us. When we are hiring, we want to make sure they have the right vibe, it’s very important.
\n\n\n\nThen design skills. We look out to see if they pay attention to grid systems, and spacing, if they use the right typography, and if they can spot a font and tell us what that is. All of that also includes presentation, because what we are trying to do is to make everyone at Acumen a leader. You have to be confident and understand what you’re saying. We always look out for team members who can work in-depth. We don’t like to micromanage; that’s where the place of skills comes in.
\n\n\n\nLastly is having the hunger to learn. I’ll tell you a short story. Precious joined us as an intern at Acumen and he’s grown so fast so quickly to becoming a lead. The same goes for Elvis. Farawe also joined us as a junior developer at the time. We always look out for people who are serious, who can roll up our sleeves and get down to it. Those are the key skills I’ll talk about.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: One of the things we also look out for during the interview stage is your communication skills. Like Ayo mentioned, we are 100% remote and if a team member doesn’t know the basics of communication, it affects other team members and operation will be stalled. For instance, I mentioned that we give take-home assessments. If it’s close to the deadline and you already know you can’t turn this in at the deadline, ideally what you’re supposed to do is reach out to the hiring manager and say “Oh I won’t be able to turn this in, can I get an extension?” So little things that might not seem to matter to a candidate matter to us. And it shows that you’ll communicate as at when due and you’ll take it seriously. So that’s where the tenacity comes in.
\n\n\n\nSo, is this process the same for engineering hires?
\n\n\n\nFarawe: What is key is the ability to solve dynamic problems. As Lanre said, we work as a team and tasks are always broken down to bits and we compile them. These are problems that’ll be broken down into bits so we need to make sure the person can solve problems efficiently. We also look into their experience and how efficient the person is, based on the stack we are hiring for. Also, the last thing I’d like to mention is that communication is key for us; as Melissa also said. We look at how the person can collaborate with a team which is important and how ready they are to always learn because the technology changes so you need to keep learning, you can’t just stick to what you knew last year. These are the key things for me.
\n\n\n\nElvis: I will add that it depends on the level of the engineer we are hiring. For the most part, what I look at is the mastery of the particular stack or something similar to what we are hiring for, just a general mastery of the program concept as well. So that’s mostly it for me. Also, the willingness to learn new things and grow. I’m a growth junkie.
\n\n\n\nHow do you manage the culture of the company and keep it consistent across different people joining from different backgrounds, while running a 95% remote team?
\n\n\n\nAyo: The interesting thing about company culture is that when it is genuine and not forced, you’ll learn that culture real quick and you’ll adjust. Our culture is not one where you need to adjust to anything out of the ordinary, just be yourself, you’ll learn that in the space of 2 weeks of joining Acumen.
\n\n\n\nWe also try to meet at the office—we still have an office—every Friday. Still, there are some months when we only see each other twice in that whole month. There are some teammates I’ve never seen before. Everyone is based in different states and we even have interns outside of Nigeria. It’s a very diverse team.
\n\n\n\nSome of the things we do for culture are the way we approach work, our communication style and the occasional physical events. From time to time we also do physical events. A couple of weeks ago, for example, we went to Asa’s concert. We do a lot of activities to try and keep the energy going. In December, for example, we went all out.
\n\n\n\nWe just like to have fun as much as possible. We try to make sure that the environment is not one where people are laughing when they are supposed to be working and I walk in and then everyone is like “Urgh, the boss is here” and keep quiet. They’ll just invite me over and tell me the joke and we all continue laughing.
\n\n\n\nI’d like to know how you work with clients. I can imagine that building products for startups is not a sweet job, so how do you guys work effectively with in-house designers?
\n\n\n\nAyo: We are extremely embedded in their teams. We are not just some guys you hired in Nigeria who do some work for you. We embed ourselves into your process and your products, understand what you’re doing, the why, what needs to be prioritized and deprioritized, and even the business needs. We always pride ourselves as an extension of your team as opposed to typically just scaling your team by going through the tedious process of hiring.
\n\n\n\nYou come to Acumen and you say “We want to build the next Google and we don’t have engineers. We think you guys will do a great job and we need 10 engineers from you who can write this framework” When we look at that framework we assess it and we start to work with you based on that requirement.
\n\n\n\nThat’s an interesting way to work. So what are the tools you use internally at Acumen to ensure easy virtual work?
\n\n\n\nAyo: Jira, Slack. Interestingly, we also use the Robin app that we built, we use it internally as our communication tool, it’s also a part of our stack. We are also our evangelists, so when we see our own bugs we call them out. Also, G-suite is essential to us.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the handoff process like for design and development projects?
\n\n\n\nPrecious: For every design project, we try as much as possible to create design systems and style guides for the project. This helps us better collaborate with the designers on the project for easy development handoffs. Prototypes are made when the final and approved design is done. We also have some sort of design and development meeting after a design project. We try as much as possible to walk them through our process. Developers are also aware of our design process to make sure everything is in tandem with what the developers will be building. That’s our handoff process.
\n\n\n\nSo how do you measure the impact of your work for your clients and your own products as well?
\n\n\n\nAyo: The impact of the design is measured in two metrics. Adoption—How are the customers reacting and engaging with this design? And revenue—Is the product generating revenue? Is it driving the bottom line?
\n\n\n\nBecause we are first a product design company, we understand that good design is good business and design is very critical for business. If a product is well designed and isn’t translating into profit for a company, something is wrong somewhere. It might be the strategy or a flaw in the design flow or something. Even when a system goes live, we always critique it with questions like “How can we make it better? How can we improve the user experience?” to help scale adoption and revenue for the business.
\n\n\n\nFinally, in one word, what is working at Acumen like?
\n\n\n\nFarawe: Growth. My journey has just been about growth and I’m grateful for that. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
\n\n\n\nPrecious: Fulfilment. We are happy with working on different projects across different industries and still get to eat doughnuts every Friday. That is fulfilment.
\n\n\n\nElvis: Like Taiwo said, Growth. There are a lot of avenues for you to grow in whatever path you choose and there are a lot of people to help you do that.
\n\n\n\nLanre: I’d say growth too because I remember where I started as a graphics designer in 2018 and then it’s been an interesting journey for me, I’m so happy.
\n\n\n\nMelissa: First off, I’d say fun because I get to work with these amazing individuals and there’s never a dull moment. Secondly, I’m very big on growth, because I went from knowing nothing about tech to knowing so much now. Lastly, it’d be the feeling of fulfilment, because I look forward to doing it. I wake up in the morning and I just want to work. So that’s it for me.
\n\n\n\nAyo: I’d say culture and the amazing people. I think we’ve been blessed with an amazing set of men and women from all walks of life and different backgrounds and it gives us this richness in terms of how we approach problems. One of the things I like about our culture is that I’ve seen people who are extremely shy and when they see their people, they can be “unshy”. Lanre used to be shy but he’s no longer shy; he’s our elder. And elders cannot afford to be shy. So culture and people are things I hold dear to my heart at Acumen.
\n\n\n\nGame time! Just a quick game to get to know you beyond work.
\n\n\n\nWho’s the funniest here?
\n\n\n\nElvis/Victor
\n\n\n\nWho’s the foodie?
\n\n\n\nPrecious
\n\n\n\nBest dressed?
\n\n\n\nAll of us. We always represent
\n\n\n\nWho works the most?
\n\n\n\nMelissa
\n\n\n\nWho’s the bookworm?
\n\n\n\nAyo, he’s always researching things.
\n\n\n\nWho’s the soft-life baby boy or baby girl?
\n\n\n\nAll of us, nobody here wants to suffer.
\n\n\n\nWho’s most likely to get dragged or drag someone on Twitter?
\n\n\n\nElvis
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\n\n\n\nOsaz: I’m Osaz and I work as a product designer at Big Cabal Media.
\n\n\n\nKevwe: My name is Ogini Oghenekevwe but you can just call me Kevwe. At BCM, I’m a graphic designer and illustrator
\n\n\n\nDebo: My name is Adebowale Adegoke, I work as a graphic designer at BCM
\n\n\n\nCeleste: I’m Celeste Ojatula, a brand designer here.
\n\n\n\nTunta: Hi, I’m Tunta and I’m a junior product designer.
\n\n\n\nBarbara: My name is Barbara Stephenson and I am a product designer at BCM.
\n\n\n\nDayo: My name is Dayo and I’m a brand Designer at BCM.
\n\n\n\nIt’s nice to meet all of you. First, I’d like to understand Big Cabal Media as a whole. What is Big Cabal Media?
\n\n\n\nDumebi
\n\n\n\nWe are an African media-tech company and we create content, brands, and products for the new generation of African digital-first content consumers. Simply put, we are focused on telling African stories: stories of what happens in tech and culture.
We achieve this with our publications — TechCabal and Zikoko. Also, we have a tech ecosystem consulting arm, TC Insights, which informs our published data and reports and also serves in partnership with several clients. We also have a production and creative studio, Cabal Creative.
The design team sits at an intersection of the different arms of businesses under Big Cabal Media. This also sometimes extends to a few clients’ work.
Nice! Let’s talk about Cabal Creative. What’s it about and what kinds of clients do you work with?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: Cabal Creative is composed of the video production team and the design team. However, functionally speaking, it’s more of the video production team. This is because we actively seek and do a lot of clients’ work with the production team. For example, last year, we did a TV commercial production for a company and several other works for other brands through Cabal Creative. Cabal Creative also produces all of our video content and our shows across TechCabal, Zikoko and TC Insights..
Last year, we had a hybrid event which was the Future of Commerce, and Cabal Creative produced all the content; we recorded and live-streamed the event as well. So that explains why I said that functionally, Cabal Creative is mostly the production team. For the design team, we’ve got our hands full with internal BCM projects, so we don’t take a lot of external projects.
Dumebi mentioned that the design team sits at the intersection of different business areas of Big Cabal Media, how does that function in reality?
Celeste: One major part of our culture is ensuring that, if a team member isn’t around, everyone can still function properly. There are requests from different departments within the team, and usually, how we work is we interchange tasks. While one person handles a task this time, another person handles it the next time. The essence is to
ensure everyone has a bit of knowledge of each task when it comes in.
So technically, we work cross-functionally. It can be exhausting sometimes but also fun because you get to work on a lot of projects across different teams. And you also get to collaborate with different designers.
Osaz: In addition, we try to ensure that people from other teams break down their tasks. You give us a breakdown of what you’re trying to achieve and what is required from the design team. When it reaches our desk, the tasks are assigned based on who’s free or who can handle it more efficiently, and it just cascades down like that till it’s done.
\n\n\n\nOkay. So that means no one is tied permanently to an aspect of the business?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: Not at all. Although, for example, some designers do a lot more TechCabal-related designs, and others do a lot of Zikoko-related designs. But across the team, we all get involved in different kinds of designs, as Celeste said.
\n\n\n\nBut there’s a clear demarcation between our product designers and brand designers. Our product designers work on our websites (TechCabal and Zikoko), our newsletters, and products which I can’t mention because we are just about to launch some of them. But then they get support from the brand design team when they need graphic assets for the products they are working on.
\n\n\n\nThis looks flexible and interesting. You’ve mentioned a lot of pros, but are there any challenges this structure causes? And how has the team solved them?
\n\n\n\nDayo: Sometimes, you can get overwhelmed because you’re working on so many projects at once. But that’s where the collaborative part comes in as you can seek help from other team members. Although there are some situations where everybody is swamped, so you’re stuck with managing the project you’re working on and trying to find ways to elevate the work you have to do.
Another challenge you can face is having to switch your brain from one aspect of design to the other. For instance, I can be working on something about products and at the same time, I have to work on a Zikoko animation.
Debo: To personalize it, I think trying to manage those tasks effectively is one of the challenges I’m facing—deciding what’s a priority and what I can suspend till some other time. Then, being a generalist comes with some cons as you’re not able to go deep on a specific task because you have to do so many other things.
\n\n\n\nKevwe: As an illustrator, it can get overwhelming on days where there are a lot of requests, as I will have to do multiple illustrations every day. Although I enjoy the work, it still makes me feel burnt out sometimes. Yet, you have to deliver appropriately as the team would notice when you deliver below your usual standard.
\n\n\n\nI just try to reach out to other people to help out and give them the right direction as well, so the work can remain consistent.
\n\n\n\nOsaz: I think working with templates has also been helpful due to the volume of work. We also teach other teams to edit the template themselves when needed. This reduces the volume of average-impact work that crosses our table.
\n\n\n\nSo, what’s the design process whenever a new task comes to the team?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: To paint a picture, we use two important tools for team management. One is Slack, where we communicate and the other is Airtable, which is for project management. On Slack, we have a public design channel that consists of everyone in Big Cabal Media. There, we have public conversations and general reviews of design assets that we have shared with the owners. We also have a private design channel where we (the design team) have conversations, check-ins, and first review, before the public review.
\n\n\n\nCanva templates have also been helpful. Canva is a lifesaver for us because it’s easy for us to create a lot of templates with it. We can easily design backgrounds on Photoshop or Illustrator, and then create templates on Canva with it. All the editor has to do is switch things up, change images or change the text.
Summarily, if anyone in the Big Cabal team needs a design, they brief it in the design request form which gets to our Airtable. We then assess it to know the level of urgency it has. Also, we try to figure out the priority of the assets requested to be able to rightly judge what comes first and what goes out last.
Once a project has been approved, we assign the tasks within the team. And if there are multiple projects at hand, we can have conversations to choose who is best to work on them, or sometimes team members volunteer to work on particular tasks.
When the designer is done with the design, they share it on the private design channel. There, we all review, give feedback and rework the design before sharing it on the general channel for further reviews, if there are.
\n\n\n\nKevwe, for illustrations, how would you describe your process from getting the brief to the final submission?
\n\n\n\nKevwe: Most of the time, the briefs I’m given are usually a mixture of illustration and design like they probably want an illustration on a design. So, first, I go through the brief to see if there’s anything I don’t understand, or if there’s anything important that’s missing. If that’s the case, I ask the person who briefed me for more clarifications on the purpose of the design or what the illustration is for. That gives me a clearer understanding of what to do.
When I’m done with the design or the illustration, I send it to the design team channel so everyone can pitch in their reviews and critics. After working on the suggestions, I send them off to whoever briefed it and whoever made the request.
Is there any opportunity for the task owner to chime in?
\n\n\n\nKevwe: Sure. The person can chime in at the beginning to ensure there’s no back and forth while in the middle of the design process. I get all the information I need at the beginning so that I know you are getting exactly what we discussed. In case of misunderstandings, we try to fix them—but still, let them know the best way to address it going forward.
\n\n\n\nDumebi: In addition to what Kevwe said, we also have to educate the wider team on proper terminologies to use when briefing a request, because we’ve had a case of using “animation” instead of “illustration” and that caused some confusion in the past.
We also encourage people to attach visual references when briefing requests. This could be references about something that has either been done in the past or something related to your request.
It’s clear what the illustrators and motion designers do. But what do brand designers do on the team asides from working on assets?
\n\n\n\nCeleste: In summary, the brand designers ensure that the brand perception is well maintained. For instance, we have the Naira Life template. We create templates for a lot of categories. So, if one of the people that handle the Canva version of those template messes up the alignment or do something off-brand with the design, the brand designers fix this. We come up with art direction generally for the brand.
\n\n\n\nFor Zikoko, we are looking at quirky designs.
“How do we improve on what Zikoko looks like in terms of brand perception?”
“How do we come up with other colors?”
“How do we spring up other ideas that can make the design more exciting?”
“How do we make people see a design and immediately know that it’s Zikoko or TechCabal?”
That’s a summary of what we do in the brand aspect.
But when it comes to clients’ work, we’ve done some work that had to do with the brand itself, such as coming up with another logo and working on all of the other assets for that brand. Right now, we are currently reworking BCM’s brand guide.
\n\n\n\nHere’s just a quick relaxing moment before we proceed. Everyone has to answer the question at the same time.
\n\n\n\nWho is the team’s clown or the funniest person at work?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Dayo
\n\n\n\nWho is the team’s foodie?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Barbara
\n\n\n\nWho is the best-dressed person on work calls?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Barbara
\n\n\n\nWho carries work on their head?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Celeste
\n\n\n\nWho is the team’s bookworm?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Dumebi
\n\n\n\nWho takes life seriously?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Debo
\n\n\n\nWho is the quickest to fight or get dragged on Twitter?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: Dayo
\n\n\n\nWho’s the baby girl or baby boy of the team?
\n\n\n\nEveryone: It’s between Kevwe, Tunta, and Barbara
\n\n\n\nWhat tools do you use that make collaboration at work easier? You’ve mentioned Canva, Airtable, and Slack. What other tools do you use?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: We use Figma and Adobe suite. Debo specifically loves to use Affinity Designer. We also use everything in Google Suite.
One of our core values in BCM is documentation. We actively document how we work. We have documented OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) that guide our goals for the year. We have individual KPIs and every member knows the things they’d be assessed by during our appraisals. So we make sure we are aligned towards hitting the goals.
Is there a way to measure the impact or influence of design when making business decisions?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: As I mentioned earlier, we work with OKRs. We start by looking at the OKRs of the business — what are the business goals and what are the objectives of the other teams? The two major areas we are very particular about across the board are revenue growth and audience growth across our platforms. So, we design our OKRs with this question, “How do we contribute to designing products and assets that support growth in these two areas?”
From the OKRs, we set individual KPIs and we simply track that. Some of these KPIs are shared across the team and some are for individuals. Every quarter, we have a review where we present how far we’ve gone with our OKRs, and the challenges and discuss how to do better as a team.
Then, we use those learnings to set goals for the next quarter.
\n\n\n\nThis leads to the next question. How large is the design system or brand guideline at Big Cabal? And how do you scale it?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: Expanding and scaling our design systems is one of our major goals this year. Right now, our design system is not exactly unified, so it’s like we have a brand identity guide for Zikoko and another for TechCabal.
\n\n\n\nTechCabal as a brand has evolved beyond what the document currently states, so we are working on updating that. So at BCM, we are working twice as hard to update our brand identities and design systems such that if everyone on the team leaves, a new set of people will come and be able to just have a look at the design system and carry on from day one. This ties back to documentation as one of our values.
\n\n\n\nWe aggressively document such that if anyone is going on leave, it doesn’t handicap the team. Nobody works in a silo, we are all aware of what everyone is working on and we all have access to files across the team.
\n\n\n\nNice. Now, let’s talk about hiring. What’s the process of hiring a new design team member?
\n\n\n\nDumebi: If we have a hiring need, we prepare the job description for the role and communicate that to the Talent team who will prepare the brief. We’ll then design a poster to advertise on socials. We still use Airtable for sorting requests. So typically, we have an Airtable form that has a bunch of relevant and culture questions. The applicants are also required to include their portfolio and CV in their application.
\n\n\n\nOnce closed, we sort internally and select a bunch of candidates who we now schedule interviews with. We have two interview stages — one is to check for competence and the other is to confirm culture fit. Most times, after the competence interview, we send a test from which we will select those who make it to the culture-fit stage.
\n\n\n\nThe first stage of the interview might just be with the HR and Head of Design. But we usually involve a couple of stakeholders in the culture-fit interview. Once the best person has been selected, an offer is made to them.
\n\n\n\nTypically, we have a 2-week onboarding period and during that period, we don’t assign any tasks to the person. The onboarding program is robust, so they use that period to get familiar with the business and with how we work.
\n\n\n\nThat’s quite detailed. So what team activities do you hold as design teams? Critic sessions? Stand-ups?
\n\n\n\nBarbara: Our culture is such that anyone is free to drop any design at any time and everyone can comment and give feedback anytime as well. However, officially, we have monthly review meetings where everyone presents what they’ve done for the month and how it affected them; what went well and what didn’t; what could have been done better. And we’ve been trying to hang out physically for a while, but it seems everyone is just scattered in different locations (We mostly work remotely). Hopefully, that happens soon enough.
\n\n\n\nDumebi: In addition to what Barbara said, we have our weekly check-ins. Every Monday, we have our design check-ins which, to me, is more social interaction. Half of the meeting is spent catching up on what’s going on in each other ‘s lives. Then, we check what each person has to work on for the week and give a progress report on how the past week was.
\n\n\n\nOn Wednesdays, we have product design check-ins which for the most part, we just spend on Figma, using the audio chat feature, gisting as we work. The idea is that during that time, we can catch up on new features and learn about the new things that are happening.
\n\n\n\nFinally, in one word or phrase, what is it like working on the BCM designs?
\n\n\n\nBarbara: Exciting
\n\n\n\nKevwe: Challenging in a good way.
\n\n\n\nDebo: Challenging
\n\n\n\nDayo: Progressive
\n\n\n\nCeleste: Oops Doops (Hehehe)
\n\n\n\nTunta: I agree with Barbara and Kevwe, but I’d also say stressful. There are so many meetings, especially with the product teams.
\n\n\n\nDumebi: It’s hard to find one word, but I’d say stimulating and exciting. Working with this team has made me grow in more ways than one. I’m designing and managing the teams and am also involved in both brand and product designs. It’s quite fulfilling working with these awesome people.
One interesting thing about our team is that half of us are ladies, we have badass ladies that are designers. When I started designing, it was very rare to meet a lady who was a designer. The design team is composed of 4 guys and 4 ladies and the BCM management team is about 60% female.
Osaz: Really, one word cannot do justice. It’s like there are great expectations but not in a way that is wicked or unrealistic as it is in some other places. You can see everyone else like a superhero and then, I start to think “How do I keep up with these people?”. So there’s this mental pressure to just do good work. If there’s ever a way to describe how superheroes feel, this is it.
\n\n\n\nBig Cabal Media (BCM) is building a next-generation African media-tech company, creating content, brands and products for Africa’s new generation of digital-first content consumers. BCM comprises leading digital media publications, TechCabal and Zikoko; content studio Cabal Creative; and, digital economy consultancy TC Insights
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\n\n\n\nFoluso: Stears is a digital information & data company with a very simple mission of making it easy for people from around the world to find valuable information on Africa.
\n\n\n\nOur Stears Business division provides long-form insight pieces on a daily basis to our individual and corporate subscribers. Our Stears Data division provides data collection, data access, consulting, and advisory services to multinationals, government agencies, and major Nigerian institutions.
\n\n\n\nOur design team allows us to do this by creating visuals and graphics. Victor pretty much runs this
\n\n\n\nWhat’s the structure of the team?
\n\n\n\nVictor: There’s the Stears Business team and there’s the Stears Data team. Right here in this meeting, you have a composition of both because the design team works across the board. Most people tend to interact with our media arm, Stears Business, to improve their understanding of Nigeria’s economy. Yvette is the product manager for Stears Business.
\n\n\n\nThere’s also the editorial team with whom Yvette collaborates closely to refine products and product users. Another dimension of Stears Business is the visual communications and marketing parts where you put out designs to promote the product.
\n\n\n\nWhat the design team does for the advisory department is to build reports and we put our marketing visuals on these reports and work closely with the data product team.
\n\n\n\nHow does the design team collaborate with the other teams?
\n\n\n\nVictor: I would like to mention that one of the things that I love here is the level of mutual respect we have for each other. Anybody is approachable. The leadership team has an open-door policy which means everyone is always available for a chat regardless of their position. We also have a clear work structure which makes our general workflow smoother.
\n\n\n\nThe product manager is essentially your point of contact. While you can speak to anyone about the work you are doing, for the sake of efficiency and transparency the product manager usually leads the decision-making process. If you want to put out marketing designs or product-related designs, you interact with the product manager first.
\n\n\n\nOh. Was that the same approach applied to your creative communications style, on social media for example?
\n\n\n\nVictor: Regarding communications, we have a brand book which was developed in-house last year. The brand book guides us on how we should or shouldn’t use some elements. This makes our communication work easy. Other times, the product manager and the growth editors provide insight and what I do is modify these ideas into what is acceptable and unacceptable according to our brand book. We have been able to create something unique for ourselves that is not necessarily a copycat of someone else’s. We have also been able to refine the way we push our designs and how often we do it. That’s pretty much what inspires our creative style.
\n\n\n\nFrom my university days, before I do any design, I tend to research to see what other samples are out there. That way, I know that this is what I should be designing. What inspires my style is research. My style is not static, it is always evolving. I might use a particular style this month, and the next month while researching, I might come across another style that I like and I just have to modify it to fit the Stears brand. Research is also very important to our style.
\n\n\n\nDo you have that creative freedom to personally change the style of the brand?
\n\n\n\nVictor: For illustrations for articles, despite having creative freedom, I know that I’m accountable to some people. So, if we can meet and have a mutual understanding of how these changes affect the direction we have been using and the direction we are going to use, then that works for me. In as much as I have creative freedom, I must carry people along.
\n\n\n\nRegarding product design work, we have a style guide. I wouldn’t call it a design system because we’re not there yet, but we have a style guide that guides our product design work. This style is used across the board; Stears Business and Stears Data. If I’m changing that, I have to run it by some people, especially the engineering team to ensure that we’re in sync, and to ensure the benefits and the consequences of this change.
\n\n\n\nAdesola: In terms of creativity, Victor brings words alive. The editors work closely with the analysts to create articles that are really deep, engaging pieces. So, what we basically do is give Victor a direction on what the story is about. Most times, it is a one-line sentence of what we want to see and how we want to interpret the story in terms of pictures.
\n\n\n\nSo, when it comes to creative freedom, Victor has almost 100% capacity to do that. All we do is provide that direction based on the understanding we have from the articles that analysts have written.
\n\n\n\nJudging from when you started Stears Business and what you have now, would you say the design has improved the visibility of the business so far?
\n\n\n\nFoluso: Yes, things have definitely changed. When we hired Victor, that changed dramatically. Before Victor, there wasn’t a designer on the team. There was a key member of a team with a good design eye. He handled anything that had to do with creation and art. He was in charge of the pictures and he would source them from anywhere, and typically, they were not abstract. Usually a picture of the person that’s mentioned in the article or something related.
\n\n\n\nLooking at the first set of illustrations that came up since Victor joined, up until now, I can see the evolution and I think there’s been a lot of change over the last two years.
\n\n\n\nYvette: I remember the first illustration we did. It was a picture of Dangote in front of some purple background. The story did really well and we were thinking if it was because of the illustration or because of Dangote. We later found out it was definitely because of Dangote, but it was from that moment on that we decided to stay committed to doing illustrations for premium stories. Since Stears Business is a subscription-based media publication, to serve succeeding subscriptions, we have to create information worth paying for. That means everything you’re presenting to the users has to meet that standard.
\n\n\n\nHow do you measure the impact of the new shift to illustrations as a company, using the illustration of Dangote as an example?
\n\n\n\nYvette: It’s interesting I only became aware of the impact it had when I became a product manager. Looking at recordings of users, scrolling through the articles, you always see the sort of look-backs at the illustrations. Just scrolling through our media recordings is a point of measurement on its own.
\n\n\n\nFor product design, what’s the process like within the team?
\n\n\n\nVictor: One unique thing is that the product manager understands the job of a product designer, which is to focus on translating and implementing flows and stories. The product managers go ahead and do the research work and translate the feedback from the research into flows. Most times, we do that together, and once we translate the feedback from the research data to flows, I take the flows and implement them.
\n\n\n\nWe collaborate every step of the way, the collaboration is so beautiful.
\n\n\n\nTo answer your question, I won’t say we have a specific process, but we keep refining because different challenges would need different approaches to solve them.
\n\n\n\nHow do you curate data needed for your research?
\n\n\n\nHannah: Finding data about Nigeria is a common challenge for Stears and our customers. There are some great data resources out there, but they are often hard to find and use. The newsroom team is dependent on a lot of government data sources, like data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria. They’re constantly on the lookout for useful information that’s often buried in reports and difficult to access. In some cases, the data simply doesn’t exist or isn’t published online.
\n\n\n\nWith our new product, Stears Data, we are working to solve that problem by making it easier for people to find the data that they need. We do this through aggregating and synthesizing existing data, as well as creating brand new proprietary datasets that help fill critical data gaps. . Stears Data is a platform where analysts and researchers can easily search and find the datasets they need. Stears Data is used internally by our newsroom and the consultants on our advisory team
\n\n\n\nIs it right to say that since Stears has information that is not readily available to other people, Stears Data provides actionable insights for companies to use?
\n\n\n\nHannah: Yes, that’s correct, although Stears Data provides more than actionable insight. We also provide raw data that enables researchers to conduct their own analyses. We just launched Stears Data earlier this year, so we’re still conducting user research to determine the roadmap for the product and what new data to include. We’re talking to a lot of prospective customers about what types of data are a high priority for them that they struggle to find. We’re working to create data that meets those needs and also come up with creative solutions for finding existing data. Sometimes, we do this by creating partnerships with other organizations that have rich data sources and are willing to contribute data to the Stears Data platform.
\n\n\n\nWhat role will design play in the future of Stears?
\n\n\n\nFoluso: I will give you the theoretical and the practical view. On the theoretical view, the design sits right in between the product and engineering. So, design reaches into the product and enables us to see very clearly how we can serve our customers with an amazing user experience. This is on our products, digital products, the reports that we make, any kind of mobile graphics design or product that we issue. Also, design reaches into engineering and enables us to move faster and better by standardizing our processes.
\n\n\n\nVictor has been so kind as to create things that I didn’t know we needed as soon as he joined, like the brand book, the design kits, and UI kits that we are going to be developing going forward. It will lead to engineering tools like component libraries that Stears will be able to use across all of our products and seamlessly, engineers will be able to integrate these components into all the things that we built without having to work too hard to figure out what needs to be done. It is also going to democratize design a bit because once we have all the components that we’re using across all platforms, it will be very easy to make things without even asking Victor and then show him afterward to say “Hey, I constructed this out of your tools.”
\n\n\n\nThe biggest game that I see is a practical one, which allows us to save time. I’ll give you an example. Apart from all of the work that’s been done on illustrations, Victor is working constantly on product design. During the launch of the Stears Data platform, we created an interactive prototype on one of these design apps. With this, we were able to test an idea at the minimum viable interaction level. Victor has been able to put together these interactive prototypes that have allowed us to get information quickly, and then react to that information by taking a step forward on decisions in engineering.
\n\n\n\nHannah: On the Stears Data side, once we know what type of data people rely on most and exactly how they use it, then we can further optimize the UI/UX to improve how they access, use, and analyze data. We’re also interested in adding more creative design to how the data is shared and presented. That way, it’ll stick out in people’s minds and have the kind of brand identity that Stears Business does.
\n\n\n\nAdesola: Just to piggyback on what Hannah said, Stears Business is pretty keen on capturing audiences and keeping them aware, our designs and illustrations have been helpful. And as Yvette mentioned earlier, the subscription model is one where we want to give the full package. So it’s not just about providing the insights and information we have, the design and illustrations play a very prominent role in attracting audiences too.
\n\n\n\nWhat are the key things you are on the lookout for when expanding the team?
\n\n\n\nFoluso: While hiring at Stears, we assess technical ability, but then also we try to hire someone that is relatively happy to work on themselves, and that’s not a bad thing. Nobody’s perfect. We’ve only hired one designer so far. I made the hire and I think going forward, we will continue to approach hiring with a sense of “we want people that are open to learning new things. Not people who just want to collaborate with the entire team, but also are ruthless in their pursuit of technical prowess.” So, that’s two key things.
\n\n\n\nFinally, what’s the working culture of the team, and how do you bond beyond work?
\n\n\n\nVictor: We bond a lot. Another thing that helps our bonding is mutual respect. There is no case of Mr. Bode or Mr. Preston; we call each other by name. I used to tell people that I’m one of the full-time campaign managers for Stears because I have worked with different startups, and I’m not saying this because my team is here. I have worked with different startups and I can tell you that the bureaucracy and the toxicity of the environment can be pretty annoying.
\n\n\n\nSo, I’m saying this openly. Sometimes the kind of people you work with will determine if you’re going to be there in the long run or the short run. Sometimes, the level of exposure that the people you work with matters in how they interact with you and how they relate with you. I was telling someone recently that I hear that startups provide you with pension and insurance. I hear it but I haven’t seen it being practiced, but Stears proved that it can be practiced. So, stuff like that is basically what goes beyond bonding and makes you understand that it’s a team that cares for its team.
\n\n\n\nStears Business is constantly providing “in-depth insight on Nigeria you won’t find anywhere else.”. Want to find out more about what the team is up to? Check them out here
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\n\n\n\nI am Fiyin Adeniyi. I am a super passionate person. I always achieve anything I put my mind to and I’m super intentional with the things I do. I’m passionate about art, design, food, music and my faith.
\n\n\n\nWhat is your typical work day like?
\n\n\n\nI recently transitioned from the freelance design world to design management. My typical work day before was to wake up, skip breakfast and immediately start working on my design schedule for the day. Now, my days have shifted to waking up in the morning, having breakfast and pulling up everybody’s tasks. I check on things we need to pull out as a company, and the things I need to supervise. My days have now also moved from searching for inspiration for the design world to searching for inspiration for ideation. I now do art direction and creative direction.
\n\n\n\nThat seems like a major move. So, tell us about your journey from being a designer to becoming a design manager.
\n\n\n\nThis is the first time I’ll be speaking openly about that journey. Before I joined Check DC, I was a freelancer. I started freelancing in 2018 and I was just trying to be a part of the design community. Between then and June 2020, I gained some influence and I put out some of my works. I tweeted about wanting to work in an agency before the end of 2020 and I got the offer to work for 3 months as an associate designer and after then, proceed to be a senior designer.
\n\n\n\nThose first 3 months were tough because it was an entire culture shock for me. Working freelance and interfacing with your clients are a thousand times different from working with other people.
\n\n\n\nIn summary, my first 3 months were the worst months for me. It was really bad that at one point, my design team lead conversed with me and he was as unfiltered as possible. He said some things that got to me, but they were a fair reflection of how poor my performance had been. He gave me a chance to choose between getting better or accepting the role wasn’t for me because he didn’t want to outrightly lay me off.
\n\n\n\nI requested 3 more months to get myself together and those periods were entirely productive. One thing I have always had as a designer is a mindset. I achieve anything I put my mind to. I know I have to be good at what I do and not give anyone a reason to doubt me. I was in beast mode for those 3 months. By the end of the year, I had played active parts in 75% of the brand projects we had done. I was either designing a logo or creating a brand identity system. They were even calling me a logo legend at some point.
\n\n\n\nTalking about how things transitioned from 2020 till now, I started working with the team better. Towards the end of 2021, I was told I’d be leading more conversations and I faced more clients. In 2022, I started leading both our in-house team and contract staff. These were new experiences for me, but I had that mindset that I was going to push through.
\n\n\n\nA few months ago, I transitioned into design team lead fully and I’m not only interfacing with the brand team, but also with the UI team, motion team and even the communications team. That’s how the journey has been so far and I’m looking forward to more growth. If I can achieve all of these in two years, who knows where I’d be next year?
\n\n\n\nWhat are the 3 things you learned during this transition phase?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing I learned is collaboration. Throughout my time as a freelancer, I didn’t have the opportunity to collaborate even on personal projects. I am a perfectionist, so it was difficult for me to collaborate with people because I felt like I was mostly going to direct the work.
\n\n\n\nThe second thing I learned is to be open to learning. I was stuck in a know-it-all bubble when I joined the agency only to see that there were many things I was doing wrong. For instance, I was creating pdf in photoshop, until I learned I can do it in Indesign and Illustrator. It is imperative to be open to new experiences and more exposure.
\n\n\n\nThe third thing is knowing your worth and valuing yourself. When I got the job, I didn’t know exactly what to ask for. If I didn’t have people around me to help me, I probably would have shortchanged myself. Also, in those first three months on the job, if I didn’t recognise the value I hold and my ability to learn, I would have probably given up. That might have not only been the end of my agency dream, but also the end of my career.
\n\n\n\nWhat path do you think a new designer should take, whether as a freelancer or in an agency?
\n\n\n\nIt’s a little bit controversial, but I’d say a new designer should look out more for agency experience before they freelance. A lot of older designers started without a standardised structure, so there was a lot of uncoordinated growth and experiences.
\n\n\n\nHowever, getting into an agency would allow you to learn collaboration early, you would learn how to speak design, improve your skills, interpret your briefs, work with difficult clients, and how to also submit to leadership.
\n\n\n\nThese are many things a lot of freelancers don’t catch on easily, and when the time comes to use these skills, they are either nonexistent or unrefined. I will always advise a new designer to choose agency work over freelancing. On the flip side, the argument might be that you make a lot more money with freelancing, but the truth is, the inflow of money is not consistent. So, I believe you will learn a lot of skills that will help you as a freelancer if you start with an agency.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you look out for in new designers?
\n\n\n\nThere are three major things I look out for. The first one is their mindset.
\n\n\n\n“How do you see design? How do you talk about it? Are you looking to revolutionise things? Are you looking to be a part of the next generation of good designers or design thinkers? How driven are you as a designer?”
\n\n\n\nAll these are encompassing when I say mindset. I like to see passion and mindset in a designer.
\n\n\n\nThe second thing I look out for is your skill. There’s a way you see someone and know they have potential. I always look out for whether the person is refined or has potential.
\n\n\n\nThe third thing I look out for is their personal brand. For new designers, a lot of people have gotten it right. One good example is Tóbi Tunbosun of Bloc. When he started, he had that personal branding on lock. He had a memorable social media name and profile. I look out for how consistent you are with who you position yourself to be and how you have been able to present yourself to be noticed.
\n\n\n\nWhat is your stance on showcasing designs on Twitter?
\n\n\n\nI’m all for it. I believe in having a curated portfolio and I also believe in putting out your work, because Twitter is like a marketplace. I have gotten a lot of referrals from Twitter. I recently posted a wedding project that I did and the CEO of a decent, internationally acclaimed,
\n\n\n\nNigerian company messaged me about having his wedding soon and he wants me to work on the project. People have gotten work from Twitter, and I also got my current job there.
\n\n\n\nHow did you move from finding it difficult in the first 3 months of your job to being good at it? What did you do differently?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing I’d say is that I was aware of my weakness. Every company and agency has its process. I faced the problem of trying to adapt my process to theirs. While that might work in a growing agency, it didn’t work in Check DC because they already have their process and I had to find a balance. I had to learn their process and adapt to it.
\n\n\n\nThe other thing I mentioned earlier is collaboration. I also had to learn to collaborate. There are times I would want to work alone, but I started to realise that it was less about me, and more about the team and the company.
\n\n\n\nThe final thing is being open to feedback and being less defensive about my work. It is hard for most designers, especially if you were a successful freelancer before transitioning into an agency. The only thing I was used to getting was feedback from clients and I used to get little or no feedback from them. So, it was hard accepting constructive criticism regarding my work, and I feel this is a part of what made those times difficult. I was so attached to my ideas that feedback will prompt a negative response, so I wasn’t putting too much effort into other directions because my initial direction was rejected.
\n\n\n\nThese were the core things that helped me to improve in 3 months.
\n\n\n\nTell us about your background. How has it influenced who you are now?
\n\n\n\nI’m the second born of four children and I’m the first son. In a typical Yoruba household, the first son has to be something in life. Part of that influenced some of the passion and drive that I have now. My dad is a pastor and a businessman, watching him being intentional about succeeding influenced how I see life.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing that has influenced me is my faith. I have been a Christian all my life. Having the idea that there is a greater power directing my steps has influenced my self-awareness because I’m constantly in the know of where I am.
\n\n\n\nAs a kid, I watched cartoons a lot and that influenced my personality because I like to crack jokes at every given opportunity. I loved looking at visual pieces of history and a key part of what has influenced me are Greek, Roman, and Italian pieces, from their arts to their music and anthologies. This also played a subtle part in what has crafted some of my design styles. Many of my designs are minimalist, classy and elegant and they are influenced by them. I used to sketch some of their Roman numerals and black letters while growing up. All of these just infused themselves into who I am today.
\n\n\n\nGrowing up, I was petite and I got bullied for it. For a while, I was passive and not assertive enough until I went to university. I grew out of that mindset and I became more assertive and more vocal about my thoughts. This particularly has influenced my leadership, because I know how it feels to be put under. So, every chance I get to be on top, I try to lead with the mindset that no one is going to be put under and that everyone matters in a team.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the place of education in your life?
\n\n\n\nI studied Computer Technology at Babcock University, but I haven’t gotten my certificate. I doubt if I even finished my clearance. The only education that has played a good role in my life is both my primary and secondary education because I can speak good English and I know Maths. University was more about the experience than the education for me.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think has made you a better designer?
\n\n\n\nI have a good eye for inspiration. I get inspired by the littlest things. I look at things and I find designs where there’s no design.
\n\n\n\nWhat are your sources of inspiration?
\n\n\n\nOnline inspiration, first of all. I coined a phrase I was using for myself in 2020; “a modernist with a vintage soul.” I like to look at old things and look for how to modernise them. Everything around me also motivates me. I find inspiration in everything. Just looking at the brick wall in front of me is inspirational.
\n\n\n\nYou are a pastor in your church, a choir director, and a designer. How do you balance church, work, family and your relationship?
\n\n\n\nHonestly, I don’t have a formula. I just try to give things the priority they deserve. I work 9-5 and part of the contract that I signed is that the time frame is going to be used strictly for achieving the company’s goals. During that time, a lot of other things take a lesser priority. Once it’s 5 pm, I’m able to focus and give more attention to the people who matter most to me – my family and my girlfriend.
\n\n\n\nOn some other days, those things also bump down a little because I have church work to attend to. Some days, I bump everything down and decide to eat dinner with my mum. So, it’s all about prioritising certain things in the time that they deserve.
\n\n\n\nThere will always be overlap and priority might be radical in some cases. While on this day normally, I would have given it to my family, things might come up that need urgent attention and I’d have to attend to them. That means leaving my family in the loop. What I do, however, to salvage such situations is to communicate. That is where I strike the balance.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the role of design in faith?
\n\n\n\nFrom my perspective, faith is abstract and design is what can take abstract communication to something more concrete. For instance, if a church named Spirit of Life ministry requires a logo, how do you take the abstract concept of spirit and life to visuality? The level of abstraction in faith makes design even more important. Design makes these abstractions understandable to the human mind. The role of design in faith is to make complex things simpler. It is taking away abstraction and making it easy to absorb and understand.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think about design in Nigeria?
\n\n\n\nPersonally, design in Nigeria is getting to a point where I’m getting a bit scared because of how fast things are moving. Soon, it will be less about how good a design is and more about how much you can quickly make from it. Looking at countries that have infused design as a core part of their structure, and where we want to be in Nigeria, design has to move beyond just a money-making scheme, to becoming a tool for the future.
\n\n\n\nThis is not to invalidate anyone currently doing that. Of course, many of us are very intentional about creating designs that can match and even beat the world’s standard, such that designs in Nigeria have no choice but to be noticed. DearDesigner is doing that, Check DC is doing that, as well as a lot of other good platforms. It is just a community effort, it should be instilled in the mind of everyone who breathes design in Nigeria. I’m not against making your coins from design, but beyond making money, we should have the mindset of elevating the standard of design in Nigeria.
\n\n\n\nIn summary, I’m a little bit scared about where design is going in Nigeria but I am optimistic as well because there are platforms passionate about Nigeria being recognised not just for the talent, but also for the standard.
\n\n\n\nDo you think design can save us?
\n\n\n\nNo. Only Jesus can save us. Design in itself is not enough to save us in any capacity, either as a country, by preserving our culture, or just saving us as people. If we decide to use design to create systems and visuals that address our culture, it won’t still be enough because if it is not infused into other systems like education and religion, all our designs will just be in a bubble. We will be the only ones using those products.
\n\n\n\nDesign can unify more industries in fulfilling that one goal of saving us as a people, but it is not enough. It is only the hand of God that can save us.
\n\n\n\nLet’s talk a bit about your job, what is the most fulfilling part of your job?
\n\n\n\nI’ll mention 2 things. The first one is seeing the quality of work that we put out. We have an unspoken rule of putting aside works that are not our best. Seeing that everyone is working hard to push this vision of work standard that we uphold is fulfilling.
\n\n\n\nThe second most fulfilling experience is seeing the young designers grow. It is particularly very dear to me because I didn’t have anyone holding me by the hands to teach me. The younger designers have access to not just me but to an array of great designers, such that if a brand designer decides to try out product design today, there’s always someone guiding them.
\n\n\n\nAs a design lead, how do you set up your team for success?
\n\n\n\nThis will be summarised as highlighting individual uniqueness while also fostering collaborative efforts. Many people don’t find a balance between those two things. In a bid to make sure everyone has individual uniqueness, some team leads ignore the part of collaboration. Finding that good mix of collaborative efforts and the ability to highlight individual uniqueness is what makes it easy for me to set up my team for success. This means that in every project, everyone has something complementary to bring to the table.
\n\n\n\nWhere do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
\n\n\n\nI see myself with a pot of chicken wings in front of me. Jokes aside, looking at my current trajectory, I am either in one or two places. One is being at a design agency, it might be at my current job or another place, managing and supervising projects. This goes beyond leading a design team.
\n\n\n\nI also see myself with some of my albums out, because I am currently working on them. I see myself settled. 5 years from now, I should be married. I don’t have any big picture in mind, but just as I am content and happy now, I know I’ll be content and happy in 5 years.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Hidayatullah Bamidele","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DearDesigner_Icon-01.png"},"authorLink":null},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/12d6c/1-e1658958578364.webp","srcSet":"/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/6142d/1-e1658958578364.webp 512w,\n/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/d4e5a/1-e1658958578364.webp 1024w,\n/static/13f4a8f1844638b9386aaf7096c9638e/12d6c/1-e1658958578364.webp 2048w","sizes":"(min-width: 2048px) 2048px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":2048,"height":1111}}}}}},{"uri":"/meet-deborah-bashorun/","title":"Meet Deborah Bashorun, The Designer That Keeps on Giving","slug":"meet-deborah-bashorun","date":"19 July, 2022","content":"\nLet’s meet you. Who is Debbie?
\n\n\n\nSimply put, Debbie is an energetic, carefree & fun-loving person. I love fun. Debbie is that person who just wants to make an impact in any way she can, preferably anonymously and get on with her life. As long as someone is impacted by it, she’s fine with it. That’s why I love volunteering.
\n\n\n\nDebbie is a person who, sometimes is always looking to add more to her plate even when it’s full. Sometimes, she’s a motivational speaker who gives herself pep talks like “you can do it”, “do it afraid”, and sometimes she’s tired and wants to just sleep. Debbie is an adventure-loving person. She also loves design. She’s family-oriented and she loves people. She’s here because of the impact of different people at different points in her life.
\n\n\n\nThat’s an amazing introduction. So, now let’s talk about your work history.
\n\n\n\nI can’t remember all the work I’ll refer to the ones I can remember.
\n\n\n\nMy work history started from Tutor.ng where I worked as a design/videographer intern in 2016. I can’t forget that experience because it was a major starting point for me in design even though I had been briefly introduced to design in July 2015, after my NYSC.
\n\n\n\nI initially tried my hands on a web design course which focused on HTML & CSS but I didn’t like it. Yet, I wanted to work in tech. I had an interest in design but I was a bit worried about how I could thrive as a female in that space. However, my friend who was a designer kept telling me to try it out and I could try something else if that doesn’t work out. That has been my career mantra since then. I like to explore different options and if I don’t enjoy it within six months, I move on to something else.
\n\n\n\nBut as a designer, I realised that I enjoyed myself. While I was at Tutor.ng, I worked quite well on videography and a bit of motion graphics but I haven’t really explored that skill.
\n\n\n\nAs someone who started with motion, who/what introduced you to product design?
\n\n\n\nI’ll say Electronics Settlement Limited introduced me to product design. I joined the company as a product & graphic designer, I was handling social media and designing products. I designed an AXA Mansard project, which was my first time trying out product design. It was a challenging moment because I wasn’t meeting directly with the team, I had to listen to briefs about the project from a third party which created room for a lot of mistakes.
\n\n\n\nIn 2017, I realised I wasn’t growing fast because I was working alone. That was when I saw Cregital on Social Media and thought it would be great to work with other designers. I applied to Cregital and surprisingly, I got in. I worked with Cregital for some months, then had to return to Electronics Settlements Limited.
\n\n\n\nOne major thing I learned during this period was that I didn’t need to work directly with other designers to be better at my craft. I realised I could always reach out to a community of designers and learn from a distance. I became really big on communities after that experience. I started attending Lagos Meet, Usable and other community events and it was nice knowing I had quite a lot of people I could ask questions.
\n\n\n\nI met a couple of people during Lagos Meet, Usable and other community events and one of the people met was Leslie. He reached out to me one time in 2018 to see if I wanted to join TeamApt. I worked there for a couple of months and quit to freelance until 2019 when I got into Kudy Financials. I loved working at Kudy a lot. After a year, I joined Sterling Bank.
\n\n\n\nI don’t leave a job because I found another job, I leave when I’m tired or when it’s not working. I consciously take breaks for retrospection. I ask myself, “what did I learn from here?”, “what can I do better?” before going on to take another job.
\n\n\n\nHow do you do your retrospection?
\n\n\n\nFirst, I sleep a lot. Sleep is one thing that work takes from me. There’s always a request coming in and I prioritize that over taking care of myself. My mental health, my rest, everything goes to the background and I focus on delivering on my work. So, when I leave a job, that’s one of the first things I do. That’s when I start going out, hanging with friends and doing different relaxing activities.
\n\n\n\nIn retrospection, I put myself in the shoes of my employer or team lead. I ask myself serious questions about how I performed, what I can do better, what I will change if I could, and so on. Then I figure out what I need to work on next.
\n\n\n\nSo, you were a mentor during the last Dear Designer mentorship program. How was it for you?
\n\n\n\nIt was a very nice experience! I’m very thankful for that opportunity because I was able to make an impact. I mentored three people; one got a job scholarship, the second got a couple of gigs and landed a job, while the third also had an improved job switch. One thing that made two of my mentees stand out was that they were very proactive. It doesn’t matter how much anybody talks to you, it doesn’t matter how much anybody mentors you, if you don’t make the right moves, you’re still going to be where you have always been. Until you take that move, there might not be any change. That’s the plain truth.
\n\n\n\nLet’s focus on you now. What does mentoring mean to you?
\n\n\n\nI think mentoring makes me feel fulfilled. Being able to see results from people’s lives as a result of your interaction with them can be fulfilling. You can even measure where they started from and where they are now and see the difference in terms of career growth and the kind of jobs they’re getting. I believe everybody’s growth is their doing but it makes me feel good to know that I was one of the core people who influenced their growth.
\n\n\n\nHow many mentorship programs have you participated in?
\n\n\n\nI’ve mentored at Dear Designer and Girl Code Africa. I’ve also been mentoring at Design Labs for over a year , I also spoke at Tech4Dev. I’ve judged project sumbissions at Technovation as well, helping young girls come together to build SDG-driven products. These are just young girls between the ages of 8-16 with a lot of Nigerian representation and it makes me very happy.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think makes a good working mentoring relationship?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing is to identify the goals. It’s good to define what each party is looking to achieve at the end of the mentorship from the first meeting.
\n\n\n\n“What are we looking to achieve? Why does this mentor-mentee relationship exist?”
\n\n\n\nSecondly, trust should be established. Trust is accepting my advice as a mentor and working with it. Sometimes a mentee may not trust you enough to take that bold step or it could be fear, which I understand. But I believe without taking an action, you don’t see a result.
\n\n\n\nThirdly, the mentorship relationship should be cordial and both parties should be free enough to bring problems to each other. They should freely share their experiences and be able to ask questions from every facet as long as it is design or the main subject related. They should not be scared to approach their mentor at any point. A mentor should be a chief supporter who is approachable & easy to talk to.
\n\n\n\nHow about volunteering? Why do you volunteer?
\n\n\n\nIt’s a way to give back. I believe that no man is an island and I didn’t get here by myself. It took the effort of a community both within and outside design, to get to where I am. I don’t know the next world leader that I may just impact by volunteering. And it’s fine. I don’t always have to calculate the impact. If everyone does their bit, I believe the world would be a better place. That’s why anywhere I can, I would always choose to volunteer. I volunteer at my two local churches. At Redeemed Christian Church as a security official and House on the Rock as a designer.
\n\n\n\nSo, what are your career goals?
\n\n\n\nI’ve been thinking about leadership. However, I’m also the kind of designer that likes to get her hands dirty. I want to do the research, the strategy, the visuals, and everything involved. I don’t want to replace the core design for leadership and people management. So, I’m still learning the best way to create a balance and to get positions that will enable me to do that.
\n\n\n\nSo, I would say my immediate goals for the next two years would be to learn what exactly I want to do and how to go about it. I may actually be taking up a master’s in a leadership or entrepreneurship related path. If I end up not liking it, I may just continue designing and remain a product designer as an independent contributor for the rest of my life.
\n\n\n\nWhat are your thoughts about design in Nigeria at the moment?
\n\n\n\nWell, it has evolved. We’re not there yet but we’re on the right path. I’m proud of the designers I have seen so far, I’ve seen that people are looking to get better.
\n\n\n\nRegarding brands in Nigeria and how they deal with design, there’s still a lot of work to be done. When you look at something as simple as social media creatives being pushed out on special days, you can be surprised at the quality of work being delivered. But yeah, we keep growing daily.
\n\n\n\nWhat advice do you have for new designers?
\n\n\n\nOne, explore. Don’t just write things off. Explore different options, test the waters, and discover if it’s something you can handle. Don’t just create doubts without testing it. It’s better you try and fail than not try it out at all.
\n\n\n\nTwo, community. Growing a community does not mean you have to be part of a selected group. Sometimes there’s no label to it, it’s just acquaintances. However, they’re there for you when you need them, and you can respect their advice as solid. The truth is not everyone can bank on a community. A lot of these communities are already set and sometimes you get in and feel amiss because you’re not one of the core or founding people. Optimize for that. Don’t sit back and sulk because you weren’t accepted in a community. You have to put in the work.
\n\n\n\nThree, have support systems. Sometimes, your mental health is down and you need people to talk to. Have support systems you can always reach out to.
\n\n\n\nFour, invest in your growth. It might just be that small online course you need, other times you need to meet someone to put you through, sometimes you need to get an extra degree. It’s your life, if you want to be a professor, do it! You can be a professor and still be a designer.
\n\n\n\nPursue knowledge. Start with what you have.
\n\n\n\nYou just gave quality advice. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career?
\n\n\n\nIt first had to be imposter syndrome. I used to be really scared to talk in design-related scenes. That went on for a while until I spoke to someone about it and I learnt you have to outgrow it and say what you have to say. You never know who might need to hear it. And I think I realised that it’s better to even say it and it turns out wrong and gets corrected than keeping shut. When you keep shut, you don’t even know that it’s wrong.
\n\n\n\nAnother challenge I faced was deciding on what to do. As someone who started off her career doing a couple of different things; motion design, videography, graphic design, and product design, it was like juggling so many things in the air. I had to make a very conscious effort to streamline, prioritize and pick the top two options I want. That’s the same advice I would give anybody going through that phase.
\n\n\n\nLearn to prioritize, pick one and streamline and let the others be somewhere in the background.
\n\n\n\nHow do you handle imposter syndrome? What’s your opinion on handling it?
\n\n\n\nI’m a big preacher of “do it afraid”. I hear people say that they don’t have imposter syndrome and I’m really happy for them. I’ve found a way and I think it was Lade that shared it some time ago to write out your accomplishments, things you’ve done, and products you’ve worked on. I’ve seen that sometimes when I feel down, I just look at my products. Shortly after, I feel better.
\n\n\n\nYou need to have a pick-up activity for yourself; it could be a phrase, a system, or anything that works for you. Have it so that you can always help yourself. You don’t want to remain down for a long period. Have documentation of things you worked on, things you’ve done, and the things you’re proud of. Then you can always go to them when you’re feeling down to see how much work you have done and the impact it has. It also helps you to document where you need to be or do next.
\n\n\n\nYou’ve worked on a lot of projects. Which would you describe as your most fulfilling project?
\n\n\n\nThis is a difficult question. I think I will consider LAFIA, a health-tech product I worked on as a consultant. We were basically building the “Google for health issues” in Nigeria. It has a symptom checker, you can search your symptoms and get suggested ailments, then you get plugged to talk to a doctor around you, and you can also get cheap insurance.
\n\n\n\nIt’s basically to make better healthcare available to people from the comfort of their phones. There were some pushbacks from an insurance company but the product was launched. My design got changed a lot but creating that platform is something that actually means a lot to me because of the non-quantifiable impact it has on people’s lives.
\n\n\n\nSo, are you happy?
\n\n\n\nI’m happy that I’m not just a designer. I mentor. I speak at events. All of these means I impact people’s lives and it makes me happy. Regarding just design, I’m happy where I am currently in my career and workplace. I work at a place where everybody’s voice matters and even when I feel I don’t know much, everyone asks for my feedback and input. There’s no micro-management. I’m free to explore, the timeline takes as long as I think it should and I’m just allowed to fly. So yeah, I’m happy and the work I do creates impact.
\n\n\n\nWhat are some practical steps you give people who want to get remote gigs or work for foreign companies?
\n\n\n\nThere are design intermediaries you can be a part of. There’s Rise, Meaningful Gigs, etc. But before that, allow a senior designer or your peers to go through your work and give you actionable feedback. Work on this feedback before you go ahead to join intermediaries. They open you up to foreign companies.
\n\n\n\nAlso, apply for jobs especially when you meet their requirements. Companies are looking for talent and Nigeria is blessed with talent. Also, learn to build in public. This is something I don’t really do but it’s important to show off your work. Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are great platforms for this. Show off milestones because you never can tell who would reach out to you. Don’t be afraid to show off your growth. When you get invited to speak at events, please accept and speak, it helps with your growth.
\n\n\n\nYou should also volunteer. Volunteering helped me stop thinking about just myself. Don’t make it all about opportunities, see how you can help others as well. There’s always something people can learn from you and there’s always something you can learn from others.
\n\n\n\nSo, do you have any “japa” plans?
\n\n\n\nWell, if I had my way, I would be very comfortable in Nigeria. For some time now, Nigeria has been affecting me mentally. So, I try to take breaks, travel on vacations and just sleep a lot. This helps to rejuvenate me and I get to feel better. This doesn’t last long, unfortunately. Once I get to the Nigerian airport, I get irritated again.
\n\n\n\nSo if Nigeria were a great place to stay, I don’t see any reason why. Maybe I’d have regular monthly visits to different places just to see the world. But with the way Nigeria is, there’s a very high chance that I’ll leave the country.
\n\n\n\nDeborah Bashorun has a lot of inspiring design experiences both within and outside Nigeria. Check her Portfolio for projects she has worked on.
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\n\n\n\nI’m Murphy Usifo. I was born in an average home, as the first son to a family of 8. I studied Petroleum Engineering at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). I wanted to study Mathematics as I loved it a lot, but due to the stories I was told about job security, I chose Petroleum Engineering.
\n\n\n\nI lived all my life in Benin but moved to Abuja in 2020.
\n\n\n\nOh, nice. So, how did you start your design career?
\n\n\n\n
My story is quite unique. I’m always excited about sessions like this because I get to share my story. I think it’s important for me to share my story because I believe that if a boy like me, from the actual trenches, can make it in design, then anyone can.
As a student, during my industrial training (IT) at Chevron, I worked in Supply Chain Management and realised that none of those working in the same department had a degree in Petroleum Engineering. At that point, I started to rethink the value of my degree.
\n\n\n\nMy boss registered me for Lean Sigma Training, a platform to learn optimised business processes. I learnt Excel during this period and in my attempt to apply this learning, I created shareable Excel sheets to track work progress. This was when I realised I enjoyed solving real-life problems.
\n\n\n\nIn 2017, I was a Content Writer on Steemit, a platform that rewards writers for content and engagements. Despite that I was a student, I was earning between ₦600k to ₦1m monthly off the platform. My standard of living got so high that even when the money stopped coming in, I needed ways to keep that lifestyle.
\n\n\n\nThat was how I started designing. I earned ₦120k off my first design, which served as a great motivation. While still in these early days, I joined a design contest where I earned ₦1m. So, I decided to stay with design. These were just basic designs, really.
\n\n\n\nI launched my product design career properly after I was scammed by an investment scheme and my finances went back to square zero in 2018.
\n\n\n\nWhy did you choose product design?
\n\n\n\nDuring my Lean Six Sigma training, I saw a friend doing product design. He told me how it’s about solving problems which looked like what I could use the skills I had just learnt for. So, I learnt the basic foundations, then UI/UX, and moved on from there.
\n\n\n\nWhat was learning like for you?
My learning was scattered, I had no formal training. I started with Youtube and learned how to use Figma repeatedly till it made sense to me. After three months, I decided to apply to Tesla—very funny. That was when I realised I had a lot to learn because the requirements were quite a lot and I only had Figma knowledge. So, I went back to learning.
Since that time, I started creating prospects of what I wanted on my resume for the year and working towards it. This year, I have motion, interaction design and 3D animation on my learning radar.
\n\n\n\nWith this scattered learning process, how do you learn?
\n\n\n\nI learn mostly by practice. I keep repeating daily. I like having an idea of what I want to do in my mind before I even start watching a course. My usual process is to search YouTube or buy courses and watch the video all through without practice. Then, I watch it again while practicing. And finally, I practice repeatedly on my own without the video. So, it’s mostly experimentation.
\n\n\n\nSo, how did you come by the name, “Druids”?
\n\n\n\nIn 2017, I had an obsession with myths. I read a lot about them. So, when I tried to create a Steemit account and it appeared every option related to my name had been taken, I decided to try Druids 01 which was available. To remain consistent across all platforms, I changed my name to Druids across the board. It’s that simple.
\n\n\n\nInteresting. But why did you choose to have an anonymous personality?
\n\n\n\nThere’s no particular reason. I didn’t choose it as well. I’m just not a big fan of pictures. When I do take them, I forget to post them. So, it’s not intentional, it’s just who I am.
\n\n\n\nIt seems you always organise classes and online sessions. Why?
\n\n\n\nI didn’t start today. I started from secondary school, teaching home lessons to younger ones around. I even applied to teach after secondary school, but I was too young to be employed.
\n\n\n\nI simply believe that if I keep sharing what I know, you should be able to replicate the amount of success I have.
\n\n\n\nWhat would you consider the luckiest moment in your career journey?
\n\n\n\nGetting my first product design role at DAO Maker without any web3 portfolio. At the time, I had no formal web3 experience. I was just big on selling myself. Before the interview, I read through their website, learnt about their products and armed myself with relevant information; all of which made me ace the interview. I think it was majorly luck, accompanied by selling myself properly.
\n\n\n\nWhen you’re not designing, what do you do?
\n\n\n\nI’m mostly playing games. I love watching anime. I love Bowling. I don’t have a social life. Those are the only three things I do that are different from work.
\n\n\n\nIf not design, what else would you be doing?
\n\n\n\nIf I could study further, I would choose Economics. I want to stop working in design in five years and venture into another role in finance. I don’t plan on keeping the pace as a designer forever.
\n\n\n\nYou talked about your background briefly. Has it influenced you in any way?
\n\n\n\nAbsolutely. Growing up in situations where we lacked money at home made me very ambitious. So, I ensure that I never have to go back to that poor state. I do not want that for my siblings as well. My three brothers are all designers. My youngest brother has a good-paying job and he’s still in secondary school. Everyone has something worthwhile to do.
\n\n\n\nIn terms of people skills, talking to customers in my mom’s shop and negotiating prices helped me a lot with clients.
\n\n\n\nIt seems you’ve had a lot of peak moments in your career. Has there been any low point in your journey?
\n\n\n\nI think this is a personal low point. I lost my job at Paxful. For about 6 months after getting a new job, I had the fear of losing my job. This PTSD continued for a while and it was a low point for me. I kept overworking and overdelivering out of fear of being fired again. It took a major toll on me but I have bounced back.
\n\n\n\nHow do you see the design space in Nigeria?
\n\n\n\nI think it’s really grown, there are a lot of competent designers in the space. But in the same vein, there are a lot of incompetent ones as well. It feels like everyone is rushing into UI/UX design based on the myth that it’s easy to get into and fast to make money. So there are a lot of new entrants applying for UI/UX roles that they’re not even ready for yet. That’s a very big problem.
\n\n\n\nThese people are rushing into the design space without any roadmap and they’re not competent–and they don’t know. But addressing it may get you termed as a gatekeeper. This explains why I do more teaching, focusing on design foundations, to make sure young designers have a solid foundation before building on it.
\n\n\n\nNonetheless, there are a lot of awesome designers doing great work in Nigeria.
\n\n\n\nWhat is your biggest project since you started designing?
\n\n\n\nI worked for NiftyIsland, where I worked on my first game design project. The Island and Gun on my display name is like an NFT usually given to core contributors. I also worked at PrePO and Aliens too, and I designed the MVP for the project and its website within one month.
\n\n\n\nI particularly liked my work at Paxful despite how I left. I was doing some very sweet things with Design systems there, automating some design system processes in Jira, and creating a Component QA review which I never pitched.
\n\n\n\nThese are all foreign projects. Have you worked on any Nigerian project?
\n\n\n\nNo. I worked on a project in 2019, but it turned out to be a really toxic relationship. I wasn’t being paid, just #5k for internet, which wasn’t enough. Yet, I worked Monday to Sunday. I was kicked off the project for missing a 10pm call. The project idea was mine and I built the team, but I had to leave. Since then, I haven’t looked back at Nigerian clients with a few exceptions.
\n\n\n\nSo apart from working on that project, what other mistakes do you think you’ve made in your career?
\n\n\n\nEarly in my career, I was not proactive enough. I just do the tasks I’ve been given. I think it was a bounce-off from my toxic experience working with the Nigerian project, being kicked off despite doing everything. So, I became very reactive.
\n\n\n\nIn terms of finance, I was burning a lot of money, I started becoming very intentional with my money mid-last year, looking for safe ways to grow my money. Looking back now, I’m not sure I have a lot of regrets in my career.
\n\n\n\nHow does money work for you? Saver? Investor?
\n\n\n\nI’m both a saver and an investor. So far, I’ve written four angel cheques, I have a threshold for savings and I also invest in startups I’m interested in. I keep enough money to be able to leave the country with my family if there is ever an urgent need to.
\n\n\n\nWhat makes you unique as a designer?
\n\n\n\nSpeed. My speed is crazy and unbelievable. I once designed the UI of a fintech app in 2 days. I learn really fast and execute faster. I consciously slow myself down and spread the execution, especially when it’s not urgent.
\n\n\n\nSo, I think speed makes me unique. It has brought me this far.
\n\n\n\nDo you see yourself starting a company?
\n\n\n\nI have a project I’m working on. Finding accommodation as a student can be very stressful—the current processes are manual and annoying. So, I gathered a team to design and build this project. You can list and secure apartments, schedule appointments with technicians, and schedule virtual walk-throughs around the apartments. The product is actually ready, just to launch it to the market—and someone is working on that.
\n\n\n\nIn the long term, the reason my brothers and I got into design is to build our own game. I’m learning product design, 3D and a mix of business, my younger brother is doing motion design, another is doing illustration and the last one is making illustrations.
\n\n\n\nWhat a family of designers! Do you think you influenced your brothers’ career choices?
\n\n\n\nI believe so. I usually ask them if they’re interested. And if they are, I get them a laptop and they continue from there. My youngest brother, for example, was great with pencil art and already started making money off his work at 13. So, I got him an iPad and a pen to launch his career in illustration. This is the same trend as the others as well.
\n\n\n\nSo, that’s how we all got into design.
\n\n\n\nHaving influenced others a lot, which designers influenced you as well?
\n\n\n\nJust like everybody else, Chris Do influenced me a lot. I watched all his videos repeatedly and they formed a major foundation for my career. I think he’s the only person that comes to mind.
\n\n\n\nYou seem to have a lot of work and learning to do. How do you achieve your work-life balance?
\n\n\n\nI honestly believe my girlfriend is my balance. I can work all day, I switch in between work, playing games, watching animes and some sitcoms. She brings the fun part to my life.
\n\n\n\nI also introduced her to tech and she now works as a UI and 3D Designer. Whenever I have a lot of projects on my hand, I shed some off on her and she does them really well.
\n\n\n\nWow. You brought everyone close to you into tech. Is there any long-term plan for that?
\n\n\n\nThe goal then was simply to make everyone comfortable and to reduce black tax as much as possible. To a reasonable extent, I have achieved that. Now, I think can successfully run a design school as everyone in the family has every relevant design skill that can be taught.
\n\n\n\nHowever, that’s not in the current plan—nor the long-term plan.
\n\n\n\nDruids, as Murphy Usifo is popularly called, can easily be found on Twitter. Need Design Challenges? He compiled one for you. Check it out.
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\n\n\n\nLet’s meet you
\n\n\n\nI’m Mrs. Maryjoe Udochi, a wife and mom of two; a boy and a girl. I like to address myself as a multidisciplinary creative because I have skills in graphic and web design, a bit of industrial design, brand identity design, and brand strategy. The core part of my design skills however is brand identity development.
\n\n\n\nWhere do you work currently?
\n\n\n\nI quit my job last year. I was the team-lead of the user experience team at Transsion Holdings, a mother company for Techno mobile, Oraimo, Infinix, and so on. I was there for four years. I quit because it has always been my desire to start up my own thing. Brand Hut is currently what I focus on.
\n\n\n\nBrandhut is a design agency that provides full-on, comprehensive visual branding services to businesses. We are a 5-man team, a web developer, an industrial designer, someone who deals with legal paperwork, and me. I double as both the brand identity developer and brand strategist.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s your background like?
\n\n\n\nI’m the first of four children. My childhood was totally fun and I was lucky to be one of the privileged ones, with access to good education and available care. I attended Federal Government Girls College, Owerri. I also attended Madonna University where I studied Computer Science. I was into programming at the time, but not anymore.
\n\n\n\nBeing a programmer, how did you break into design?
\n\n\n\nI never imagined I’d become a designer all through my secondary school & University days. I was introduced to design during my NYSC year. I had the option to pick between working with a construction firm and with an IT firm. Despite the high salary benefit offered by the construction firm, I went ahead to join the IT firm as my background in software development was my main consideration. My boss, Mr. Tayo, introduced me to Graphics Design. My first software was photoshop. I learned how to design logos, business cards, and other basic visual branding elements. He was a developer but due to my passion for learning, he kept introducing me to different things. That marked the foundation of my design career.
\n\n\n\nAs a multidisciplinary designer, how do you transition between different aspects of design?
\n\n\n\nI’m a creative junkie. I’m not the kind of person who would spend 10, 20 years doing a single thing. I easily get bored, so doing the same thing over and over again gets tiring. I like to learn new things, to challenge myself with new skills. And oh, I’m a fast learner. Within weeks, I get to be proficient with the new tools I learn.
\n\n\n\nThe core of my skill is brand identity development, however, I know how to use tools around other aspects of design. It’s quite easy for me to transition between all of them. The negative side however is that I end up doing a lot of things myself. Since I already have the concept in my head and I know my way around the software, I may find it hard to allow someone else to get it done.
\n\n\n\nIn summary, transitioning among diverse roles is not a struggle for me.
\n\n\n\nDid you have a lot of female designers to look up to when you started?
\n\n\n\nNo. While I worked at Payporte, I was the only female creative on the team. We had Nduibusi, Bunmi Adekunle, Ope, Dami, all guys. I was also the vice president of D21 Century, a design community in Abuja. When we had our meetings, we had just about 3 females. I didn’t have a lot of female creatives to look up to. I was very lucky to have these guys, they were and still are like my brothers. They were always ready to help me out, push me to be a better designer.
\n\n\n\nThe few other female creatives I met were either fashion illustrators or makeup artists, only a very few were graphics designers.
\n\n\n\nDoes femininity influence your output as a designer?
\n\n\n\nFemales are naturally passionate people. If there’s anything we love, we hold it so dearly. When you see a female in a male-dominated industry, you can tell she’s very passionate about it. This explains why they succeed at it.
\n\n\n\nAlso, a lot of females are attracted to colors, this can be noticed from our patterns of dressing. I believe what we find enticing influences our output as female creatives. We have also been groomed in a certain way, our parents have shielded us from taking some risks, making us naturally cautious. This reflects in the creative space. Based on my experience of leading a few creatives, some females prefer to be cautious with their designs and not take risks to explore unusual territories with their output as a guy would.
\n\n\n\nAlso, for a lady, nature calls at some point. For example, I got married and had children, this really slowed me down. I’ve not been on social media for almost a year. I juggle everything; being a wife, a sole proprietor, a mom. I try to create a balance, unlike guys that have few limitations caused by nature.
\n\n\n\nHow much effect did starting a family have on your design career?
\n\n\n\nIt affected me a great deal because I didn’t touch a computer for months and I started giving out my jobs to other people. A year after my first child, I planned to bounce back and was already taking steps. Then, I conceived again. The stress of going through 9 months of pregnancy, giving birth, then raising a child affected me as a creative, despite that I had a nanny.
\n\n\n\nSometimes, while rocking the baby, I’m designing as well. This means I’m not working in my full capacity as a designer at that moment compared to when I was single. It doesn’t only affect creatives, it goes across all career paths. If you want to be an active part of your child’s life, it will affect you. I had to keep pushing because I needed to keep the two open, my career and my child’s life. It’s not bad to take some time off your career to take care of your child till they’ve grown to a certain age.
\n\n\n\nI was able to build a team from people I handed over jobs to. That helped me to see things from a deeper perspective that there is more to being a designer. While nursing my baby, I kept reading books on marketing, branding, and design which broadened my horizon. So, now that I bounced back, I see myself being better. Everything I kept busy with eventually turned out helpful.
\n\n\n\nAs a wife and mother, what challenges did you face while working at Transsion Holdings?
\n\n\n\nThis is where being a lady came in very handy for me as I was the only lady in the UX department. I’ve always been pampered by my male colleagues, they came in helpful while I was pregnant. Transsion was a very friendly workplace, the only barrier I had sometimes was language difference. I was lucky to have people to always cover up for me. I don’t think there’s any career path pregnancy won’t slow you down in.
\n\n\n\nI don’t want to dwell so much on pregnancy, life happens at the end of the day, even to guys. I always had where I wanted to be in mind. So, I always told myself “MaryJoe, I want to have my things, handle personal projects.” My dad formerly worked at CBN before he retired. I compared the inflow of cash while he worked there and the current inflow while he’s retired, it is a push for me to start building my business now. I plan to build my clientele now, suffer through the hurdles now, then enjoy later in the future.
\n\n\n\nHow do you combine running Brandhut and being the brand identity developer simultaneously?
\n\n\n\nI know that I am my boss and the fate of Brandhut is in my hands. One of the cores of being the figurehead of the company is trying to bring in clients. So, one of the first steps I took was visiting certain places. I had to print out BrandHut’s portfolio as a brochure. I knew my prospective clients weren’t keen on social media, so I used traditional means to ensure I can convince them of our abilities and how we can help their business visuals. I try to think of how I can grow my clientele for the entrepreneurship part.
\n\n\n\nAs the brand identity developer and brand strategist, I know we all have roles to play whenever any client comes in. I agree that we are a small team, so I manage a lot of tasks. When I meet up with a client, I don’t take more than we can handle within a given timeframe. It’s not been easy but I pray we grow to a point where I can focus on one.
\n\n\n\nApart from starting a family, what other challenges do you think female designers go through in their workplace?
\n\n\n\nI can’t tell you about others, but I’ll answer based on my experience.
\n\n\n\nSometimes, there is a male designer who is ready to teach you, then feelings develop along the way. As soon as things go south, everything ends there. I faced this a lot while I was single, as I only had guys around me.
\n\n\n\nAre you still actively involved in Mentoring ladies?
\n\n\n\nI haven’t even been on social media for a while. However, if I have the opportunity, I would love to mentor more ladies. I believe we need more females in the creative industry as the industry is still dominated by men. I’d be happy to take on this project but I have to be stable enough and have bounced back well before I can think of mentoring.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think the future holds for design communities in the next 5 years?
\n\n\n\nFor Nigeria, I’m not so hopeful, to be honest. This is due to the situation in Nigeria compared to other countries where basic amenities are available. They don’t have so much to bother about, they have enough time to be creative.
\n\n\n\nNigeria keeps deteriorating, keeps going from bad to worse. Thus, people work literally to provide themselves with these basic amenities. There’s a difference between learning to gain expertise and learning to ensure a source of income. It’s different when a creative is hustling just to pay rent, buy electricity, fix their car, etc. They tend not to think about solving problems and not be objective with clients. People are not being creative to solve a problem anymore but hustle and make ends meet.
\n\n\n\nThe environment is not even encouraging your creativity. When I traveled to Dubai, there were a lot of colorful illustrations on the wall, you would admire them and feel inspired to be more creative. Whenever I got home, the whole vibe made me open my laptop and think of coming up with something.
Let’s look at the #EndSARS issue, we were simply trying to fight for a better government. Yet, the same government turns around to kill us. How do you want a creative to explore their creativity in such an environment? Creativity is gradually becoming a way to evade being broke and we can’t be as innovative that way. Whatever job you do is still tied to the standard of living and the government.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and praying that things get better than it currently is.
\n\n\n\nWant to reach out to Maryjoe? Find her on Instagram
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\n\n\n\nMy illustrations can be found on products like stationery, mugs, fabrics, and different everyday products. I work with brands and clients over the board, and I license my artwork on different products, like fashion, apparel, homeware, and things like that.
\n\n\n\nHave you always been in the design industry?
\n\n\n\nArt and Design were not in the plan at all; even though I have always loved drawing and designing. I started out with a degree in Microbiology and I have a Master’s in Applied Computing and I.T. I also have an MBA. I always wanted to have a course in IT management, I learned to code and build a website.
\n\n\n\nThe first tool I learned was CorelDraw; I think I was 13. It was around the time my parents encouraged me to enroll in computer training. I fell in love with CorelDraw and started designing at 13. I used to play around with graphics. During my MSc, I took up a part-time job in graphic design. It was voluntary work actually and all through, I used my skills in CorelDraw to design. I have also had a flair for IT as well.
\n\n\n\nIn 2015, I returned to Nigeria after my Master’s and I wasn’t sure of where to start. I just knew I didn’t want to work for anybody — so I was just diving into different things in business development because of my MBA. I also love to help people create business plans and all that.
\n\n\n\nI joined GetUp Inc with Tomi and we did a couple of projects together in design and business development. Along the way, I took up art classes for kids at the park and it lasted for about three months and that was where my interest started. I also volunteered for a gallery in 2015 in Lagos Island. I would think that the arts and design have always been there.
\n\n\n\nWe would think so too. Hahaha
\n\n\n\n“Breathe Live Explore” was a business blog at the time, the niche was a blog for millennial entrepreneurs. My niche at that time was curating business resources with infographics. I would design infographics on Canva or Coreldraw and then add tips. At that time, infographics were the trend.
\n\n\n\nUnfortunately in 2017, I lost all materials on the blog.
Oh wow, that must have been a sad experience
\n\n\n\nIt was. I lost all resources on the blog due to some issues with my hosting company and I had no backup. I couldn’t continue the blog because of that.
\n\n\n\nStarted my first 9-5 in June 2019. I got bored — the 9-5 life was not for me at all. While I was working, I was learning Illustrator and I designed some planners and pasted them on my IG. On the planner, I illustrated the cover and the interior and it was really good. I got some clients from friends and family. I changed the Breathe Live Explore to an art page and I just started doing artwork. I started posting illustrations, read books, joined Skillshare, conducted research, got mood boards on Pinterest, started learning Illustrator from different people on YouTube. I just kept on posting.
\n\n\n\nWhat would you consider as your big break in your design journey?
\n\n\n\nI would say the big break came in 2020, during the Black Lives Matter campaign, I did an illustration of a girl with an afro with a #BlackLivesMatter lettering and shared it on Instagram. I was intentional about the kind of people that followed me and I made sure that my posts were reaching a global audience. There was an Instagram story by an artist with over one hundred thousand followers and in the caption, she asked people to tag black artists they know. I tagged myself just because.
That became a game-changer for me. She checked my page and shared a couple of artworks from my page and I got about two thousand followers from that alone. At that point, I was learning how to create patterns because I fell in love with surface design patterns for products and fabrics. At that time, I was not specific on styles and colors, I just kept sharing my posts. I knew that I would love to see my work on products that people use. People kept on asking me how they could buy my artwork and I didn’t have a defined style. I then got emails from brands on collaborations
My first commission was to design the cover of a journal cover. I joined a Facebook group for female entrepreneurs — there were hardly any Nigerians on there. I posted my work, and I got a lot of good reviews. From there, I got my first client — she liked my work and wanted me to work on a project with her
\n\n\n\nWhat are the different things you have tried your hands on?
\n\n\n\nSeeing that you have worked as a designer, business developer, and information analyst, how have you been able to balance all of these?
\n\n\n\nWhen I started, it was overwhelming. I needed to drop some things I was working on to focus on my art & illustrations. At the time, I didn’t expect so much attention. I had to be calm because I was in charge of everything. The good thing was that a few clients were requesting new works. My first client wanted to do high custom work for her products and that was the first big commission.
\n\n\n\nWhat were the other challenges you faced that time?
\n\n\n\nThe other challenge was working from home, there was no excuse for delivering on my work. I mean, you’re dealing with paying clients and you just have to deliver. I had to start working at night with clients based on the timezone.
\n\n\n\nHow did you deal with creative blocks during this time?
\n\n\n\nThere is always a creative block for every designer, it’s normal. I tried not to give myself excuses.
\n\n\n\nSelf-motivation helps and I signed up for different art memberships, creative clubs and subscriptions with like-minded creatives during the time. I shared my challenges, wins, issues and they were encouraging. I had an accountability partner, we met on Instagram and that helped me. Every Sunday, we would have a meeting on what we achieved the past week and discuss our plans for the new week. That helped. I was spending a lot of time on Pinterest because I could not go out to see other places for inspiration. Sometimes, I would go out of state to look for gardens and similar scenery for inspiration.
\n\n\n\nI did spontaneous travel and within those days, I would have worked on some content I could share with people. There was a lot of talking to myself positively, reading affirmations, and having confessions. I spent a lot of time doing research and learning different skills like typography, painting, hand lettering, and lots more.
\n\n\n\nHow was your social media growth? What was the peak of your growth?
\n\n\n\nIt wasn’t a one-day thing. When I shared an artwork, at times, I would get about 500-1000 likes and get like 100 new followers in a day. In the first week, I had about 3,000 to 4,000 new followers. This growth has increased my income, raised my visibility, and brought me clients that I never expected.
\n\n\n\nSo, what are the next steps for you?
\n\n\n\nI want to do more homeware, home decor and focus a lot on fabrics and apparel. Whatever I choose to do, art is involved. I might decide to start another brand or company but there is always going to be art involved.
\n\n\n\nThere is a lot of information you’re yet to find out about Oris and her love for art and design, check out her website right away.
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\n\n\n\nLet’s meet you.
\n\n\n\nMy name is Oseluonamen Irabor, I’m Nigerian. I like to think that I just enjoy dreaming. For now, I’m an Illustrator; that’s what I do to eat. And I’m currently doing everything I can do so I don’t die of poverty.
\n\n\n\nI studied Industrial Design at the Federal University of Technology Akure. I didn’t pick the course because I knew what it was actually; I chose it because it had a fancy name and I liked it. I majored in Textiles so I was in fashion for a while. I was a female fashion designer and illustrator. I left that fashion scene after a while because it started to feel like a job and I no longer saw a future in it so, I just quit and decided to try my hands on anything that interested me. I have dabbled into social media management, content writing, UX writing, and of recent, illustrating digitally.
\n\n\n\nWhy did you choose to specialize in Illustration?
\n\n\n\nI chose illustration because I was broke and this was the only monetizable skill I had at that time. When I was at a crossroads after quitting fashion and in between jobs, I needed to do something (that I had control over my outcome and I could also build expertise with time. Illustrations were it because they just came naturally to me. I already had a bit of experience from my days in Fashion so I just picked up books and resources to improve myself in that line.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s your design style?
\n\n\n\nWhat I connect with is stories, and I study a lot of editorial illustrations because editorial illustrators know how to tell stories and compress a lot of information into one flyer. I try to tell deep and meaningful stories in short illustrations.
\n\n\n\nI also try to have fun. This is tricky especially when dealing with clients because they have an idea of what they want. But I try to have fun by going to the left of what’s expected; deviating from what’s normal.
\n\n\n\nRecently, I’ve also been learning how to use textures and patterns in my work to differentiate myself from other flat illustrators. I try to differentiate myself because I see myself as an outsider.
\n\n\n\nWhy do you consider yourself an outsider?
\n\n\n\nGrowing up, I was good at school. I knew how to navigate through school and all that. I would get a lot of positive reinforcements about how good you are. You’d start to internalize those positive words and while it’s good for self-esteem, it’s not exactly how life pans out. So, the same thing happened to me after school. I imagined life working out well for me because I was good in school and all that. But then life doesn’t work that way. Life is amoral, life isn’t straight. So, I took a lot of L’s because I didn’t have all the tools that I needed to navigate life. And another thing is I’m slow at learning things that people learn very fast.
\n\n\n\nAll these things shape how I view myself when I’m learning things or working on projects with people. I have to consciously remind myself that I have to do double the work. And to be honest, I’m not complaining because it keeps me on my toes. So, these things give me a different perspective on life and growth.
\n\n\n\nI read a lot of Malcolm Gladwell growing up and one thing I learned reading him is that ‘there are no special people. Coming to terms with this reality influences how I move. I’m not moving with the mentality of some special person who has a lot of advantages. It’s just me and the grind, doing what’s necessary per time. All these factors combine with my self-view; as an Outsider.
\n\n\n\nHow do you gather inspiration before going on any project?
\n\n\n\nSince I started learning Product Design, I realized the importance of organization in doing anything. I try to stay as organized as I can because it helps my workflow better.
\n\n\n\nThen I consume a lot of information. I’m always on my headphones listening to so much and I subconsciously store all this info in like a data bank. So before starting any project I always go back to this bank and get this information. I always try to write down things; even when I get a brief from clients, I write down keywords from the brief and look for the synonyms of these words and their meaning.
\n\n\n\nThen I do the usuals; Pinterest, Behance, and so on, get images that revolve around that concept and use them to try and inspire what it is I need to do. It’s not always as straightforward as that but that’s the framework most times.
\n\n\n\nHas this process ever failed you? What steps did you take?
\n\n\n\nThe truth is that design for me is very vulnerable. It’s almost like you’re losing yourself in that work.
\n\n\n\nIf a client comes with a request to do something, and I haven’t explored that aspect of illustrating yet, I have to accept that vulnerability and be humble enough to accept that I’m limited, then read up or learn more about that aspect. Learning in itself is not fun, it’s not a fun thing to do. So all of these make the work much more complicated.
\n\n\n\nAlso, it depends on the complexity of the client’s work. Sometimes you’re faced with imposter syndrome. I deal with it by coming to terms with the fact that it’s all in my head.
\n\n\n\nBut honestly, when I remember that I have a deadline to turn in a client’s work, I’ll find my way around it. When you realize they can arrest you for missing out on the deadline or that you’ve been given down payment which you’ve spent out of, you’ll find your way around it
\n\n\n\nHow do you deal with imposter syndrome?
\n\n\n\nI don’t know if I deal with it, I just dance with it. Dealing with it means I’ve handled it or I’ve solved it, I took a drug to cure it. When it comes, I just tell it “Oh, you’re welcome. We have a deadline and we need to work. Do what you need to do and go.” I also listen to a lot of podcasts and interviews by creatives, musicians, comedians, all that. I draw inspiration from their experiences to move ahead. Because people have gone through life and have handled this thing, I draw parallels from their life to mine. I think eventually you need to deal with it rather than romanticize it. I mean, it’s always going to come so why do I need to spend energy romanticizing it?
\n\n\n\nWho are your biggest influences?
\n\n\n\nFor me, I’d pick people based on the things they do that I admire. One person I admire is Justin Irabor “Vunderkind”, maybe it’s because we have the same surname. I like him because regardless of all the things he has done, he doesn’t sound the way you’d expect — that vibe of wearing suits up and down, dropping advice like Dr. Phil, pontificating on everything. But Vunderkind is just different and his career trajectory is enough inspiration.
\n\n\n\nI also like Fuad a lot. Then Mudia Imasuen. I’m lucky because I get to see him every day. I’d also say Victor Fatanmi from FourthCanvas. Watching their growth is an inspiration for me. Other guys like and listen to are Andrew Schulz, a comedian. Tobe Nwigwe, Jordan Peterson, Bobby Lee, Nipsey Hussle, Russ , Charlamagne tha God. Then yes, I’d also say Niyi Okeowo. I don’t know what he does specifically, I just know he does so many things. But I like him because he comes off like a learner and a doer.
\n\n\n\nI can say I’m influenced by people who are still human despite the expectation to perform for an audience. People that are comfortable being walking contradictions are my type of people.
\n\n\n\nDo you see yourself doing anything apart from design? What would that be?
\n\n\n\nOf course. But I honestly don’t know what it will be at the moment. I just understand that life is fleeting and in a year, something else will resonate and be more interesting and I can find myself doing it. For example, I’m learning Product Design now because I saw Mudia in a meeting and I asked myself “Why I never start dey do this thing?”
\n\n\n\nAnother thing I’ll probably love to do would be stand-up comedy, at least at one point in my life. When I’m able to do anything because I’m comfortable enough, I’ll love to do stand-up comedy. I think I’m funny and I have a lot of funny things to say.
\n\n\n\nWhat three major pieces of advice will you give to an up-and-coming illustrator?
\n\n\n\nThere’s nothing special about you first and foremost. So forget about the razzle and dazzle, put in the work. Always focus on the work.
\n\n\n\nStop working for validation. Yes, you’d have people you learn from but you don’t have to wait for them to co-sign your work before you create. You grow by doing. So keep doing.
\n\n\n\nDifferentiate the clouds and the dirt; The clouds are future projections while the dirt is your current reality. You have to separate both and manage both well.
\n\n\n\nIf I could add a fourth one, I’d say reading helps a lot. Read a lot, figure out yourself, how your mind works, and learn about who you are. Be a student of yourself. I’m giving the fourth piece of advice because I’m that generous.
\n\n\n\nIf you’d love to know more about Oselu and probably connect with this talented illustrator, his Twitter page is your best plug. Check it out.
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\n\n\n\nMy name is Jephthah Aletan, I’m a minimalist because of my perception of life and everything around me. I’m a designer by choice and a trained dentist. I’m a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).
\n\n\n\nHow did you make the transition from Dentistry to design?
\n\n\n\nAfter I finished from OAU earlier in 2016, I stayed home for 1 year before finally getting a job. Then, I took a job with someone from Lagos who was paying me 50k a month. But I still kept looking for a house job. A friend of mine, Ire, kept getting all these amazing projects from Lagos. He was very instrumental in my choice of design. Eventually, I worked with The Sarz Academy, Ayo Sonaiya, and a couple of others.
\n\n\n\nIn 2017, I finally got a house job at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. For 6 months, we were not paid any salary, but I was balling. I would get home to design jobs waiting for me, so I was earning money. Eventually, I started to teach some of my guys how to design so they could earn money too.
\n\n\n\nI’m passionate about helping people and I saw a lot of problems that needed to be solved while I was doing the house job like hospital management systems, patient record-keeping, font choices in form, hospital labeling systems, and a couple of things that needed to be solved. I dropped a lot of suggestions but they wouldn’t budge, you know, because the thought pattern in the medical profession is hierarchical, straightforward, and undynamic.
\n\n\n\nAt that time, I didn’t even take design seriously. It was just a side gig. When I got to Lagos, I started getting design offers but I still wanted to remain in the medical line. I kept getting dental offers with ridiculous pay and on research, I realized it was the same experience across the board for my colleagues
\n\n\n\nI eventually worked with Boomplay as the brand designer, based on Ire’s recommendation and that was my very first major work. I spent only a few months at Boomplay but it was great. I worked across all channels; videos, ad ideas, printables, brand design guide, and others.
\n\n\n\nThe salary was way better than what I was being offered as a dentist. It might not be the biggest company but it was good. That was how the whole dental dream started dying.
\n\n\n\nSo, based on your experience, how do you see Dentistry as a career in Nigeria?
\n\n\n\nIt’s not so great. To be honest, it’s way more difficult. You’ll have to do the same thing you would as a medical student for 4-5 years of your life. You’ll also have to still combine that with your specialty, which is crazy and more hands-on because you’ll have to treat patients at the clinic. We had crazy requirements to fulfill and it was very expensive. Our materials were costly, the training was really expensive. Yet, the pay is nothing to write home about on top of that doctors’ welfare is terrible. Generally working in healthcare in Nigeria is a hassle, that’s why everybody is running abroad.
\n\n\n\nDid your medical career have any impact on your design approach?
\n\n\n\nI started falling in love with design because I realized I was simply doing the same thing I would have done as a doctor. People have challenges and they need solutions that are strategic and design-based. When patients come to you, you take their history; ask them questions like “when did it start? how did it get to this point? …and so on. You would have observed them the moment they walked in and maybe noticed a few things about them. Just like when someone who needs branding services comes to you, you check their website and you can make a diagnosis instantly. Then when you ask further questions, you can pick it apart and investigate to learn more. You research to find more answers and come up with solutions. So, that was basically what I was doing as a designer, and the medical experience I had kind of shaped the way I approached each problem.
\n\n\n\nWould you also say that being a doctor affected your brand as a designer?
\n\n\n\nYes, it did. First, I never feel comfortable calling myself a doctor, even while I was practicing. This is because, for me, people were attaching too many weird privileges to that position. I prefer being in the background to being seen everywhere. But transitioning to design shaped the way I thought about the problem, the way I approached problems, and the way people saw me.
\n\n\n\nFor example, I did a project with an artist, and the guy kept changing every draft I sent until he realized I am a doctor. He started listening more to me. So, that’s how people behave. Some even ask me, “how can you go from being a dentist to being a designer?” People could not understand it. I was also shy about it at first and I didn’t even tell my parents on time that I was designing instead of practicing. But Twitter was a safe place to share all that was on your mind.
\n\n\n\nOutside, it was crazy, but to my colleagues it was bold. To them, it was just weird that someone could just turn their back on a medical career. There were a lot of challenges. But then I saw other people who influenced me, I was encouraged.
\n\n\n\nWhen did your parents get to know that you were not on the medical line anymore?
\n\n\n\nOne day, my dad called me and he wanted to get a drug for a pain he had, I just told him, “Daddy, I don’t remember the name of the drug again.” He was angry, he said in Yoruba – “a whole doctor, what do you mean?” I replied to him, “I’m no longer practicing.” But I was at Wellahealth then, so I could lay claim to working in a health organization.
\n\n\n\nI told him last year. Although they knew that I struggled to get jobs as a dentist and they saw me designing at home, they just couldn’t reconcile that with being a dentist. To them, since I wasn’t calling them at home for money, they knew there was somewhere money was coming from.
\n\n\n\nMy dad still believes that if I leave Nigeria, I’d probably decide to practice one day. But I know that I’m never settling down in a hospital. But working at Wellahealth has reshaped my thoughts, in a way.
\n\n\n\nAs a brand manager in a health startup, how has the experience been?
\n\n\n\nI was the only one in my department. Being a startup in our early days, we had just gotten investments then. We wanted to deliver on our brand promise which wasn’t that well-drafted. So it was my duty as the brand manager to come up with systematic ways to apply design in a visually appealing way, think of a brand strategy for communication, and increase brand perception to be better.
\n\n\n\nI’m currently the head of design and also double as a product manager at Wella Health. The first thing about me is that I never run away from challenges. I had free templates to experiment with for ideas, to come up with content for pitch decks, to write commercial materials
\n\n\n\nWere you the first product designer at Wella health?
\n\n\n\nYes, I was, and I started joining communities to learn more about UI & UX design. I think what pushed me is that I’m a very fast learner, I learn in a few hours what would take other people weeks to learn and I’m not bragging. I also don’t run away from feedback, I never take criticism personally. Somehow everything I had learned started coming together.
\n\n\n\nI went from just designing to solving design challenges to being a brand manager who comes up with strategies to think around brand building, strategy and improve our brand perception. From there, I went to product management, I was just doing everything to develop products whenever it was pushed to me.
\n\n\n\nWellahealth is very fast-paced because we are always experimenting. I got lucky somehow because I grew very fast in a short period. The design community has also been amazing. Thanks to you (DearDesigner) for the positive influence, it’s been amazing. I’m being more of a designer than I used to be because people are showing up now.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s the status of Avoda Studio, your design agency?
\n\n\n\nAvoda is at its core a team of 5, but we sometimes collaborate with designers on a contract basis. We’re trying to be as lean as possible so that we can save money and grow bigger. I
\n\n\n\nAvoda is very young but we’re growing and we’re trying. We’ve come to a boiling point now. For instance, I have a job I’m currently working on. We’re not just designing for them, we’re ideating their user experience. We think about the go-to-market strategy for their products, we think about a couple of other things that a product manager will do. We also do the design and we get something to come up with their product. At Avoda, we give an integrated brand solution rather than just a one-off solution.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s your advice for anyone who wants to start an agency?
\n\n\n\nThe first piece of advice is to be sure that’s what you want. Be sure that you have clarity of purpose and you know it’s something you want to do. Another thing is that you can’t know everything, I’m always looking for opportunities to chat with people and they don’t have to be designers. From project management and trying to manage expectations to solving disputes and challenges. It’s crazy the amount of work you’ll have to do. At some point, you’ll even stop designing when you run an agency and you’ll start managing people. Simply continue to learn, start seeing yourself not just as a designer, but as an entrepreneur.
\n\n\n\nAs a design agency, you have to find ways to be able to solve problems because now you can’t brand just your company, you also need to brand your products. That’s what we do at our agency, we make sure that whatever work we do for you, you leave satisfied. I also read a report that said the top companies you see today are the ones that take design seriously. Nigerian companies that took design seriously are Cowrywise and Paystack and that kind of added to their success.
\n\n\n\nInteresting. As a brand manager at Wellahealth, what can you advise someone who’s starting as a brand designer to take note of?
\n\n\n\nThe key to becoming a good brand manager is having a very good understanding of what branding is in itself and how solving those brand challenges meet the objectives of the business. You need to be able to think strategically, leverage data, and have a solid eye for design. Those things are important because you want to build and grow a brand, you want to manage and sustain the brand. When you’re building a brand, you have to think of what the regular components of the brand are: the name of the brand and its visual identity, the brand’s mission and vision, the brand touchpoints, and how to ensure that people are connecting emotionally with the brand. If your brand promise doesn’t match your delivery, then you’ve failed as a brand manager.
\n\n\n\nYou have to think of your marketing communications and what people will feel when they come in contact with your products. You also have to come up with product launch ideas. It’s just like running a company, but only focusing on the brand and not other aspects like finance and also about having a portfolio that people are constantly feeling good about using.
\n\n\n\nWhat other things do you do apart from design?
\n\n\n\nI listen to music a lot. I try to sketch as well, even though they are terrible and I never show them to anyone. I’ve also tried writing a couple of times but I stopped. These days, I just plug in my AirPods and listen to music. I also do a lot of meditation too because this ‘Buhari-nomy’ is dealing with me. I’m a couch potato, I don’t go out, I work from home. If I’m invited to an outing, I’ll probably think about it for a week before I make any decision. Also, I watch football.
\n\n\n\nJephthah is available across social media platforms, he shares his thoughts mostly on Twitter. Reach him here.
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\n\n\n\nLet’s meet you. Who is Kaz?
\n\n\n\nI’m a doer and I like to do things with my hands. That’s primarily the motivator for why I design and pretty much everything I do. Asides that, I’m a bit of an adventurer. As much as I don’t like to go out, I make my trips outside worth it. So if I’m going outside, I’m going on a hike, to a trip outside of town or someplace I’ve never been before just to get a new experience. I’m also a bit of a loner and I won’t say that’s just my character. I enjoy solitude a lot, it gives you the freedom and time to pursue a lot of things. When you’re constantly in social settings and just trying to navigate what comes in, it’s hard to focus. So I became a self-imposed loner to make things easier for myself.
\n\n\n\nI’m also a pretty awesome illustrator, I’ve been told I need to say that every time I talk about who I am.
\n\n\n\nOh, that’s an interesting profile. Does being a loner have an impact on your creativity?
\n\n\n\nYeah, I sharpen my design skills by looking at a lot of other people’s designs. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest or Instagram, on Behance just absorbing a lot of other people’s creativity, getting inspired by that so that kind of offsets being alone. Also, as I said earlier about being an adventurer, I go out just for this specific purpose, to experience the world in ways that’ll inspire. I guess the right way to put it is that I’m selective about the way I engage with the world.
\n\n\n\nWould you consider a job that requires physical resumption to the office at the moment?
\n\n\n\nI don’t think I would. Before Paystack, I was doing a lot of “show up at work” jobs but they’re unsustainable in the long term. Accra’s traffic is pretty bad. So the idea of going to an office and back every day, considering the way commuting and housing are set up here, you end up being so burnt out that you can’t do the work itself. It’s just a lot of negative energy and I don’t think that’s a good way of doing things.
\n\n\n\nAs a Multidisciplinary Designer, what are your major skill sets?
\n\n\n\nPrimarily, I am a graphic designer, and almost all of my experience in design has been focused on graphics. Many people specialize in brand design, product design and so on but I’ve not done that kind of specialization, I’ve been a bit of a generalist. Graphic design best describes the full scope of what I do. I’ve handled brands and products. For instance, I handled a project for MTN a couple of years ago, which was one of my first product-related projects.
\n\n\n\nI didn’t start motion design to specialize in it but as it stands, I think I can call myself a motion graphics artist. While working at Paystack, I’ve done a bunch of them. The major ones I handled were the Storefront launch and the Product Links launch videos. It was a team effort but when you talk about who sat behind after-effects and set the keyframes, that’s me. I would also add that I’ve been dabbling in 3D design recently, although it’s not particularly prominent in my portfolio. I have a lot of other things I dabble in that I wouldn’t call myself a specialist in. I edit sound, I edit videos too.
\n\n\n\nIf you had another chance to be a designer, would you still choose to be a multidisciplinary designer?
\n\n\n\nI would love to be in another country, like Canada or Netherlands, where specializing is sustainable. Then, I’ll focus entirely on illustration. But if I can’t start my journey outside of Ghana or Nigeria, then I’ll still choose to be multidisciplinary. This is because a lot of businesses here like to hire one guy who does everything. It’s impractical and painful to be that person, but ultimately, that’s the market and you kind of have to do what you have to do to survive. It’s not the best way to be a designer and as much as I’ve come to enjoy it, I don’t think we should push people to want to be multidisciplinary designers because it’s a lot.
\n\n\n\nWhat were your fears when you joined Paystack?
\n\n\n\nBefore Paystack, I worked solely with design agencies and I freelanced a lot on my own. So, I was ready for the technical side of things. What I had no experience with, was corporate responsibilities. Everywhere that I worked, I was treated like a Maverick who could get anything done. So, I had a tendency to get overwhelmed with work and didn’t have the time to participate in other aspects. The strategists and the copywriters come up with everything, we would have a quick conversation about what needed to be done. We’d brainstorm. I’d share my mood boards. We would quickly figure it out and then, I’d execute. That was the way things worked.
\n\n\n\nMy biggest fear was being a design leader at Paystack. Even though I had help, I was scared of being a design leader without any design leadership knowledge. Knowing how to coordinate the projects, foster collaboration, document your work and all of that was new to me. I had to learn it very quickly. My entire first year at Paystack, I freaked out the whole time.
\n\n\n\nThe great thing about our team is that the people are very supportive. Seyi and Dami of Da Design Studio have been very great design mentors, giving me detailed feedback on my work, which I’ve never had before. There were a lot of people who held my hands and helped me get to where I needed to get to. Now, I feel a lot more confident in my role there.
\n\n\n\nHow was the interview and onboarding process like at Paystack? What advice would you give to designers willing to join companies like Paystack?
\n\n\n\nHonestly, my interview was unconventional. It was in 2 stages. I bumped into Emmanuel, the Head of Growth at Paystack randomly in a cafe. We started some random conversation and I ended up showing him some of my work. He shared that with the team. At that time, Paystack was looking for a designer. They looked at my portfolio and set up an interview a couple of days later. For that interview, I had to present my favourite project that I had done in that year. So, I put together a quick presentation on one of my best projects, the tools I used, and my thought process. I tried to be very detailed about it. The interview wasn’t about questions like “What do you do?” “Who are you?” and so on. It was very casual and there was the presentation part which was the main event. I had to talk about the project from top to bottom, I think I did well because obviously, I got the job.
\n\n\n\nSince you work majorly on brand design at Paystack, what can you say are the skills a brand designer needs to have?
\n\n\n\nYou need to understand systems. From the logo to the smallest expression of a brand, there’s a system in place. There’s a way you use the shapes in that brand to create new extensions. There’s a way you think of how to style illustrations to be on brand and also be as expressive as it needs to be. In graphic design, creativity needs to take the back seat most of the time to practicality. You need to be able to think of this as a whole and not as an opportunity to flex your skills. That’s something that took me a while to catch on to because when you’re working on a brand long-term, it’s less about your finesse and more about creating a valuable output; something that is coherently part of the brand and also meets all the requirements of creative work. So, one of the key ways to be a successful brand designer is to learn how to build, extend it, how to squash and stretch a brand to whatever needs the business has.
\n\n\n\nIn terms of specific skills, just be curious. Honestly, there are no specific skills. If you’re a graphic designer, you should obviously know how to do graphics. You should have a little knowledge of motion graphics, video, have a broad interest in different fields and a deep knowledge in your field. For specific skills, understand colours, shapes, typography. No one can be perfect with that, we’re all works in progress. The main thing is getting the system, being curious and adventurous about how you approach the work and you will be fine.
\n\n\n\nSince we’re learning together, we kind of hold each other’s hands. So, I’d add that another skill is open communication. You need to learn how to not be ashamed of the current stage of the work you’re doing. Share it as it is, the team will come together and figure it out. It’s not a one-man show. So, communicate clearly and be part of the whole system.
\n\n\n\nWhat influences you to do all the other things that you do?
\n\n\n\nThe existence of creativity itself is an influence. You go on the internet and you look at someone’s work, design legends and individual creators doing their own thing. Every day, someone finds a new way of using a tool to make something spectacular and mind-blowing. It’s just constant. Human beings are amazing. The simple fact that I can get up, pick a tool and make something out of it, that’s my ultimate influence. When it comes to individuals who have influenced me, there are just so many and naming some will be a disservice to others. I do have my earlier influences, those people became my foundation. I tend not to name them because there are too many people.
\n\n\n\nI love Jean Giraud, also known as Moebius. He makes these amazing fictional works with completely made-up life forms. He, in my opinion, is the ultimate expression of how far you can push your imagination. Sometimes you look at the work and it doesn’t look like anything based on the things we’ve seen in our environment. It’s like you had to change the way you think of physical objects just to see what he’s trying to get at. That was one of the defining pieces of art for me; his entire portfolio was like a very defining art system for me. But apart from that, I get a lot of inspiration from the outdoors.
\n\n\n\nIf you were not a designer, what would you be doing?
\n\n\n\nI would be a professional gamer if I could get away with it. Or I would be an IT guy fiddling with computers and all. That was my gateway to design. Every time I played with computers, I would ask myself “Who designed this? Who came up with the idea of how this thing existed? How does the drive spin and create this? How does the DVD have this information inside?” I’d just spend so long staring at it while asking these questions. That eventually led me to graphics design and all the other aspects of it. So, I would probably be an IT person
\n\n\n\nWhere do you picture yourself in the next 5 to 10 years?
\n\n\n\nThis question is hard, honestly. When I started my first job straight out of school, I had all these great plans. It’s not like I don’t have them anymore, I’m just happy to go with the flow now. I know that in 5 years, I would have honed my skills to a whole other level, I would have learned so many new things and become so many different things. At home, I want to be comfortable. I’m slowly getting there and in 5 years, I expect that I’ll be very comfortable. The funny thing about creatives is some people think that the struggle of being a creator is what brings it out of you. You know, expecting that a recent heartbreak will bring the best music out of you or hunger to bring out your favourite rapper’s hottest bars but I don’t think that influences creativity.
\n\n\n\nComfort is very underrated for artists. We deserve to be in spaces where you wake up in the morning and your air conditioner is running. Your main focus for that day is what you’re making next and how you’re making it. You’re not worried so much about your bills and whatnot. Comfort is very essential for the best forms of creativity because the best forms of creativity take a lot of time and effort. The people working for Pixar and Disney, creating trailers and all, I don’t think they would have had the energy the whole year if they weren’t comfortable. I want to be comfortable, I can be on that level too.
\n\n\n\nIf there’s a new trend, something new you want to learn in any aspect of design, how do you go about it?
\n\n\n\nTutorial videos. They’re the best things that ever happened to me. I used to go on YouTube and watch, but now I can buy courses. I can pick specific courses on specific topics and I get exactly what I’m looking for. So, I tend to watch the videos and leave the knowledge floating around in my head for a while. But I can never really work off that knowledge. I have to follow along, watch it and do mine on the side. Also, I learn by doing, by being hands-on. If I see some other designers work on something and I like it, if I think that it is a skill I’d like to have, I look at it and try to break it down. I might not necessarily end up with the same process that the designer used, but I can figure out the tools I can use to achieve that and I go for it.
\n\n\n\nIt’s a daily process for me. Every day you work, you encounter new things. Every new illustration is a new way to do something, I learn something new every day. But in terms of picking up skills, I try to create time for it. So when I’m on leave or holidays, when I know that I’d be at home and no one else will be around or coming over, I can go off the grid and learn something. Recently, I picked up Webflow. It’s very slow going but I like that thing
\n\n\n\nIs there anything else you’d like to tell us?
\n\n\n\nI have to say, this has been a great conversation. I’ve done most of the talking but I don’t get this a lot. I appreciate that I got the opportunity to do this. Thank you so much.
Jeffery Kaz Aninkorah has done a lot of amazing works in the design industry, he truly embodies what a multidisciplinary designer means. Check out his works here.
Catherine, Let’s meet you.
\n\n\n\nMy name is Catherine and I’m a tech recruiter. We call it “talent specialist” at Toptal but it’s pretty much tech recruiting.
\n\n\n\nI hold a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. I always knew I wanted to be in HR but I also found it very boring and monotonous because it was the same thing they were doing every day and I was largely interested in tech. However, tech was not something I wanted to do, I was just very curious about it.
\n\n\n\nI started my career originally at Ernst and Young, one of the big four firms. I was in the people advisory service and that was my first exposure to industry full-time work. My previous experiences had been in NYSC and internship roles. From there, I started to learn how to interface with clients, and how to help organizations with recruitment. I worked with enterprise organisations primarily in Nigeria and Africa where I helped recruit for C-Level executives and middle-level roles.
\n\n\n\nDuring the lockdown period in 2020, I got bored with my job and started learning to code just out of the blue, I think this was in July 2020. I was really into it for like a year. I liked CSS and I spent almost 100% of my time on CSS. I started Javascript but I didn’t like it, so I went back to CSS. I eventually realized that coding is not a skill I would enjoy as a full-time job because I’m someone who prefers interactions with people.
\n\n\n\nSo I did a lot of research and people recommended developer advocate roles but I thought that I still needed to be a developer. Someone told me I could venture into technical writing, But I’m not the best at expressing my words in writing.
\n\n\n\nOne day, I stumbled on tech recruiting, read it well and found that I had something most tech recruiters do not have which was a very good knowledge of coding and knew very intricate details that only people who are involved in the technical side of the ecosystem would know, and I also have HR experience.
\n\n\n\nSo I started applying for tech recruiting jobs. I got so many rejections because I didn’t have any tech recruiting experience. It was just that I had tech knowledge and recruiting experience but no experience combined them.
\n\n\n\nToptal was the only company that gave me a chance to fly. When I finished the process, my manager told me they were sold on my ability to converse in technical terms with my superior manager, as he was also a developer before he became the VP of talent. They felt that I would be able to converse with candidates more and get more details from them. So I joined Toptal in July 2021.
\n\n\n\nDo you work with Toptal or do you freelance for Toptal?
\n\n\n\nI work with Toptal, I’m part of the core team. The only freelance work we do is for technical talents. If you’re not a developer, a designer, or someone in tech generally, you can’t exactly freelance at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nToptal is your first full-time role, that’s huge! What part of your background influenced or prepared you for this role?
\n\n\n\nI just think I’m a great people person. I like to interface and speak with people and I know how to make people feel comfortable. I chose human resources because that’s the only job I know that fits this trait. My aunt suggested human resources to me because she felt it would be a great fit for my personality and interests.
\n\n\n\nWhat other talents do you work with apart from designers and developers?
\n\n\n\nWe have five verticals at Toptal; developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts. As a talent specialist, you do not focus on one vertical, If one client says they want a product manager today and tomorrow another client needs a developer, you’ll have to work on everything.
\n\n\n\nDoing that has helped me broaden my expertise because I have had to work on all five verticals.
\n\n\n\nIn detail, what does your work entail from start to finish?
\n\n\n\nFirst, LinkedIn is pretty much my home. We have clients we are assigned to, especially people we call enterprise clients and these clients are huge like Shopify, Duolingo, or HP. These clients may be in dire need of people and because they are larger companies, we tend to prioritize them.
\n\n\n\nWe set up calls with the client and their team where we ask a lot of questions about the skills, experience level and any other specifics they need. Sometimes, they have peculiar conditions, I simply ensure to get these specifics.
\n\n\n\nThen next, I make my research on LinkedIn and any other platform I can, to find a general number of people that fit the needed requirements and that are open to work.
\n\n\n\nSo you start with people who are open to work first?
\n\n\n\nYes, I do. This is because most times, these are the people most receptive to your messages. On LinkedIn, you can make yourself “open to work” for only people using recruiter profiles. It makes it easy for me to get information on people that are only open to work.
\n\n\n\nThen I start to reach out to people, I just formulate a very catchy message that sells Toptal and that also sells the opportunity.
\n\n\n\nSo, we simply reach out to candidates to tell them a brief overview of the project and then allow them to schedule a call with me to hear more about it. During the call, I may mention the client’s name, although we do have some clients that ask us not to mention their names until the screening process is over due to confidentiality issues.
\n\n\n\nMost of my day is spent just having calls and sourcing for talents. Every day, I have dedicated 3-4 hours solely to Linkedin, sourcing for people. I do have a strong tech community around me, so I sometimes tell my community about these opportunities and they’re always open to help.
\n\n\n\nInteresting. So, does it mean that everybody goes through the Toptal screening process?
\n\n\n\nYes. You can’t work with Toptal if you don’t pass that process. We even have people who have passed Toptal’s hackathons, and still, come back and do the screening process. Just because you passed the hackathon doesn’t mean you’re proficient enough. So, you still have to participate in the screening process.
\n\n\n\nYou’ve worked with developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts. What’s the percentage of designers you cover?
\n\n\n\nI work hand in hand with developers and designers, it’s difficult to choose which one I cover most. I rarely ever work with project managers and product managers, I think I’ve done them two or three times. But developers and designers are possibly above 15 times.
\n\n\n\nSo you mentioned you’re a senior recruiter at Toptal. How did you get to be a senior in less than a year?
\n\n\n\nThe day my manager told me ‘Oh, we’ve promoted you,’ I was shocked.
\n\n\n\nI’m Nigerian and I came from an environment where I had to work extremely hard for my work to be noticed.. So my default setting has always been to work overtime. So I did the same at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nI was always going over and beyond to surpass my KPIs. I started with 3 rolesand we have to bring in a certain amount of talents every month. From my first month, I brought in double the amount e of talents who completed the screening process and joined Toptal. I spoke to probably more than 10 people per day.
\n\n\n\nI was the only core team full-time employed Nigerian living in Nigeria at that time. So I was just scared that they’d taken a chance on me and I didn’t want to disappoint. Every month, I consistently surpassed my KPIs. I was also always helping with other development projects at the same time.
\n\n\n\nWithin 6 months, I looked like I had been there for 1 year because my presence was noticed. So I got promoted from Talent Specialist 1 to Senior Talent Specialist, skipping the Talent Specialists 2 and 3 positions.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think about Design in Nigeria currently?
\n\n\n\nBased on my experience interacting with designers all over the world, I think Nigerian designers are incredible! But they can be a bit more intentional about the way they document their processes. People in US, Europe or even Indians are so meticulous in their documentation, that every single thing you need is detailed out, there’s barely any question that isn’t already answered in the case study. In Toptal’s process, a portfolio review is the first major stage—your research, case study, and even details on why you chose a particular approach.
\n\n\n\nBut some Nigerian designers don’t do that, they just put the design there and put one summary and one tiny case study which doesn’t explain every thought process. I think Nigerians need to put more effort into articulating their design process and showing what steps they took and why they took those steps.
\n\n\n\nThe Nigerian designers that have gotten into Toptal are nothing short of amazing. I look at their portfolios and I’m in awe because it’s just so good. And they can testify to the many questions they are being asked about their past projects
\n\n\n\nWhy does Toptal ask for a PDF Document?
\n\n\n\nI don’t think it’s 100% important because I’ve had experiences where people don’t have PDFs but they have a detailed portfolio. I have had many non – nigerian designers send me portfolios in both pdf and an actual website.
\n\n\n\nI’m not so sure why it’s that important but I think it doesn’t hurt to have it and take these extra steps to be very meticulous in your process.
\n\n\n\nSo If you apply for a job on Toptal, what determines who is called in for an interview?
\n\n\n\nThe first thing we look out for is that you have at least a minimum of 2 years of experience in digital design and a minimum number of professional digital design projects in your portfolio.
\n\n\n\nWe factor in freelance projects as well. This is why I mentioned the importance of your design process because if you put a design that looks like it was for a professional company, but it was something you did to enhance your skills, nobody will know. We just want to see a certain number of digital design projects, the way you manoeuvre your case study, your user research, and your thought process behind your designs.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing we also look out for is English competency. You need to be able to communicate in English.
\n\n\n\nWe also look out for designers with extensive experience with cross-platform products. If you have a product that was used for the web, for android, iOS, etc. It shows versatility in your portfolio which goes a long way for you.
\n\n\n\nSo, those are the things we look out for before we start assessing your actual skill, and what you know. Each designer type has specific skills that they require.
\n\n\n\nSo, can you differentiate each role based on Toptal standards? Tell us what each person does.
\n\n\n\nI’ll start with UX designers. A UX designer could be someone who has a deep understanding of both user and business goals and they should be able to design to solve these business goals. So a UX designer is more research-driven.. This is why when you’re presenting your portfolio or pdf and you say you are a UX designer, they need to see a lot of data-led decisions. As a UX designer, your job must include a lot of research to understand why a project needs to look the way it looks.
\n\n\n\nFor UI designers, we understand that some people do both UX and UI. It’s fine if you do both, as long as you can show that you can do both. But we have people who specifically focus on just UI. They use the software and the data that the UX designer has derived to solve problems visually.. They are more focused on doing the actual design than the UX designer, that’s why they have similar skills.
\n\n\n\nFor example, a UI designer also has wireframing and prototyping skills, just like the UX designer. However, an extra part is that you should have mockups and an actual responsive design because you have used software and technology to implement the data that the UX designer brought in to build something for us to see. An additional thing is that if you have HTML, CSS, and Javascript experience as a UI designer, it’s a plus for you because you need to be more software and technology-driven than a UX designer.
\n\n\n\nThen, there’s the visual designer. They work closely with the UX and UI designers to translate insights and design into finished artwork. This is where some branding comes in. This may fall under the brand designer role because their skills are often wider and broader. They are potentially working on branding, print design, and mobile design. Everything here includes brand design, but you have to at least have some technical knowledge.
\n\n\n\nFor example, if you are working fully remote, you can’t exactly be doing only brand design all the time. Those brand design jobs come hand-in-hand with UX or UI design jobs. Some skills that visual designers have are product digital branding, design, finished artworks, Adobe creative skills, sketching, and also HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This is where most designers from Nigeria end up having issues because we need you to have some additional skills so you can easily adapt to any other design roles if necessary.
\n\n\n\nWe also have Interaction designers. These also work closely with the other three I mentioned above. They design specific points of interaction, using an already designed system. So if a UI designer has already designed an entire website but there’s one part of the design that involves the user interacting, this person will focus on just that aspect of the design to ensure that users are having the best interaction experience. Some key skills for this are interaction design and interactive prototyping.
\n\n\n\nThe last one is the motion designer. These are the people that build games, 2D and 3D animation, app interfaces and interactions. Motion designers come in for clients that like to build websites that look like a movie. I think it’s an in demand skill currently. Most of them usually work with marketing, photography and filmmaking organizations because that is where their expertise is needed more.
\n\n\n\nSo that’s the design tree that we have at Toptal.
\n\n\n\nThanks for that detailed answer. What are the recurring pitfalls for designers during the recruitment process at Toptal?
\n\n\n\nFirst, it’s communication skills.
\n\n\n\nThe second major pitfall is the lack of enough information on their portfolio. You’re supposed to include a short description of your project, your direct contributions, and things that made you choose that approach. Not using this information shows you didn’t do any research for that product.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing is to also understand how to estimate project completion time and deliverables. It’s important to show in your portfolio the initial estimation period and if you surpassed the estimation period and your reasons.
\n\n\n\nSo, how do you reject people as a Recruiter?
\n\n\n\nIt’s one of the hardest things about the job. Usually, for those who might have stopped at a technical interview stage, I try to get feedback from their interviewers so I can highlight the things that you did well so you can know it wasn’t all bad and the low points so that you can do better for the next interview.
\n\n\n\nIf it’s someone that the call pretty much ended with me, I would try to tell them the things they felt were not a good fit for them. Most times, It’s usually their communication style. I usually don’t reject people during my calls a lot because if I reject you, It means your spoken English was probably so bad that I couldn’t comprehend what you were saying. I would tell you I rejected you because of your communication skills, and I would even suggest site links that you can go to better improve your English and tell you to feel free to apply in three months.
\n\n\n\nIt’s best to tell candidates so they don’t apply again without any change. You want them to come back with some improvement and while it may cost them at that point, It’s good to tell them.
\n\n\n\nIt’s the same thing for technical skills if we feel like your technical skills are not up to par. We can give you a month or more and tell you these are specific skills we think you can improve on before proceeding with your application.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you have to say about the ‘technical on the call’ test vs Design ‘Take-home’ test?
\n\n\n\nI’m of the school of thought that sometimes a small test project is important. At Toptal, everyone must complete a sample design project at the final stage. It’s usually a random case study. This is just proof to show that you can do what you are being hired for. Toptal frowns at copied projects—it will get the candidate banned permanently.
\n\n\n\nI think it only becomes very foul when the test project is based on the company’s product and it’s not paid for.
\n\n\n\nHow do you think people should take rejections from jobs?
\n\n\n\nI just feel like some people need to be more open-minded with rejection. Firstly, thank them for the experience and then you may ask for them to be more specific as to the reasons why you weren’t a great fit for the role, so it would better help you prepare yourself for the future. I even suggest calls, if you want to know more details please tell me and I will schedule a call and tell you more details on what I think you need to do better.
\n\n\n\nI won’t lie, even I still get a bit hurt when I get rejected but I know it’s not something I can avoid in my career.
\n\n\n\nWhat is next for you and what is your dream role?
\n\n\n\nI want to diversify my industry experience. I’ve also not abandoned coding. I’ve also been delving toward Web3 lately, I’ve been doing some freelancing and contract roles with some Web3 startups. I think I want to work at a startup at some point in my career, probably to help them start their recruitment and manage their recruiting team.
\n\n\n\nWith Toptal, we have so many processes. It’s so marvelling to see that everything has a system, process, and platform. So working in a company where I get to contribute this knowledge I’ve gathered at Toptal in terms of how to formulate processes, procedures, and systems and to put it to work in a growing startup is my next career goal, which is in about 3-4 years from now.
\n\n\n\nSo, what do you do for fun?
\n\n\n\nI like to eat. Food is very important in my life. I like to be around my friends, and also travel when I can.
\n\n\n\nAre you leaving Nigeria any time soon?
\n\n\n\nThere is a chance that I may leave the country soon, but for now, I’m just trying to gather experience to become an “OG” in the tech recruiting space before thinking of relocation. But then again, if the opportunity comes to relocate, I’ll definitely take it. Asides from the insecurity happening in the country, I’m quite comfortable. If I feel like I want to move, I may decide to move to Ghana because I have family there.
\n\n\n\nFinally, how do you think people can get into your profession?
\n\n\n\nI won’t lie, I’ve been very lucky in my career. I’ve had rejections and tough times but overall, I’ve been very lucky in terms of the companies I’ve worked with. I’ve worked with big companies that have pushed my career.
\n\n\n\nAlso, with recruiting, you can’t learn the skill without actually practising it. It’s not like coding that you can’t just practice on your own. So it can be hard to get in because you need to have some experience, and you need to get in to get that experience.
\n\n\n\nHowever, for anyone who has recruiting experience and is looking to go into tech recruiting, just follow the same path. Try to get some tech knowledge. It can be in design or coding or product management. It’ll set you miles ahead.
\n\n\n\nIf you don’t have any recruiting experience, I know it may be hard but just get a little recruiting experience with internships or volunteer roles. Without the experience, it’s going to be hard to convince someone you can do the job.
\n\n\n\nIt’s important to note that this interview was documented while Catherine worked at Toptal, however she switched roles and now works with the team at Booking.com.
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\n\n\n\nHow was your journey into product management?
\n\n\n\nInterestingly, I studied Adult Education and Political Science at the University of Benin, but I’ve never used that degree for anything in my life. After NYSC, I decided to try out my hands in media. I have always had a flair for media. At that time, social media was becoming widely popular so there were a lot of opportunities in that sector; social media management, digital marketing, all of that. I got an internship with a solopreneur at that time to try and grow myself in the field of social media management. In addition to that, I also did a lot of administrative duties, customer support, and all that.
\n\n\n\nAfter the internship, I started designing websites. I would use WordPress at the time to design blogs and such. I would spend a lot of time on projects trying to figure out what to do because clients didn’t exactly know what they wanted. All they knew was that they wanted websites. When I noticed that, I’d say the product strategy side of things fell into place.
\n\n\n\nOn joining Cowrywise, I was a peculiar staff, at least according to my boss. I guess it was hinged on the fact that I was making the jump from design to customer support. But I was able to paint the picture of helping customers figure out what they want while using that information to feed the user research team and help in product development. So even though I came in as a product specialist, I had the opportunity of working closely with designers and engineers.
\n\n\n\nHmm. Did you decide to transition to product management personally? Or your decision was influenced by external factors?
\n\n\n\nWhen I joined Cowrywise, there were conversations on my career trajectory and how I could evolve in my career. There were talks on product management as a pivotal role in my career. That influenced my decision to sit in with the engineering and design teams to observe the process of building a product. A couple of months later, my boss reached out to discuss the possibilities of a full-time product management role in September 2020.
\n\n\n\nFor now, I don’t think I’ll leave product management because it’s a sweet spot for me. I’m more of a generalist than a specialist and product management allows that side of me to flourish. What would probably change would be the way I practice product management.
\n\n\n\nSo, how would you define the role of a product manager?
\n\n\n\nI’d say a product manager is someone responsible for facilitating the entire process of trying to solve a problem.
\n\n\n\nWe have engineers, designers, CEOs, customers, everyone trying to solve a problem. If you have everyone working in their own space to solve that problem, you’d probably have chaos. So, you have a product manager whose job is to first define the problem that needs to be solved; the middle person that is responsible for facilitating communication, defining visions, goals and also help individual units work in alignment.
\n\n\n\nShare your collaboration process with us.
\n\n\n\nThe first thing I try to do is to ensure I understand what needs to be done, receiving feedback from users to see if the problem we’re trying to solve is even a problem at all. Then, I take all that information, put it in a brief, a document, or a sketch to properly expatiate the problem. After doing that, I’d start the conversation with the rest of the team.
\n\n\n\nAs a product manager, what do you think designers can do to make the working relationship better?
\n\n\n\nBased on my freelancing experience as a product designer, one of the things designers can do is to communicate what has been done and to try to see things from the other person’s perspective. Because you’ve worked on a design project for a while, you’ve probably gotten attached to it or used to it. However, for the interpreter, there are still some grey areas.
\n\n\n\nCommunicating with these people is something designers need to do better. It has improved in recent times especially concerning design documentation and guidance generally.
\n\n\n\nWhat are your thoughts on designers “designing to kill”?
\n\n\n\nI don’t think I have personally encountered that though but I’d say it’s a two-way situation. On one hand, the developers’ scope is probably limited, so they see the concept as way beyond their skill level. That then becomes a question of upping one’s skill. On the other hand, if the designers are coming up with concepts that are near impossible to execute, then it’s a question of bringing the developers into the creative process. That way, there will be active discussions on what’s possible and what’s not.
\n\n\n\nWould you say your experience in design, tech, social media management, and so on gave you an edge in product management?
\n\n\n\nI think everything has contributed to the person I am today and the way I work.
\n\n\n\nFor example, one of the things I learned from my first internship was communication. I carried this trait to Cowrywise when dealing with copy and even things as minute as the articles we put out. I try to pay attention to the tiniest words and this was something I picked from working with Stephanie Obi. The truth is that everything eventually comes into play somehow.
\n\n\n\nAs a product manager, how do you manage competition from similar products with similar features?
\n\n\n\nOne major thing that we try to focus on is if we’re solving problems—customer problems. At the end of the day, even if it seems like we’re doing the same thing, there’s still a unique twist. It won’t make sense to change an idea because your competition launched it earlier when you know that the idea is solving your customers’ problems. You might only go back and make twists to the idea that you’re launching.
\n\n\n\nAlso, I think if you get too hung up on your competition, you’d lose focus. So while it’s good to be aware of the competition, it’s more important to be aware of your customers’ problems or the problems people are having in that space you’re playing in.
\n\n\n\nHow do you motivate your team to excellence?
\n\n\n\nI have the mindset that my team members don’t report to me, we’re simply working together to make sure things turn out well. So my main role is to make sure that they know what they need to do, that they have the ability to do what is needed, and they do it well. I constantly check in to ensure that they’re on the right track and to find out if they need any help in performing the needed tasks. I do this because it doesn’t make sense to just say, “Oh, we have a project” and then everyone just goes off to work and I come back later to ask “How far?”. Constant check-in is key. It’s important to just make sure that everything that is needed is available to them.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s your view on the tech scene in Nigeria?
\n\n\n\nI’d say we’re still growing. Yes, we’ve done a lot but there’s still a lot left to do. There are a lot of things that will evolve as we go on, things like how we apply the technology and team structures. The difference the tech scene is making in the Nigerian society, like how Paystack is helping businesses make payments and process financial transactions, or how Cowrywise is promoting active savings and Investment culture, are things that make me happy about the tech space in Nigeria.
\n\n\n\nAs a woman in tech, how have you been able to influence other women looking to break into tech?
\n\n\n\nOne major thing I do is explain to women that tech is beyond coding and that the possibilities are endless. I explain that there’s room for everyone. As long as you’re passionate about problem-solving, there’s no limit to the possibilities in the tech scene. By playing my part in explaining what’s available in tech, I believe I can drive enough women to make headway into the tech space.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you do for fun?
\n\n\n\nSleep, Netflix and chill and read. Reading is dependent on what type of books; I enjoy children’s books and fiction generally. I also enjoy cartoons a lot.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI’m Oluwadare Oluwaseyi, a front-end developer. I’m currently working towards increasing my skill level as a creative developer and working on seamless design experiences, animations, 3D designs; all that stuff.
\n\n\n\nOh, interesting. How did you transition into software development?
\n\n\n\nI started my journey full-time in this field immediately after my NYSC camp. Initially, I was a member of the ‘Developer Students’ Club’ at Lead City University—which was where I schooled. I attended classes organized by the club, but for the most part, I was lost. You know the way people always talk about “going into this coding thing to see how it goes”? That was me at the time. I attended a few classes and I relapsed.
\n\n\n\nI picked it up seriously in 2020, during NYSC. I worked as an Accountant in a company for 2 months and it was extremely boring—no offense to Accountants but I just didn’t think it was fascinating enough. I decided to take Tech seriously in early 2020. I wrote a thread on Twitter to help track my accountability.
\n\n\n\nAt the time, I co-owned a fashion brand; Pith Africa, and a friend of mine, Bethel designed an application for us. I reached out to her because I noticed that she was building really amazing stuff and that was what I needed as a drive. So, I started creating a road map for myself. I already knew a little bit of CSS and I created a Trello board where I input everything I do or I’m working on. I also liked the idea of having mentors, but I felt like I would be disturbing them, so I picked it up on my own.
\n\n\n\nIt was just Bethel working with you right? Or was it just you alone?
\n\n\n\nBethel is a designer; we were like a two-man team then. Initially, I reached out to her but she was busy with school and couldn’t respond. I had to text her again and ask if I could take a stab at implementing one of her designs. Before then, I had already done some random things with CSS. She gave me feedback on the first design I built, and I got better. After some time, we did the second design.
\n\n\n\nI don’t like writing code—I know it is surprising that a developer says he doesn’t like writing code. I do more learning than actual code writing. I think it is something that has really helped me. I took the whole of 2020 to focus on my craft and understand how some of these things work, understand how layout CSS works, which is the most important thing. I did a couple of projects with Bethel and after some time, she introduced me to prototyping and animation. I like to think that Bethel has contributed the most to my growth, I know it feels weird because she’s not a developer, but she is just that person for me. That is basically how I started off and how I came into tech.
\n\n\n\nYou finished with a first-class in Accounting and you are also a Chartered Accountant. What was people’s reaction when you made the decision to drop accounting for Software Development?
\n\n\n\nThe reaction was weird. My case was like “I like numbers, so let me do accounting”, and I was doing great at it, so people were surprised when I made the switch.
\n\n\n\nI didn’t even make the switch to Software in school. It was when I was done with the whole degree chasing that I decided. It surprised my parents, to be honest, especially my dad. He was already talking about his friends he would talk to concerning getting a job for me; he already set up some possible PPAs for me. It was just a lot. Generally, it took a while for them to get used to it, but I had their support 100%. My dad doesn’t fully get the concept of remote work yet though.
\n\n\n\nSo you work from home?
\n\n\n\nYes, I do. I think he is going to get it as time goes on though.
\n\n\n\nYou learned Software Development very fast. What influenced this speedy growth?
\n\n\n\nI do things to prove a point to myself. So a quick story; ICAN has diet programs, and every diet, they give awards to the top 3 people in Nigeria. I am not one for awards. I joke a lot in class because classes are usually boring, and this particular lecturer asked if I was sure I’d pass the diet exam because I seemed like an unserious person. I decided to prove a point. That was the diet where I was one of the top 3 people in the country.
\n\n\n\nOne thing that really helps me is my planning, I don’t do a lot, but I make sure I stick with my plan. This is something I learned as an Accounting student, the importance of planning and following due process. I guess that was the discipline that helped me in Software Development. I didn’t even know I was going to be a Software Dev, because I went through different aspects in Tech and it felt like I would be a better fit in software development.
\n\n\n\nTalk about your engagements with Paystack, Perxels, ColorsNG, and basically the companies you have worked with so far.
\n\n\n\nDuring the EndSARS protest, I reached out to Bethel to design a website for Feminist Coalition and also find a female developer to build it, but she said she wouldn’t do that if I wouldn’t be building the web, so I agreed. I went out to protest, but I also wanted to make my voice heard in other ways. So, Bethel designed the web, and I built it. It looked boring, so I added some animations to it. I sent it back to Bethel, she posted it—and I think it was from there that someone from Paystack, Tomi Odunsanya, reached out to me on WhatsApp, told me there was a project coming up and he would like us to work together on it. I still see myself as a Junior Developer; I am not where I really want to be yet, so it surprised me how that happened.
\n\n\n\nHow about Perxels?
\n\n\n\nFor Perxels, Bethel was on their team then and they needed a Web Developer to build parts of their website. I was happy to take it. We worked on it and it came out well.
\n\n\n\nTalk about your work with ColorsNG and your latest obsession with plugins.
\n\n\n\nAanu does really good prototypes. In February 2020, He designed a calendar prototype in XD and posted it on Twitter, I recreated it in React. I built it and I quoted it with what I built. The idea was “I’m not a designer, so why not replicate it with code”. He liked it, he followed me and we had some interaction; I didn’t really know him personally.
\n\n\n\nIn January, he said he wanted to build something for ColorsNG and I didn’t think twice before accepting. One of the things I really wanted to do this year was to build open-source tools for designers, it was a plan for me this year. I decided to build a plugin for designers, open-source tools to make their lives easier. So, when he reached out to me for the website, I knew it was an opportunity to help designers and I jumped on it.
\n\n\n\nSo, what is the motivation behind creating resources for tech communities, and should we expect more of that?
\n\n\n\nYes, definitely, expect more of that.
\n\n\n\nI try as much as possible to help. I want the foot of my impact to be evident in the Nigerian Tech space. I have a folder in my visual studio code titled “open source”. One thing that pushes me is when I take one step, it is a motivating factor. When I created the folder, I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I did some research, I know there are a lot of open-source tools for developers but I was thinking that designers are often left out and it’s not the most ideal situation to be honest. If you’re going to make people’s lives easier, let’s just make everybody’s lives easier.
\n\n\n\nI feel the goal for me is to really make an impact in the community — focusing on the work and focusing on creating the best tool Designers can use. So, you should definitely expect more.
\n\n\n\nDescribe your best designer to developer handover process.
\n\n\n\nIt definitely has to be Paystack. They do really aesthetically pleasing stuff. For handing-over, there’s always a sort of mini documentation, there are some basic design systems, then they have pages where they have different comments.
\n\n\n\nBasically, it is like a worksheet detailing how the idea for a particular layout or page came to be, that way you understand the thought process behind the design. I think my best handover was with Paystack.
\n\n\n\nWhat do you think about the designers learning how to code debate? What’s your thought about that?
\n\n\n\nIt’s the reverse for me. I think FE developers NEED to learn a little bit of design. People attack me for this, but thinking about it from a rational point, design is definitely a part of development.
\n\n\n\nDevelopment is not just about building hand-offs, and not caring about the user. As a Developer, if you’re really going to care about the user, you need to understand design and some basic principles of UX, I feel it’s very important.
\n\n\n\nSome developers speak about Designers coming up with Designs that are impossible to implement. What’s your take on that as well?
\n\n\n\nMy take on that is that anything is possible. I mean that has been shown countless times.
\n\n\n\nIf you go to some sites, you’ll see implementations that will scare you, but at some point, you just have to run towards it. I feel like some FE developers tend to run away from hard designs. Some designs are really complex to get through but you just have to try to look into it and tackle it.
\n\n\n\nWhat’s your Stack like? What are the languages that you write in?
\n\n\n\nI don’t like Angular, that’s a fact. However, I am always comfortable diving into any other stack; I don’t like confining myself within a particular stack. If I join a company, and they say that I have to learn, say VUE, I am fine with it. I practically learned VUE because someone reached out to me for a project that was due in January and I started learning towards the end of December. I enjoy learning and exploring and I try much as possible to explore and not stick to one thing. I learn as programmatically as I need to.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhat are the things you think designers should do better and the ones they should stop totally?
\n\n\n\nSo for starters, stop showing your workings in the main design, that’s just horrible. It’s like submitting your rough workings rather than submitting the answer script itself. Nobody is going to mark that. Designers do it a lot. There should be some professionalism on the part of the Designer.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing is stacking PGs next to each other based on the flow—if they can’t be stacked against each other, then you should probably try to prototype it. Let me see what leads to where and what you are trying to achieve.
\n\n\n\nIndustry-standard companies make use of developer documentation—the basic component of their code, and they try to componentize everything they use. This is something more Designers can and should incorporate in their workflow.
\n\n\n\nThen, design systems, please use them. It is to aid consistency. I feel consistency is important because if you want to achieve almost pixel-perfect designs, the designer has to be consistent to an extent. Another thing that I feel is important is to leave comments on your design files; it really helps to understand your designs. Mudia does it a lot. Leaving comments on the designs helps me understand the designer’s thought process and what they are trying to achieve.
\n\n\n\nAnother thing that might help is if there is a very complex layout, I want to see how it looks on mobile. As much as I can, I will try to implement it, but I am not a mind reader. Let me see what you are trying to do.
\n\n\n\nThe no-code zone is emerging fast. What are your thoughts on that?
\n\n\n\nNo code is amazing, I mean if a client needs a landing page, or they need something with very little functionality, bro, why am I stressing myself writing the code??
\n\n\n\nIt’s just like designers and Canva too, why are you threatened by people being able to design basic stuff themselves? Honestly, just focus on doing better work and moving up the ladder. Leave that ground for higher places, please.
\n\n\n\nSeyi is constantly building amazing products. You can find out more about this brilliant Developer here
\n\n\n\nThis interview was conducted in March 2021.
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"DearDesigner","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/DearDesigner_Icon-01-300x300-3.png"},"authorLink":"https://deardesigner.xyz/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/437908eb76d8aa003dbbede533a13e6f/22b17/image2.webp","srcSet":"/static/437908eb76d8aa003dbbede533a13e6f/12849/image2.webp 500w,\n/static/437908eb76d8aa003dbbede533a13e6f/85e35/image2.webp 1000w,\n/static/437908eb76d8aa003dbbede533a13e6f/22b17/image2.webp 1999w","sizes":"(min-width: 1999px) 1999px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1999,"height":1500}}}}}}]}},{"name":"Portfolio","slug":"portfolio","posts":{"nodes":[{"uri":"/edu360/","title":"Designing Education Beyond Walls","slug":"edu360","date":"06 December, 2019","content":"\nBackground
\n\n\n\nIn 2018, Union Bank launched Edu360, a platform to drive much-needed reform within the Nigerian education sector. The anchor initiative of the Edu360 platform was an annual education fair created with the aim to:
\n\n\n\n· Facilitate critical engagement between key stakeholders in the sector across government, civil society, private sector and educational institutions
\n\n\n\n· Provide essential teacher training for public school teachers
\n\n\n\n· Expose students across all education cadres to experiential, STEM and creative learning
\n\n\n\nThe first edition drew over 3,000 attendees with over 200 teachers receiving free training from renowned consultants.
\n\n\n\nIn 2019, in line with the theme ‘Education Beyond Walls’, the bank focused on highlighting the various ways education occurs beyond the classroom walls, and how non-traditional education methods can play a vital part in solving some of the issues facing the sector today. Non-traditional education methods include e-learning, play-based learning, robotics etc.
\n\n\n\nBeyond this, the event also aimed at exploring non-traditional methods of teaching and learning being used today such as Youtube, creative arts programs, digital content and gaming.
\n\n\n\nChallenge
\n\n\n\nThe design team at Union Bank was given the task of coming up with visuals for branding the 2019 Edu360 event. The brief was to develop visuals that were colourful, dynamic and would ignite excitement and enhance the overall experience of the event.
\n\n\n\nMoodboard
\n\n\n\nSolution
\n\n\n\nUsing the five pillars of the event – (Imagine, Explore, Observe, Discover and Achieve) as a base, a 4 x 4 grid square pattern was developed.
\n\n\n\nThis consisted of primary elements, secondary elements and complementary shapes. The primary pattern was also further simplified to create supporting patterns which were all used to create a holistic visual experience for the event.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Applications
\n\n\n\nThe design team worked closely with internal project owners and external vendors in designing the invites, exclusive merchandise, communication materials, packaging, event materials, conference hall, exhibition hall, registration tags, outdoor branding and content materials for the digital screens.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pattern Animation
\n\n\n\nTo give more life to the approved pattern, each of the elements in the pattern was animated and brought together to create a whole new experience. Each of these animated elements was also used as a transition for video materials for the event and lastly used to create an exciting logo reveal.
\n\n\n\n![\"\"/](\"https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/reE3xNBS7D-IsVDTBxb7S-wnZ3wUxOMNKT_nBxcVUPod3eqikHVrIKYf0ZiuT7aRd-OVoql_tENMN7SMSldK1prBvec_W2VTYRi5i-zywzL7tL0raDkD5wyl0qi_gZsxxAne9ZhX\")
Credits
\n\n\n\nPattern Illustration & Animation
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDesigners
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDesign Lead
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEducation typically incites thoughts of boring lectures and tedious textbooks, so it’s refreshing that the art direction taken here embodies the essence of Edu360. The vibrant colours suggest that perhaps learning isn’t a somber affair. Purple, yellow and blue are just lively enough to grab and entertain your attention without being too busy on the eye. The icons subtly hint at academia, so that the core of the communication isn’t lost in the flair.
\n\n\n\nThe motion graphics were also a smart idea, adding more life to the already lively branding. My only gripe visually is the use of boxes for the patterns, squares are naturally confining and take away from the message of learning without limits. Overall the branding serves its purpose and would be appealing to the entire spectrum of its intended audience.
\n\n\n\n– Wayne Samuel, Spoken Word Artist. Copywriter, TBWA.
\n\n\n\nVery thrilling and soothing to look at. You can’t but love this piece. It’s cohesive and properly signifies a brilliant translation of the brief into reality. Beauty and function combined into one.
\n\n\n\n– Ayodele Adeleke, Product Designer, Versecom.
\n\n\n\nThis is a job well done. One of the signs of a serious brand is their attention to detail and consistency. I value the fact that the design team was allowed to work closely with vendors and project owners to see to the perfect execution of the creative expressions. It is one thing to come up with smart design solutions, and it is another thing to have the solutions applied accordingly on touchpoints—a leaf other bank brands need to borrow.
\n\n\n\n– Ayomide Ajayi, Strategy Lead, FourthCanvas.
\n\n\n\nI love the colors! I appreciate the painstaking effort that went into selecting the complementing color pallets; it gave the project all the life it needed.
\n\n\n\nEvery design execution must speak to 2 things at the very least; the problem statement/brief (exhaust the brief) and the target audience (attract and talk to them).
\n\n\n\nThis body of work spoke to the latter boldly than former. I expected more fluidity and futuristic design elements/expressions to align with the core of the brief ‘Education Beyond Walls’ to fully exhaust the brief.
\n\n\n\n–Tunde Ogunkunle, Architect & Art Director, Paga.
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\n\n\n\nThe challenge I had was presenting Benin art in a fun and contemporary way, something both the young and old could relate and interact with easily. I felt there needed to be a little shift from the usual ‘Benin Bronzes’ everyone was familiar with.
\n\n\n\nPlaying cards seemed to be one of those things that cut across different age groups (both young and old) and continents. For me, It was important for the deck to be educational as well as aesthetically appealing. It had to give the audience (both locals and foreigners who came in contact with the product) a bit of insight into the Benin art history.
\n\n\n\nI made a bit of research into certain aspects of Benin art history to have a clear idea of the significance of each iconography, which I would later reference in my project. I started gathering data for the project in 2015 and worked on the design (on and off) between 2015 – 2018.
\n\n\n\nAmongst other factors, the tuck case design is one of the most important aspects in the design of a deck of cards. It is one of those things that gets people interested in collecting or knowing more about a deck. So, aesthetics and memorability was a big design factor for me. I came up with several iterations for the Tuck case before settling with the final design.
\n\n\n\nWhen most people think of Benin art, An image that quickly comes to mind is the Festac ’77 mask – the Benin ancestral head. The final tuck case was modelled after a free-standing Uhumwelao (commemorative head) which serves the purpose of honouring one’s predecessor.
\n\n\n\nThe court cards feature various characters in day to day Benin Court life. ‘K’ represents the Oba (King), ‘Q’, the Iyoba (Queen mother) and ‘J’ represents the Iyase of Benin (General commander of the Benin army back in the old days).
\n\n\n\nThe Joker card recounts Benin’s victory over the Igala army and the Bird of prophecy in the 16th century. The Aces featured a couple of Iconographies seen in Benin art, each having its unique description.
\n\n\n\nThe pip cards had the numbers 2-10 translated to Benin language and written at the sides of each of the cards.
\n\n\n\nI believe the initial intent I had for creating the deck has been achieved through people (both old and young) learning a thing or two while having fun at the same time. It’s gotten a couple of positive reviews so far which is quite encouraging. The second edition, maybe.
\n\n\n\nThe final result is very awesome, the near realism kind of wants me to to get an ice-cream :), also the three-dimensional effect just makes your eyes more engaging cos it seems like there’s detail everywhere, beautiful stuff.
\n\n\n\n– Busayo Dawodu, Frontend Developer
\n\n\n\nFirst of all, the designer stayed true to his word by ensuring the fundamentals of Benin Culture remained the same and in similar fashion, he also didn’t change the dynamics of ‘regular’ playing cards. It was easy to relate even if I haven’t played the Bini cards before.Now, this is what he unknowingly achieved…Card games generally have benefits, from improving mental health to developing critical thinking skills. What this means is, I can teach my child Benin History yeah and as well get the benefits of what a regular card game will offer.We have been struggling with indigenous educational methods where we can teach globally required skills but ensure that our indigenous history remains a priority so that we don’t lose it. Several teaching methods can stem from this. Imagine taking the whole Chess game methodology and using Benin cultural elements (or any culture) to teach!
\n\n\n\n– Charles Njoku, Experience Designer
\n\n\n\nAs a design enthusiast; it felt very exciting to read through a design case study that focuses on an aspect of Nigerian culture such as this. The project is very refreshing I must say, in terms of how it infuses ancient Benin culture into playing cards. There are so many significant touchpoints in the design of the cards. From how I see it, it’s easy on the eyes yet very appealing. For something is meant to be handy and fun, the design is simple and pulls the desired attention to the beauty of the Benin culture.Reading through the process and following the mind of the designer was also very beautiful and it probably helped appreciate the whole project even better. Really wish this designer can take on more projects like this and extend to maybe Yoruba/Igbo/Hausa cultures and other representation of our nationality that can be infused into our education and social systems.The way the popular Benin images were represented was quite impressive even though they could come across as scary to some people.Another major pro from the design is the short explanation done. It added a good dose of functionality to the design. Reading through, I didn’t need to worry about ‘who’ or ‘what’ any of the arts on the cards represent. That factor gave a good representation to the culture itself, enlightening whosoever comes in contact with it so effortlessly. In love with it, Kudos!
\n\n\n\n– Babatunde Grandezo, Digital Projects and Comms Lead, Crenov8
\n\n\n\n\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Osaze Amadasun","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/osaze_amadasun.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.instagram.com/osaze_amadasun/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/2wBDABALDA4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVGC8aGi9jQjhCY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2P/wgARCAAUABQDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAGAABAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBAH/xAAWAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAL/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAdlkYmtKIKuFaRo//8QAHBABAAIBBQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQARAhITISIx/9oACAEBAAEFAtNldqY+E3Ai84Shn//EABYRAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIf/aAAgBAwEBPwEr/8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEQEUH/2gAIAQIBAT8BLRsf/8QAGhAAAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABARITFRgf/aAAgBAQAGPwIlUbktdMH/xAAdEAEAAgICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABABEhQWFxUYHB/9oACAEBAAE/IWh4NfIUwXbXUs3LuSs3hmbVBdsdyPUSpzDl4UCCh9T/2gAMAwEAAgADAAAAEOM//f/EABkRAQEAAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAESExUf/aAAgBAwEBPxA2WPEcZW//xAAZEQEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREhQWH/2gAIAQIBAT8QnE06NFP/xAAeEAEAAwABBQEAAAAAAAAAAAABABEhQVFhcZGh0f/aAAgBAQABPxBgCo0h18oZYLCVRrFWcHJk2LVA0WXvyG7qVKAfjKMa9rWTFRM6dhmTbRD0fsasJyGp/9k="},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/6caa24486f5be5fa8d14db73c8969d1d/67ded/cover.webp","srcSet":"/static/6caa24486f5be5fa8d14db73c8969d1d/22bfc/cover.webp 256w,\n/static/6caa24486f5be5fa8d14db73c8969d1d/d689f/cover.webp 512w,\n/static/6caa24486f5be5fa8d14db73c8969d1d/67ded/cover.webp 1024w","sizes":"(min-width: 1024px) 1024px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1024,"height":1024}}}}}},{"uri":"/pictures-of-our-future/","title":"Pictures of Our Future","slug":"pictures-of-our-future","date":"12 September, 2019","content":"\nBackground
\n\n\n\nI began thinking about how societies evolved, how New York became New York, how London became London, how societies derived their ranks in the world. Also how people came to view themselves..& how the world came to view them..what was started; what was the aim; what was seen as growth; how was this growth measured.
\n\n\n\nStatement of Problem
\n\n\n\nA society without singularity of vision is in motion but static at the same time. Most developing countries are led this way. There’s an abundance of resources, human and material, and when you view all the components holistically, you get a sense that there should be a direction to all of them.
\n\n\n\nIn Nigeria, this direction is missing.
\n\n\n\nSolution (Approach, Rationale & Execution)
\n\n\n\nWe thought about this ‘Mediation Designer’ for developing societies, who could extrapolate and suggest the futures of a society, and by using simple principles and tools of design, paint such futures that are easily understood by the lowest denominator of that society.
\n\n\n\nThis designer will help us change how we see ourselves with respect to our role in the world, and how the rest of the world sees us. This could help develop a singularity of vision – when society sees the same thing and speaks the same thing – resulting in more focused use of resources and more purposed international investments.
\n\n\n\nThe Mediation Designer would have a combined experience of social design and media technology.
\n\n\n\nI have a background in architecture, and used illustrations of significant federal agencies and departments in Nigeria, to visualize what our futures may look like. These agencies represent our civic systems and given their current public perceptions, we reasoned that a contemporary approach to how their buildings look like could point the heart of Nigerians in direction of where we should be headed.
\n\n\n\nResult
\n\n\n\nConversations.
\n\n\n\nWe were aiming at sparking conversations in the mind and between people. And this happened. People realised that “..we are our own answers”.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“We are our own answers”
Seun James Taiwo
A number of designers who followed the thread came to realise the power they had as mediators of our futures.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
We wanted Pictures of our Future to inspire designers and among others, to see design beyond consumer services, to also see design as civic service.
The project hasn’t ended it resumes in October of 2019 and we’re working to spread the impact throughout Nigeria.
This helps shape our minds in the the direction we should be looking at as a developing society in terms of architecture. Also this mind shaping will have have a ripple effect on all aspects of our economic activities and development. Once you have a clear direction, like he has been able to illustrate, then it’s easier to prepare the minds of Nigerians towards a new era in modern architecture and ultimately make it easier to achieve.
\n– Jomi Onanuga, Advertising & Brand Designer
I like that the writer brought an interesting and new perspective into how design should be viewed. It goes beyond aesthetics, tools and visuals. Design is problem solving, and starting this conversation which will give rise to other conversations should make designers incorporate problem solving into their designs, and use it as a tool for development.
\n– Ndubuisi Sopuruchi, Digital Artist & IllustratorI do not conceive of this as a nice design. It is simply a design that works.
The burden of its execution, it appears, is not in identifying a perception problem but in reinventing the dashboard from which we gather the indicators that frame the collective future.
\nThis is an exemplar of the designer as one whose ultimate interpretation of the future is a present, pressing vision.
\n– Adedapo Treasure, Writer & Filmmaker
Background
\n\n\n\nThe Silence We Eat is a Poetic Prose Anthology about women forced into silence and affected by some form of abuse or the other. In the words of the author, Shoola Oyindamola, “The Silence We Eat merges stories of places where women have walked, and their bodies have survived. It is about the trajectory of silence and how it leads us home, sometimes, to find our voices.” Oyindamola shows us that often, silence is deafening, detaching, choking, empty, and fading but then, it becomes finding, rediscovering, healing, and wholeness.
\n\n\n\nStatement of Problem
\n\n\n\nThe author initially didn’t have a very clear idea of what she wanted (the first problem). The second task was to create a book cover that best portrays the message the subject matter/content and at the same time, is attractive enough to draw people’s attention.
\n\n\n\nSolution (Approach, Rationale & Execution)
\n\n\n\nThe manuscript was requested for, to get a very broad idea of what the book was all about (since there was no clear request for how the book cover should look initially). I felt it was extremely important to understand the content of the book before going ahead to design or create the book cover, so I read the book.
\n\n\n\nAfter reading the book, I noted that it had a lot to do with silence and abuse. My inspiration was gotten from a part of the book that talked about a child being shown some form of abuse by her parents. It hit me because I personally believe that when a child is exposed to such scenarios, it lives with the child and affects the child’s life in ways they cannot control. So I decided to paint the scenario, which is of a girl hiding behind a curtain, being exposed to something that she finds traumatizing.
\n\n\n\nI started with a sketch. It’s very important that any design or artwork begins with a sketch. It’s simply the skeleton of an artwork/design and it serves as a foundation as well. Everything that was created revolved around it. Flat colours were then added to determine the skin tone of the girl, and where I’d like some highlights to be.
\n\n\n\nMild details were then added to the girl’s face. The area to be occupied by the curtain was also defined by a flat colour. I chose to work with cool colours (blue & green), for the curtain to create some form of balance in between warm and cool colours as skin tone of the girl covered warm colours already.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPatterns were added to the curtain to make it look like it was made with batik fabric and to add an extra touch of African culture to it. More details were also added to the girl’s face and hair to make for definition and to make her look for realistic.
\n\n\n\nMore details—shadows, mid tones & highlights—were added to define the folds in the curtain, especially where it’s been held on to.
\n\n\n\nIn this stage, a dark background to the illustration simply to create a mood for the painting and emphasize the concept of hiding and silence. After doing that, I noticed it had no life per se. Therefore, I decided to mentally picture a lantern by the side of her face, hence the strong warm light on the side of her face. This was done to make the illustration look lively, to set the ambiance which I originally wanted to portray and to simply demarcate the dark parts of her skin and hair from the dark background.
Result
Voila! The book cover was done. The font used was intended to be bold, yet mild/soft. I felt it was very necessary to create a relationship between the softness and innocence coming from the aura of the child and the font used. I used the colour white because I believe the title of the book is as important as the cover art. So it had to be very clear and legible. My client loved it & I’ve gotten tons of positive feedback from people about the cover art, so I’m going to count that as a win
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
The capacity for book covers to set the tone for the reader experience cannot be overemphasized. For a book that focuses on women forced into silence and affected by any form of abuse; the choice of a young innocent child, with a face that speaks but is silent—mouth covered and showing a hidden pain that is not being spoken about—readily invites us into learning more and wanting to hear those stories.
\nThe subtle use of light and African Batik was loaded with meaning for me—the roles our society plays in the silence and the possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel if these conversations spark the needed attention. It is an exciting effort.
\nOpe Olugbemiro, Communications Lead, FourthCanvas
\n\n
I really enjoyed the process and the result. I think it solved the problem, covered the essence of the book. I love how the cover was drawn directly from the book, that adds authenticity and originality not just to the cover but to the reader’s experience. The only question running through my mind is could more work have been done on the typography of the cover – emphasis on “Silence” either with a different font or colour. Just a random thought. Kudos to Morenike, amazing work.
\nOreoluwa Shonibare, Lead, WiiCreate
\n\n
A powerful story with such a well-executed illustration, on seeing the initial sketches, I already knew I had to be prepared for something beautiful at the end.
\nFeyisayo Sodimu, Product Designer, Cowrywise
\n\n
I don’t get this very often but occasionally I come across artworks that are so relatable, I could almost hear them speak to me as audibly as the sounds in my surroundings.
\nPhilosophically, from sketch to voila, this artwork is a story itself, the tales behind the beautiful African skin, the horror that her eyes reflect, the innocence of holding on to a curtain as though a shield to protect her when sighted, even a vital information that many may brush past: a dark background, it is perhaps the most haunting experience as an African child to come from a dark past, be in a dangerous present and still observe an uncertain future, which is what this artwork aptly captures.
\nArtistically, finding a subtle balance where the artwork and other elements on the same page synergize and command virtually equal attention is rare and this is why I doff my proverbial hat to this artist, from the soft, dark and ominous colors, the recognizable African patterns, even to the font choice and color which is both a sharp contrast from the background yet an integral part of the whole mood, this art piece is an easy A+ from me.
\nBetiku Adedoyin, Designer, Brand Consultant
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\n\n\n\nWhatsApp is one of the most widely used chat apps in the world (over 1 billion users).
\n\n\n\nFrom the simple thought of communicating in words, the market-leading app has added features like voice calling, video calling, group calls and recently, WhatsApp Business.
\n\n\n\nHowever, you would agree that the emojis and stickers make your chat life easier right? Like they have become a huge part of our text messages as they help us express how we feel in fewer characters and can make a dull chat lively. How much have these characters affected our communication on our square boxes—mobile,PC and other electronic gadgets?
\n\n\n\nStatement of Problem
\n\n\n\nAs the time and experiences we have on our devices continue to evolve, the characters that make the conversation more interesting are becoming more prominent in our day to day lives. Despite the number of options available to use, we still have very few that the Nigerian audience can relate with, in form, meaning and culture fit. Hence, we need to have tailor-made stickers for users in Nigeria to drive conversation in a more relatable and familiar manner.
\n\n\n\nMusa Stickers were created for smooth, interactive and culture-fit conversations on WhatsApp. Simply put, they help to simplify conversations with daily slangs and major excerpts from our local parlance.
\n\n\n\nSolution (Approach, Rationale, etc)
\n\n\n\nThe project started off with research to identify slangs people use on a daily basis. Musa stickers—a name chosen to help an average Nigerian relate with the project as a friend—is from over 30 keywords popular with the millennials in WhatsApp and daily conversations. Sketches were developed to represent the different expressions, especially the ones that could be expressed facially. Making an illustration that is bold, simple and easy to understand was at the heart of the creative process.
\n\n\n\nAfter sketching is the inking stage, where the lines are made neater and more refine
\n\n\n\nIt Colours were added to the refined illustration from the inking stage to add life and more meaning to the expressions. The colour scheme was chosen to relate with the target users and applied across the series.
\n\n\n\nThe final stage involved adding the keyword/slang the sticker that it represents to increase recognition and understanding. The choice of typeface is bold and informal, conveyed by a commanding colour.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nResult
\n\n\n\nThe set presently has 15 stickers released with the next batch to be released by next month and available for download. They were also printed for people to use as stickers on devices or other touchpoints. The stickers, since the first release, have received a huge admiration and positive feedback from users.
\n\n\n\nBrilliant!
\nThe stickers look great, I am excited that we are thinking about consciously selling Nigeria to the world. Great choice of colors too, although I wish his name had something that yelled ‘wazobia’ and his head is not so flat.
\nWe can definitely relate to these ones, the messages and expressions are crystal!
\nBibi-Anne Ayodeji, Project Manager & Nutritionist
\n\n
This is actually very interesting. The designer/Artist deserves an applause. It would make chatting interesting by creating more Nigerian characters though with our various slangs.. and bang the whole thing goes viral. Great job, all the same.
\nKC Ogundele, Lead Photographer, DearMedia
\n\n
I enjoyed the process- thorough and detailed. That in itself makes design beautiful.
\nAlso, personalizing conversions is a great tool that improve the experience when messaging and this solutions helps with that. More interestingly, it is Nigerian which is much more relatable that the abstract cartoon stickers.
\nI love it.
\nTolu Abiodun, Product Designer, Kudi
\nDo I love it? Yes, absolutely! The illustrations were beautiful and clean, they were funny too. I particularly enjoyed the “LEE MA O” sticker
\nThe only reservation I may have is the character itself. For some of the slangs, “Musa” might not be the best person to portray them. Because it is Nigerian Lingua, slangs like “Gbe Body E”, “Gbese”, “Iffa hear”, “You say?” and so many more do not seem totally portrayed with the Musa character. Probably because, for me, the average Nigerian Musa doesn’t use these words.
\nA diverse set of characters could have been better. Maybe 3 characters, “Musa”, “Deji” and “Ono”, each appropriately representing their respective slangs. But the illustrations are spot on!
\nPraise Philemon, Partner, Neptunn
\nBackground
\n\n\n\nFrom the existing brand concept centred on upholding excellence in the design community, Feathers has further evolved into a much more elaborate identity now centred on opportunities. We discovered a whole world of opportunities out there, and we are now laser-focused on helping people fly towards them. Feather by feather you grow your wings, spread‘em, take a bold leap and fly towards the enormous opportunity awaiting you.
\n\n\n\nOur new obsession is Opportunity. Opportunities. It’s all we see, feel, hear, gossip about and fly towards. The openness of these opportunities is what we now choose to care about.
\n\n\n\nAlong with our newly found focus on opportunities, we are also embracing a new attitude of openness. Bring these together and you find yourself in an infinite world of open opportunities.
We now require a brand system to efficiently communicate this new set of values to our audience.
Statement of Problem
\n\n\n\nThe key task is to develop a system that is fun, exciting and visually stimulating to our new focus audience while still keeping things professional.
With these, our design team created a system that is easily replicable and own-able by our several scales across our several locations.
Solution (Approach, Rationale, etc)
\n\n\n\nEmbracing the new — The System
\n\n\n\nOur brand system captures the essence of our new philosophy by morphing the core of our progressive past into clear cut representations of the emerging future through our logo, composition, typography, colour, motion, tone, photography, illustration and pattern.
\n\n\n\nTHE LOGO
\n\n\n\nOUR LOGO is a fusion of two key concepts, stability and change. The square representing stability and the circle representing change (the infinite world). The resulting shape (squaricle) gives a fine balance between the two.
\n\n\n\nOur logo communicates our openness to change and a continued effort to achieve stability. The curves also depict the strong bond of unity in our community.
\n\n\n\nThe feather inset in our logo has been re-imaged to be iconic and contagious, emphasizing a perfect smile, the satisfaction you get from experiencing a world of open opportunities.
\n\n\n\nLogo in use
\n\n\n\nAt every point of contact, we want our logo to be emphatic and endearing.
\n\n\n\nGoing beyond
\n\n\n\nOur logo isn’t just confined to a plane surface, it transcends to the 3-Dimensional world, as the world embraces virtual and augmented reality.
\n\n\n\n3D environment
\n\n\n\nIn the 3D environment, our logo plays a key role in harnessing surrounding materials to re-enforce the identity in the mind of our audience. From everyday office materials to fun objects, we explore the use of the new shape in tech materials, smart devices and gadgets.
\n\n\n\nComposition
\n\n\n\nOur composition is flexible and easy to replicate across several of our mediums and platforms. It plays on our unique shape to show openness to opportunities. We decided to play on the Fibonacci and the rule of thirds to give balance and visual hierarchy to the most important information for ease of consumption.
\n\n\n\nTypography
\n\n\n\nOur typography is simple, spacious, and readable. Its anatomy is in sync with our logo structure. Round edges and slightly bulged vertices.
\n\n\n\nColour
\n\n\n\nOur colour is vibrant and stimulating. It expresses our openness to opportunities.
\n\n\n\nMotion — “Zoom! Morph!! Fly!!!”
\n\n\n\nOur motion works on basic animation principles to help create cohesion and interest in the key information by organizing the sequence and timeline. The transitions play on our key essence. “Open opportunities”. So it’s a zoom in to our logo shape or a remove to the shape of the screen.
\n\n\n\nTone of voice — “*clears throat”
\n\n\n\nFriendly, less of Jargon, engaging and professional.
\n\n\n\nPhotography — “say cheese!!!”
\n\n\n\nOur photography directions aim to show our community and our creative works from several of our members across several locations. It aims to engage and spur excitement in the audience. So, should capture passion and vibe.
\n\n\n\nIllustration
\n\n\n\nOur illustrations are expressive, reinforcing our brand elements in creatively engaging ways. The artistic expression in outlines is used to denote openness and transparency, it’s our new embrace.
\n\n\n\nPattern — watch out for these
\n\n\n\nOur pattern is composed of our logo element in a fun and subtle way to bring excitement to plane surfaces. Our pattern aims to harness our brand elements in several materials.
\n\n\n\nResult
\n\n\n\nOur Pattern Expression
\n\n\n\nSince this re-brand we have done some brand usage of our logo in a creative and such that is conceptual to the various event and celebration of memorable days including: Workers Day, Mothers Day, Celebration of the Ramadan in the feathers way showing how flexible the new re-brand is.
\n\n\n\nWhat to look out for…
\n\n\n\nOver the coming months, the new direction will roll out across our brand expressions, including the website, new software applications, in prints and in our physical spaces and we do hope that every interaction with our brand offers the incredible opportunity to build a relationship and fortify our position as a force that can successfully drive you towards the immense career and life-changing opportunities that have been opened up to you.
\n\n\n\nCheers!!!
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUniqueness
\n\n\n\n*The “smile” idea in a logo looks very cliché. I think the feather from the previous logo would have made a unique identity because it reinforces the brand name (feathers) and still passes for a smiley face.
\n\n\n\nAppropriateness
\n\n\n\n*The combination mark works perfectly well and allows for flexible use.
\n\n\n\n*The colour/ shape/ typography have very defined characters compare to the previous identity and serves as strong brand assets.
\n\n\n\nSimplicity
\n\n\n\n*The simplicity of this identity makes it easy to remember.
\n\n\n\n*When scaled down, the logo is still recognizable.
\n\n\n\nApplication
\n\n\n\nThe extensive application of the identity was very thoughtful and intelligent.
\n\n\n\n– Sojii Oyemomi, Founder, Episod X
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI think Feathers is a great rebranding project,
\n\n\n\nI like the fact that the company was so clear on their new direction and the rebranding actually was spot on, all the way. I can see a lot of professionalism in there as well.
\n\n\n\nOverall, I will give this a 85%.
\n\n\n\n– Oluwamayowa Oshidero, Managing Partner, Tinkling D
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI love the concept behind the logo design, It was quite impressive; the creativity, the simplicity, the color blends are absolutely astonishing. I love the thought and ingenuity Incorporated into the design. I also love that the logo looks like a feather and a smiley face. That’s really epic, I literally smiled when I saw it. Plus it looks good on anything, be it a cup, shirt, anything.
\n\n\n\nIn one word, the design, pattern, font, everything is simply classy. I commend the designers and everyone who worked on the project. It’s simply brilliant.
\n\n\n\nCheers
\n\n\n\nSoetan Oluyemisi, Physiotherapist
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis looks more of a smile that a feather.
\n\n\n\nThe thing with words that mean something when creating a visual identity is that it’s nearly impossible to convince people that that word means something else.
\n\n\n\nI would think the design team should have found a way to integrate the feather into this smile.
\n\n\n\nOverall I think this is a lovely execution and interpretation it’s also very simple and has a story behind it. Outstanding work from the Feathers Design team.
\n\n\n\nOsaretin Avbuluimen, Managing Partner, Jonathan Cole
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Feathers Creative Studio","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/feathersng.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.instagram.com/feathersng/"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/png;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/59ec81aca893b71a69744987cb7d8039/67855/feathers-logo-on-mockup.webp","srcSet":"/static/59ec81aca893b71a69744987cb7d8039/bfc62/feathers-logo-on-mockup.webp 350w,\n/static/59ec81aca893b71a69744987cb7d8039/74bac/feathers-logo-on-mockup.webp 700w,\n/static/59ec81aca893b71a69744987cb7d8039/67855/feathers-logo-on-mockup.webp 1400w","sizes":"(min-width: 1400px) 1400px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1400,"height":933}}}}}},{"uri":"/creative-candy-garden-illustration/","title":"Creative Candy Garden Illustration","slug":"creative-candy-garden-illustration","date":"24 May, 2019","content":"\nBackground
\n\n\n\nCreative Candy Garden illustration is a 30-minute project-based video tutorial that teaches the foundation of colour, light and shadow using Adobe Illustrator (AI). The target audience is designers with essential knowledge of AI, willing to take on advanced challenges to improve their knowledge and skill with the use of AI.
\n\n\n\nStatement of Problem
\n\n\n\nThe task was to create a colourful candy garden with exciting colours that can be used to teach the concept of colour, light and shadow using certain tools and features in AI.
\n\n\n\nSolution (Approach, Rationale, etc)
\n\n\n\nThe project started by researching on types of candies after which some sketches of different types of candies to represent a garden were created. After several sketch attempts paying attention to composition ideas with proper use of space, a refined sketch was created.
\n\n\n\nUsing the sketch as a guide, the line art was created and organised into separate layers.
\n\n\n\nSubsequently, the base colours for each of the elements were created. In this section, the concepts of colour harmony, colour measurement and colour luminance were explored and explained.
\n\n\n\nFinally, lights and shadows were added, shifting hues, and experimenting with their values and saturation level to create the illusion of three dimension on a two-dimensional surface.
\n\n\n\nResult
\n\n\n\nAt the moment, seven students are currently taking the course. Although, there hasn’t been a deliberate effort of developing marketing strategies to promote and create awareness.
\n\n\n\nThe project tutorial can be checked here: https://skl.sh/2UZ0bMr
\n\n\n\nWith this link, you can get two free month premium subscription which can be used to take the tutorial and any other tutorial on the platform
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nReviews
\n\n\n\nThe final illustration reminds of the Candy Crush game. The environment is quite inviting. I could almost imagine myself in it. The use of colour is quite impressive. A great blend of warm and cool colours. The shadows hit at appropriate areas. Accentuating the depth of the whole illustration. The most impressive part of the whole illustration will be the dripping candy depicting the Sun. It’s quite the eye candy.
\n\n\n\nOverall, I think the process explained in the tutorial should help a lot of illustrators in this area. Great work. I liked the tutorial introductory video on Skillshare too. Well done.
\n\n\n\nSheyi Owolabi, Co-Founder, Dream Theatre
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nColour, light and shadow are fundamental concepts of design that every designer should know. This project’s concept and approach using video tutorial is good as the combination of visuals and hearing provide a better learning atmosphere.
\n\n\n\nThe execution is quite detailed and clear, however the use of more realistic images and animals will further show what is possible and create more complex colour shades to learn.
\n\n\n\nFiyin Adebayo, Software Engineer, Andela
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArt is life and creativity is best delivered in brevity and simplicity, that is what the Candy Garden illustration portrays.
\n\n\n\nA pristine potpourri of captivating colors laid over a relatable background, this project unravels the beauty of arts, of nature and the serenity embedded therein.
\n\n\n\nThe concept of light and shadow, a contrasting reflection was well depicted, and the radiant rays the picture radiated is a light to every gaze that beholds it. In a world full of Loom and gloom, this is a project worth giving a room to bloom.
\n\n\n\nEmmanuel Faith, Writer, Poet and Author of “Chronicles of An Intern”
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI think this solved the background problem of creating a garden with exciting colors. The colors used are definitely exciting and harmonious.
\n\n\n\nDebby Bashorun, Fullstack Designer
\n","extraPostDetails":{"author":"Kajopelaye-Ola Abodunde Taiwo","authorImage":{"mediaItemUrl":"https://cms.deardesigner.xyz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Kajopelaye-Ola.jpeg"},"authorLink":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/damilola-kajopelaye-ola-b025a174"},"featuredImage":{"node":{"localFile":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","placeholder":{"fallback":"data:image/jpeg;base64,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"},"images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/6d0a14d604d21f429c5cbe24ae169463/c512e/Creative-Candy-Illustration-flat-colors.webp","srcSet":"/static/6d0a14d604d21f429c5cbe24ae169463/3a3a2/Creative-Candy-Illustration-flat-colors.webp 480w,\n/static/6d0a14d604d21f429c5cbe24ae169463/bde8a/Creative-Candy-Illustration-flat-colors.webp 960w,\n/static/6d0a14d604d21f429c5cbe24ae169463/c512e/Creative-Candy-Illustration-flat-colors.webp 1920w","sizes":"(min-width: 1920px) 1920px, 100vw"},"sources":[]},"width":1920,"height":1080}}}}}}]}}]}}}![\"\"](\"/static/59196f0ac687175be9ee8ff2650a2901/85b06/image.png)
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