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In context: Graphic Design Talk series

Intro.

Graphic design isn’t new in Nigeria, at all. In fact, Lagos is a running exhibition of the art*, but I’ve often wondered why it hasn’t gotten as much traction as other forms of design and creative professions. In Nigeria, we’ve recently had a lot of literary festivals, music talent shows, architecture competitions but never for graphic design.

It’s one of those things you don’t notice until someone tells you. Well, maybe I was just really oblivious but yes, I can categorically tell you that graphic design is here, there is a Nigerian style. It’s loud and colourful and boisterous just like us, and just like us, it always has a lot to say.

When I first started designing, I didn’t consider it a style, or rather I didn’t consider it a style worth noting -this is an elitist mindset. The same one that is present in modern Nigerian Architecture, the same one that made some of us think that Nigerian music wasn’t cool in the 2010s but that’s an article for another day.

Over time, with my interaction with people more knowledgeable than me and after the lenses of elitism were removed, I began to identify the various bits that make up what I believe counts as the Nigerian graphic design, but I never really thought to put any of it in words or even do my own research on its origins, impacts and possible evolution. Of course apart from the occasional pin during design exploration or an eye-catching album cover.

Side A

So when I found out about the In context: Graphic Design talk series, I was pretty excited — first because Seyi Olusanya and Osi-one Itegboje were going to be panelists, then, I found out about the first panel with the legendary Lemi Ghariokwu.

If you don’t know who he is, Lemi Ghariokwu designed almost 30 of Fela’s record covers, more recently, working with Falz on the cover of his album, Moral Instruction. In total, he has created over 400 covers so far. He was joined by Rotimi Soboyejo and Segun Olude, all design OGs with decades of experience.

The time that they had spent in their craft and the changes they’ve had to pass through in that period is a huge source of inspiration, hearing them speak about their reception to computers, how tedious printing was back then, and how hard they had to work to get design to have as much value as it does now really put things in perspective.

The conversation between these men was more like a reinforcement of a lot of things I already knew. Rotimi Soboyejo and Segun Olude were both trained designers — they went to university to study design — something I didn’t know was possible until recently.

Like many of us, Lemi is self-taught and developed a love for design by appreciating and replicating what he saw around him. At a time when Computer-aided design didn’t exist, designers were forced to explore a wider variety of media and design methods.

One thing that stood out to me is how they were limited to about 2/3 typefaces and had to either make the most of it or create other typefaces by hand. For them, the lack/scarcity of resources meant originality and more creativity because they were a bit limited. There was a lot of focus on the craft and less on the tool.

The talk about originality is a big contradiction to what has been going around recently about copying or stealing work. Personally, I agree with both sides. There’s a school of thought that believes that copying is a race against time and originality as it’s only a matter of time that someone makes another more intriguing thing similar to what you worked on previously, but on the flip side, there is a benefit to building on what already exists.

Of course, the topic about entrenching our culture in our design came up and Mr. Ghariokwu had a lot to say — expectedly, Mr. Olude also corroborated his point, as much as modern design exists, it’s not an excuse to completely neglect the cultural elements that we can always inject into our design, because if we don’t we will end up losing our culture. This is a legitimate concern but in recent times, we’ve seen people paying more attention to our ancient crafts, an example is an exposition on the Ndebe Script by Sugabelly.

Side B

The second session was a journey into the present and what the future could look like. The panel session was moderated by Niyi Okeowo. It featured Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu, Weyinmi Atigbi, Seyi Olusanya, and Osione Itegboje. This was the session that actually caught my eye.

During that session, the discussion was centered around the evolution of design with a particular focus on what Visual design is now and what it could be. For Osione, it’s important for us to rethink design itself, what constitutes it, how we react to it, and how we interact with it.

For the more exposed(?) literate (?) populace, this is something that I think is happening although it’s subconscious, there’s now a proliferation of and an appreciation for indigenous design and designers. There are new fashion and streetwear brands coming up every day, Nigerian architects (starchitects) are getting more recognition and more and more of our artists are being represented in galleries around the world.

Yadichinma sees design as a tool for communication, this is very apt as Nigerians always have something to say no matter how inappropriate or obnoxious these things are, they just have to be heard. Nigerians crave expression, which is probably why we enjoy modifying things so much, as little as the faces students draw on their notebooks or the little bookmarks they create to signify a new term to bigger things like stickers and multiple personalities on our public transport and to Seyi’s dismay, arrant disregard to carefully crafted brand identities and guidelines.

I guess this indicates that as designers, no matter how much we think we know, it’s in our interest to always allow a level of flexibility in our design systems so that the desire for expression and its results become a feature and not a bug.

Mr. Atigbi has been designing for over 30 years and is a strong believer in identifying and following processes, in particular, having a philosophy- knowing why you’re doing what you do is probably one way to remain consistent and produce great work as times and season change, but can your why be money or fame, or the desire to have your name attached to good things.

I think all these are valid. While in school, my class had a discussion about how pieces of architecture are never truly altruistic, now, I’m learning that it extends to design as well. No matter what, at the core, there’s a narcissist in every designer/creator, because who gave you the audacity to create things from nowhere, give them names and expect everyone else to go along with what you’ve done, demand that they use it, appreciate it, buy it? That takes a lot of audacity, on this same spectrum lies the human instinct to be selfish, but as Yadi said (and everyone agreed) we can’t really afford to be selfish, collaboration is extremely important for every designer.

As expected, the conversation veered towards Web3 and the Metaverse, something I have made an effort to avoid talking and thinking about. But unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. The same way Mr. Ghariokwu, Mr. Olude, and Mr. Soboyejo had to get with the times and transition to computers, I and everyone that wants to remain relevant need to start thinking of how our roles will evolve with the advent of web3.

There’s a lot of space for designers in the metaverse, we need to take ownership in systems around (but not limited to) inclusive design, type design, and accessible design, positioning ourselves to take positions that come up will allow us to remain relevant.

Outro

I started this article to recap what I learned that day. I know I gained a lot, but I think it’s just dawning on me how insightful this was. One highlight of this essay for me is how the different things I’ve read and learned in the different areas of design are coming together to support each other, design is really one.

I think this discussion has started something, the question is are we going to feed the embers and start our own graphic design community? Mr. Soboyejo thinks so, and I do too.

Finally, a big thank you to the OGs that went before us and fought for people to recognize the relevance of design as a craft and demanded appropriate compensation, AWCA Lagos and the panelists and moderators, my heart is full (or how do they say it on Instagram).

Footnotes

*One of the panelists said it, not me.
(?) I’m using these words loosely