Join designers in Lagos, Nigeria on October 14th for another fantastic Dribbble Meetup hosted by Rewrite Interaction Agency at Workstation. This community-building meetup is a self-described “unconference;” no speakers, just the community interacting and engaging.
In advance of the meetup, we spoke with host Coker Oluwafemi of Rewrite about the design scene in Lagos.
Tell us what you love about Lagos.
Lagos is a city you just have to love, characterized by hustle and bustle. A city of business, pleasure, and excellence, it is the economic capital of Nigeria. Even though it’s the smallest state by area, it is the most populous state in Nigeria, the largest in Africa, and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. The food is delicious and spicy, and we’re the home of the legendary and multiple award-winning dish: Nigerian jollof rice. The people are very friendly and courteous— it’s all about the hospitality. The merge of the different cultures of Nigeria is beautiful and vibrant.
The whole country has an estimated 38 million businesses, the majority of them run from Lagos, which shows the entrepreneurial nature of Lagosians. It’s a city you can’t help but love.
Tell us where you work, in relation to the rest of Lagos.
Rewrite Interaction Agency is a human-centered, conversion-oriented and result-driven team at the core of user interaction and product development. We recently moved to Ikeja, or more precisely in Ogba-Ikeja, the capital of the Lagos State, and we are really digging the environment here. It’s serene and friendly, and also quite central to everything— we’ve got restaurants, malls, a bar, and cinemas right around the corner.
Tell us about the Lagos design scene.
A lot of designers work freelance and are not affiliated with any agency or company. Designers have a huge influence over the city, as they help give many businesses a face, interpret offerings, and give even more color to the already vibrant city. Lagos is home to Somolu, one of the largest printing press clusters in West Africa— also known for its heavy presence of graphic designers and artists The whole scene is getting better rooted with a wave of new designers, and the industry seems to command a little more respect than we did five years ago. We’re hoping it will get even better, as more designers hone their craft and create value for the community.
Choose three shots from Lagos Dribbblers you admire and tell us what you like about each one.
Freak The Fxxk Out by Kanso Ogbolu, above left.
Kanso has proven himself an outstanding animator and storyteller over the years, and one of the reasons why I absolutely love this shot is because of how he infused our Nigerian scary stories into this whole series. This shot is related to the story titled “3’o clock in the morning”, which is the time evil spirits come to thwart destiny. Here he captured the moment the subject awoke to a spirit pounding a concoction with mortar and pestle on his chest.
Freebie: Aphrodite UI KIT - 4 Profile Styles by Joshua Oluwagbemiga, above center. I really like how clean and crisp this shot is. I’m also digging the use of gradients, and more than anything I love how he creatively re-ordered the profile styles. Joshua did an amazing job of putting together this amazing UI kit, and the best part is that its free for Adobe XD, y’all should go on and download.
Print Whatever You Want by Adewale Bobby, above right. This shot is from a printing press website interface, I love this because of the use of white space, the bright colors, and effective shadows. Everything adds up to make it very visually appealing. Adewale is a promising designer that I’ve seen soar over the years, and he’s quickly gaining notoriety in Nigeria as a designer who understands function as well as astounding aesthetics.
Big thanks to Workstation Nigeria for the support in hosting this event, and to the amazing team at Rewrite Interaction Agency for organizing.
Can’t make it on Saturday, October 14th? Find Coker Oluwafemi on Dribbble, and at femi@rewrite.agency.
Ready to start your own Dribbble Meetup? Details at Dribbble Meetups.
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