NAIJA'S FINEST

Being a design enthusiast and practitioner of Nigerian descent, it pains me when i can't see us on the map of global design excellence (cannes lions and the likes). We're literally nowhere to be found regardless of the number of photoshop wizards that reside in our nation. However, of recent, a smile has been brought to my face with the discovery of our very own design professionals, some individual, some organisations, that are putting out breath taking work. The following are my top 5 of Naija's finest in the design industry, based entirely and completely on my sole opinion, so therefore, no head biting!!
Now my list is not in order of preference or any order whatsoever as a matter of fact just as they come to mind, so with that said, let the count down (or up) begin!!

1.

First up is a young lad (na married man oh!!) who is quite popular in this field and should come as no surprise.  He is one of the foremost designers in the country who studied architecture but followed his creative passion.  He's a professional photographer, artist and designer. Ladies and gentlemen lets hear it for MR.TOLA ALABI!!.

Not too long ago this design mastro released a publication on his first fifty identities and only one word comes to mind...WOW!! (okay so maybe thats not really a word, but you get my point). 

Good eh!? If you'd like to see more, just go to his website or his facebook photostream and stop wasting time. Okay now, speaking as a critic, his logos are memorable because of their 'over-the-top' effects and embellishments which is a good thing as long as they can be stripped down to the barest minimum for certain applications that require less graphics and more structure.  He's also good at album arts, print design and web design as shown below.

STRENGTHS: Honestly i would recommend him to anyone, for any project, but I feel his strength lies more in Posters and logos even though his work is largely effect driven and that could tend to limit how far the logo can be applied but nonetheless, its stellar work and i can see him easily adjusting. So if you'd a shiny new logo, Mr. Alabi is your man.

2.

Next up is a man of similar stature, also well known, most especially among Nigerian celebrities, actors and musicians, seeing as he's the brain behind some of the best album art and movie posters in the game...give it up y'all for JAMES ABINIBI. (crowd cheering).

Mr. Abinibi is a man of many parts, a creative genius of sorts in photography, logo design, web design and graphic art visualisations. His clientele spans across industries with the likes of Banky W, Julius agwu, Rugged man, Bovi and a very long list of movie posters and logos to his credit. He's the creative director of abinibi multimedia but his business acumen has led him to also setup initiatives like the network, (an event for professionals in the design industry), skillz mag and the famous abinibi creative academy, the first and only graphic design academy in Nigeria (well at least we think so) . His work speaks for itself, so i don't need to yan tooo much.

STRENGTHS: If you're an artiste looking to get good album art done, or a movie producer wanting stellar communications for a new flick, Mr. Abinibi has most definetely proved to be that go-to-guy for the entertainment industry with bold and in your face stuff. Lacking a little in concept when compared to foreign movie poster counter parts but still the designs work well to get the message across. His logos feel a little generic to me and lack that ummphhh!! His websites are FANTASTIC, a little 'flash-heavy', but FANTASTIC all the same. Visualisations and photo-manipulations remain Mr. Abinibi's forte.

3.

My next favourite is a group of creative individuals who have banded to form a company that is a force to be reckoned with and revered in the field of web design. They have also recently expanded into branding as well. I would like to present to some and introduce to others UNOTECH MEDIA (crowd cheers again). 

These guys present a well structured design organisation that makes you wonder if they are really Nigerians since that cliche Nigerian aesthetic is absent in the character of their brand. From the new logo to the layout and feel of their website, to their facebook page, you get a sense of guys that know just what it is that they are doing.  

Their primary business focuses are Corporate Website Design, Branding & Identity Build, and Creative Social Media Campaigns. To see the websites, just click on the images displayed on their site (before dem talk sey i thief dem traffic) 

They recently took on a project for eko atlantic city, celebrating a reclamation milestone of 5 000 000sqm of land, they came up with a compound logo, (which, honestly is not particularly impressive to me) but it all came together as an experience seeing as it was an event branding project, and oh! yeah Bill Clinton was in attendance.

STRENGTHS: Unparalleled expertise in web design, that is evident in their recent portfolio and what i've seen in the past. As you can see, they roll with the big wigs (Oando, aero contractors, evans publishing etc) and take on some big budget projects, so they obviously have the experience. If you have a big web project (and big bucks) pay these guys a visit, and you won't regret it. Their branding portfolio is a bit thin, but it shows that their forte is and has always been what i'd like to call "Bespoke web design".  

4.

Next up is a team i greatly admire for their addiction to excellence and obvious professionalism. Ever since I stumbled upon them in my search for Nigerian design agencies, its been my pleasure to boast about them like i work there. I speak of none other than, INK BRAND AGENCY.

Now, these guys obviously have a background in advertising or some related field, what with the strong messaging work they churn out in some of their projects. Their business is built on Branding, Print and Digital solutions, and boy do they have 'em. Looking at their website, you can see they've done some stellar work, for brands like Johnny Rockets, who just recently got into the Nigerian market (please watch the ad they did and see what advertising should be), Dajcom and our very own Good luck Ebele Jonathan, the commander in chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

The above is proof that these guys are not some run-of-the-mill quacks with photoshop installed on their laptops, but an actual, full-fledged, professional brand agency and they can and will deliver. I especially like the poster with the roadside "TUNSE ELEKTRIKAS" who is a "REPAIRERS" of "FLAT SKREEN TV" and "WOSHIN MACHIN". Just Brilliant stuff!

STRENGTHS: Well, they do it all, Branding? check, Websites? check, Advertising? check, But I think they're skills shine mostly in advertising from the work i've seen, they know how to bring concepts to life and get strong messages across visually and otherwise. Here i see the makings of a Nigerian 'Ogilvy&partners', after all they did say they are a team of marketing professionals.

5. 

Finally, are a bunch of upstarts, a very small (rumored to be a 2 man team) design company, who show that they know what branding actually means. They are relatively unknown and mostly do work for the less famous small-medium scale clients, but they have drawn some attention of recent. As the underdogs on this list of mine, may i introduce, DIVINITY SPARK.

These guys pride themselves in running a design company whose core business is 'creative branding' meaning (and i'm assuming here) that they dabble in other facets of design. They do logos, oh! boy they do LOGOS!!

Very clean, not clunky, not too graphicy (shiny) or gimmicky but strategy based, pristine logos that evolve into brand identities. They're yet to finish putting up a website though and, for now, all i've seen is their facebook page and a very extensive portfolio, sorry, PRO-FOLIO  (thats what they call it, na wa o!) on scribd.

They have some real solid work, showing a strong sense of balance with simple yet effective design and seem to have the makings of international brand agencies like wolf ollins, pentagram, or lippincot but still have a very long, long way to go. Obviously they are just starting out or are at most 3-4 years in the making. They are obviously leaning to a 'corporate communications' kind of platform and are doing it well as far as i can tell.

STRENGTHS: Dvspk's work looks very professional, not as flashy as most graphic designers but still very bold and simple stuff. Theres some thought that goes into their work, some level of strategic thinking and it shows that they're not just throwing shapes together but trying to pass a message across to the desired audience in a bid to connect emotionally, and that, my dear friends, is branding!!. I probably won't call on them as an musician or as a movie producer, but if you're looking to get internationally standard branding for your business, product or service, I'd highly recommend these dudes anyday.

Honourable mentions...

ASOTO ADEOLA /LEUNAMME a self described creative cook.
MORONFOLA YUSUF a one man design crew.
LEVEL SEVEN LTD yet another band of web maestros.
ORANGE SLICE MULTIMEDIA  as the name implies they provide multiple media solutions to wow you.
YOKE SOLUTIONS NIGERIA fine web design and more.

In closing...

Truth be told, there are alot of great designers out there (in Nigeria) but few are known talk less of respected. Maybe its there fault or our fault, not marketing aggressively enough? not taking steps towards growing? who knows...but one thing i'm fairly certain of, is the fact that if you stick to something long enough and keep your game up, you're bound to have overwhelming success.

F.Y.I, it may have been wondered and pondered upon (or not) but your truly (thats me) is infact the brains behind divinity spark, as the current creative coordinator. Forgive me if i led you on, but man must market naaaa! and yes, i do believe we stand as a force to be reckoned with. You don't agree? prove it!!