We are telling the stories of designers across Africa
Starting out as a simple catchphrase from an article in 2017 to becoming an educative series for designers on Twitter, DearDesigner has gone through a colourful evolution to become a full-fledged non-profit organization in the design industry in Nigeria and Africa at large. As an organization, we are committed to the growth of design and designers in Africa.
We also aim at making the African designer maximize the experience, insights, and knowledge within the community to eventually lead a better career. Our journey in the documentation of design across Africa was inspired by a need to facilitate the curation of the beautiful and inspiring stories within the design community. Although our journey started in Nigeria, we are currently on a journey of expansion to the larger African community.
Understanding that design, in its purest form, is simply an intentional attempt to solving problems, our work focuses on the designer as a problem solver and his entire career. Also, as part of our commitment to designers and the entire design community, we also facilitate sharing of resources and opportunities within the community.
Our Mission
To facilitate the sharing of inspiring design stories from Africa and fostering industry-wide development through various initiatives and partnerships.
What We Do
At DearDesigner, our activities covers a range of platforms including;
- Blog
- Mentorship
- Events & Initiatives
- Training & Consultancy
Our blog features several engaging posts ranging from articles, profiles, case studies, and other special features.
The mentorship is designed to help designers stand on the shoulder of more experienced ones through a time-based and well designed program.
We also host special events individually and in partnership with other organizations to facilitate conversations and training on design and related concepts.
With carefully curated faculty of experts, we work with organizations and teams (Design and non-Design) to help facilitate trainings on areas relating to design. We also consult on hiring of design talents.
Some of our past events include:
- Social Media Week Lagos where we featured Feyi Olubodun, Noella Ekezie, Ted Oladele and Harry Dunkwu in a conversation on Design for the Nigerian. The conversation was moderated by Ayomide Ajayi John.
- A 5-part live Design session with Pelumi Adeyemi, Alabi Mayowa, Mary Afolabi, Niyi Okeowo, Rowland Olamide, Praise Philemon.
- A bi-monthly physical meetup in Abuja hosted for 2 months pre-COVID by Simeon Fadahunsi
Team
DearDesigner is curated by an amazing team of volunteers. We are currently building several means to reach out to more designers in our community.
Oyin Akindele
Lead, Content & Comms
Seyi Oniyitan
Design & Illustration
Hidayatullah Bamidele
Content
Tunji Ogunoye
Team Lead
Olaoluwa Alabi
Community
Adedapo Treasure
Editorial
Daniel Abudu
Curation
Simeon Fadahunsi
Lead, Operations & Community
Toluwani Odedeyi
Lead, Programs
Fisayo Patrick
Content
Daniel Adejoro
Content
Joseph Enang
Content
Jesimiel Williams
Content
Partner Brands
Over the past few years, we have been associated with and worked with some amazing organizations in different capacities. Some of our amazing partners include;
