Creatives like designers have had a rough time earning a wage for their work. With usual compensation culprits being EXPOSURE and clients not wanting to pay (decently/competitively).
Now, if there is anyone that should have second thoughts about paying for creatives work on the ground of “exposure”, then it should be Celebrities because they have the audience! And guess what, last Friday, there was actually a debate about it published by the Daily Post, Wales’ best-selling regional newspaper and the conclusion was:
“Good exposure doesn’t pay the bills!”
This goes to show that it is not just a Nigerian thing. But yes, Nigerian designers are affected.
Oluwafemi Coker, a Nigerian Graphic Designer, is one of the people affected by this ‘curse’ and he claims to have set out two years ago on Facebook to create design challenge to show people that Designers are very intelligent people. And therefore, they are worthy of all their wages.
He opines that getting design gigs in Nigeria is a lot more difficult because people naturally tend to look at things produced here as sub-par to the products from her foreign counterparts, the more developed nations.
We interviewed Mr Femi who is unsurprisingly the driver of an Instagram-hashtag trend #naijaCalligramChallenge the following conversation ensued.
Enter the #naijaCalligramChallenge
“A Calligram is when you make a word visually represent its meaning…”, he told our correspondent, Benjamin Dada.
His definition is quite succinct and more explanatory. But for others like us who would like a more textbook definition, here is one from Wikipedia, “A Calligram is a text visually arranged in a way that it forms an image associated with the text’s contents.”
Femi added “It takes extreme intelligence to create a calligram because you have to think outside the box…wanted to show people that we designers are quite intelligent”.
Interesting bit of trivia: Someone actually did a think outside the box calligram
Upon seeing some of the designs on his Instagram page, we had to agree. We made a pick of our top 5 and if you know, you know.
1. Mr Eazi
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeBcSy4HXLC/?r=wa1
Mr Eazi, a Nigerian but Ghana-influenced singer is reputed for always wearing a Raffia Hat.
So you see how that calligram does justice to Eazi’s name and Brand
2. Nigeria
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeK1hk6AohO/?r=wa1
If you can see the Nigerian map in there, then you are on the right track.
3. Toilet Paper
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeL_IEBld9l/?r=wa1
No further explanations needed.
4. Rail
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeAApPAnQaG/?r=wa1
See the Railway?
5. Denrele Edun
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeBcQ5in9RX/
Denrele Edun, is a Nigerian television host. He is a German, but born to a Nigerian father and Indian-Mauritius mother. He is known by his love for uncommon high-heeled shoes and other crazy styles.
So, a Calligram using the design of his shoe makes a lot of sense!
Our Verdict
Calligrams are definitely a beautiful thing. What we have found is that they are very useful in reinforcing the brand of a person or company. Therefore, having a calligram of you as logo would be a great idea.
So, contact a Nigerian designer for a Calligram-based Logo today, PAY and let us support the movement because:
Exposure doesn’t pay the bills
To see more of these beautiful designs, check out the #naijacalligramchallenge on Instagram. As well as these two accounts @calligramchallenge and @naijacalligram on Instagram.
Are you a designer? Want to get your designs featured? Simply put up a calligram using the #naijaCalligramChallenge and it will be picked up!
