My Design Journey: seeing things from a different perspective
Design is thinking made visual — Saul Bass
Usually, we go about our everyday lives subconsciously not giving any attention to the things or inventions that make it easier or even harder for us in our daily activities. From the door with sharped edged aluminium handles or the road signs with dull colour or tiny texts which cause accidents to an autopilot Tesla automobile (insert your favourite cool emoji) that makes life easier for humans. Yes, these are how influential good or bad designs are to things we see or interact with every day.
How it began for me
My design journey began when I first took some few classes intending to become a graphic designer because I wanted to be more creative with my life, that is apart from the fact that I love aesthetics (I mean, who doesn’t right?). Although I have been in the Tech space for quite some time learning how to code and stuff, my first contact with UI/UX part of the design was when Eriol Fox took the stage at the Concatenate conference in Lagos around last year. Out of the twenty-plus speakers at the event, she was the only one that I couldn’t wrap my head around what her talk was about. I was already familiar with software development terminologies but not that of design. All I could piece together at that moment was “the user this….” or “the user that….”, but somehow, her talk got the most attention from me.
Progressively, my curiosity went further to following Eriol on Twitter and before I could say ‘Jack’, my timeline was filled up with design contents and suggestions, then that led me to a Twitter followership spree, I followed anything, ranging from individuals to agencies. Further, that led me to private chatting a senior designer in search for someone who could explain what the industry was about and what similarity graphic design has with UI/UX. Thanks to his welcoming engagements and patience, I was able to ask my questions and one of his replies to me in his own words was “Design is solving problems, no matter the path you pick, you will be solving problems for people”
Design is solving problems, no matter the path you pick, you will be solving problems for people — Mudia Imaseun
What design means to me
….seeing things from a different perspective.
Now a few months into my design journey, it’s safe to say that I have never seen things the same way before picking up my design fundamentals. For me being a designer is about believing that there’s a better way of doing things. I question the design of everyday things especially digital products, I ask myself the simplest of questions each time I find myself using a new product, questions such as “would I have known what this icon means if I wasn’t a designer”. I aim to always put the users first and for every of my design decision to have an intent, to be consistent with users mental model for ease of use.
Why WeJapa Internship?
What better way to learn from people very much ahead in the industry and to connect with creative minds(mentors and interns) who will help me grow? This is the best way that I know how!
