#11 Rukhayat: The Engineering Student with a knack for Illustration and Character Design
As a kid, I was always indoors, had a lot of toys, and watched a lot of cartoons which helped me with having an active imagination which in turn fed my creative side that was already there.
Hi, Thank you for joining us for today’s episode of StudentsWhoCreate Interview. Our Student Creative for today is a 300 level engineering student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who was spurred into the creative space by watching a lot of cartoons as a kid and got curious as to how these characters and cartoons were done. How did she go from drawing and sketching random things as a kid to an Illustrator with a focus on character design? Read and enjoy!!!
Hi, Thank you for speaking with us. Can we meet you?
My name is Rukhayat Omoluyi Orekoya but everybody calls me Rukky and that's on purpose because most people find it hard to pronounce, only a few people have gotten the right pronunciation on the first try. I am a 300 level student at the University of Lagos studying Civil Engineering. I'm the second child of my parent and I grew up in Lagos.
I'm an Illustrator, but I like to call myself a Character Designer because that's the part I am most interested in. Apart from character design I also do graphic design with a focus on brand identity because I like to tell stories and brand identity has this infused in it. I also do product design with a focus on the web, so that makes me a web designer. I'm not really a big fan of designing apps for mobile because the screens are small.
Thank you! How did you start out in design?
Okay, let me take a step back. As a kid, I was not a regular kid growing up and definitely didn’t do regular things because I had some health issues growing up so I couldn’t go out as much, I was always in and out of the hospital. I was always indoors, had a lot of toys, and watched a lot of cartoons which helped me with having an active imagination which in turn fed my creative side that was already there.
When I was around nine years old, I was at home and I couldn't go to school because I wasn't strong enough to go to school or engage in any activity at the time so I had to stay at home and what I had with me then was pencils, papers, and access to a lot of TV time watching cartoons. All the things I was watching combined with my imaginative mind got me into the drawing. When I started, I didn’t think anything serious about it, I just thought it was cool.
During this period that I couldn’t go to school and I was alone at home watching cartoons, I began to draw every day because I was bored and alone and would show it to my parents when they got back from work. After some time, my father would come back home with papers, pens, and watercolor so that I would have more materials to use which helped my interest. I think that's about me wanting to draw, wanting to do art and design. So I have always been curious as to how these characters and cartoons were done.
My journey into designing with computers started when I was done with secondary school and I was preparing for JAMB. This was 2016. Before then, I remember talking to my Dad when I was about getting into senior secondary school that I wanted to pursue a career in Art but he made it clear that he was not in support of me studying Art in school because he felt it was something I could learn out of school. He was really adamant about me not doing it at all and I wasn’t the type to quarrel with my parent on something like this, so I went to science class. The interesting thing about this is that, as much as I have a creative side, I'm a very calculative person. I liked mathematics and physics, so it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t lose in any way because I did well and didn't have any issues. While in secondary school, I would sneak into art class to see what they were doing.
Fast forward to when I finished secondary school, I told my dad that I wasn’t going to go into the university without anything doing or any skill and he was okay with it. There was this artist in my area who does sketches and stuff like that and as fate would have, I was coming back from an event with my sister and we saw this shop, an art studio and the artworks in front of the shop were more alive than anything I had ever seen. I was like, Oh my God, I've never seen this before in my life and my sister asked me if I liked it and we could go check it out. I will always have my sister to thank for that. She stopped the bus and we went back to the art shop. On getting there we met three guys, two guys and the other person who will later be my boss. When we entered, I told them I wanted to make an inquiry because I would like to learn. I told him I have never seen anything like this before and asked him about it and he told me it is called digital portrait art and explained it to me. He then asked me if I could draw or have anything I have drawn before then and I told him I would be back the next day. On getting home, my sister asked me to grab every piece of drawings and sketches I have ever done and we went back to the shop with them immediately. On getting back there, I think he saw potential in the drawings and sketches and he agreed to teach me for free but told me I would need to get a laptop and I should come back when I do. When my dad came back in the evening, I told him and he said okay no problem, and didn’t even complain or say anything about it being expensive. To my surprise, the following week he came home with a laptop. That was one of the coolest things to have happened in my life because I didn't expect it to happen like that.
The next day, I took my laptop to the shop and started to learn. I learned for a period of one year and a few months. I would like to brag that during the time that I was there, I was the only girl there, every other person was a guy. My boss loved teaching me because I was catching on pretty fast. My boss is a very critical part of my journey because he always encouraged and supported me. I got to know about Instagram through him and started posting some of my works there. I also got to discover a lot of creative people too. At the time I was learning to make portraits but I was more interested in cartoon characters. When I went on Instagram, I would see some really cool stuff that I loved, I didn't know what term they were called but it was different from portraits.
After leaving the art studio, I started to learn how to draw figures and to be honest, I was doing rubbish for the first two to three years. At some point my boss was worried that I have not been doing anything because he followed up for the first few months, the reason being that a lot of people who learned from him would not continue drawing after leaving his place and he was worried I had turned out the same way. So for the first few years, I was doing rubbish. After some time I started to take courses on figure drawing and learned how to draw faces.
I'm a very visual person, like in the movie Queens Gambits, when she wants to play a particular game and she visualizes the board coming up, you know. I don't like to read books. I have a really small attention span, I don't like to read. I struggle with reading, to be honest, and I think that's why I went for engineering because it involved more calculation.
I started drawing. Yeah, just basically drawing the exact same thing. I was drawing more, creating more, posting on Instagram. When I see something I want to draw, I study it a lot and then I just go back to my laptop and try to create it.
While learning digital art, I also learned about graphic design because my boss used to delegate some graphic design tasks to me, and doing that gave me an insight into graphic design. I read more about it and learned about brand design and I went into brand design because I like to tell stories. Like using animations to tell stories, I can build personas that I will be designing for.
How do you manage to combine school with all these?
Firstly, I chose to study engineering. It is something I enjoy studying and I am not being forced to study it.
On being able to manage school and design, I have a very good support system. There are a lot of us i.e most of my friends who are running multiple jobs or running multiple courses and they are doing really great at them. This kind of serves as some sort of motivation and encouragement for me. So when I'm lagging behind in school, they get me back on track. We try to help each other. Also, I am a very calculative person and I work with time.
What are some of the challenges you face as a student creative?
I don't think I have any challenge with doing school and design together. It has only created more opportunities for me. The school has been one of the biggest eye-openers for me. I've met more people.
Are you a part of any creative community in your school?
I won't say we have creative communities because tech communities are more prominent than creative communities and maybe it is me who have not found one. Also, because I am in an engineering department, I am more inclined to meet and see tech people.
Why? and What do you think can be done to address this?
I feel like the problem is that a number of creatives like me are passive. We tend to hide behind our work. We use our work as some sort of expression and when it comes to the part where we have to show up then it becomes a problem. Because most of the time we just want to be behind the scene and I feel like that's the difference between the tech and creative community.
You see people from tech companies actually come to campus to inspire the student community. You don’t really see that happen in the creative community. We only see creatives on Twitter. They rarely try to reach out or come around to campus or creative events. I believe if creatives who are already successful come around to let those on campus know what’s possible out there and what the industry feels like, it will go a long way.
Can you take us through your creative process? How do you go about a project from start to finish?
The first thing I do is ask the client to explain what he/she wants me to do i.e get a brief. After getting the brief, I try to get a broad overview and check out what’s being done out there because I need to see what others have done or are doing. The next thing is for me to come up with ideas. So when I sleep and get an idea, I put it down. Also, I lie down on my bed and just stare at the wall and try to think about how the idea is going to work out. To be honest, this approach has worked well for me. Sometimes, depending on how the project needs to go, I will do a more detailed research. I go online, I particularly like going on Instagram or Pinterest to screenshot as many pictures as I am inspired by and open them. I just keep looking at them to study each one and look at things like proportions and so on. This process helps me stimulate my brain, after which I go back to the process of lying down on my bed. When I get ideas, I get up to explore the ideas. I then go on to present it to the client and get feedback until the work is delivered.
In summary,
Get the brief > Research > Stare at blank space > Explore Ideas > Presentation > Feedback > Revision > Delivery
What tools do you use in getting work done?
I use pencil and paper, it is a really important part of my everyday life. For digital design, I use Photoshop for character design and portraits, while I use Adobe Illustrator for graphic design projects.
How would you describe the impact of Covid-19 on you and your work?
I was able to skill up during Covid. I was already a part of a tech community called Engineering Career Expo (ECX) before I left school for the Covid break and thanks to them I was able to learn UI/UX design online. I also took some illustration courses online at the time and had time to focus and create stuff I could post, something I have always wanted to do. I also got some jobs during the lockdown.
But then there was the other side to it. It took me back to the time I was usually alone. It just really brought out some kind of emotion and my mental health went down the drain but then we are here.
Have you ever felt like quitting?
Yes, I have.
What happened?
It was when I started to learn character design on my own and I was drawing and it looked like shit. I kept creating the same thing and after doing it for a while I was frustrated because what I was drawing didn’t look anything like what I had in my head. I was so frustrated that I told my sister that I wasn’t going to draw anymore. For six months I did not touch a pencil.
How did you get back to drawing?
I would credit my sister for getting me back even though she used the tough love approach because she is not the type to use sweet words. She made me realize that I have not been happy as I used to be when I drew and helped me rediscover that part of me.
What are some of the proudest projects you have worked on?
I feel like the Bento project easily tops the list right now because it's actually one of those projects I wasn't expecting. I didn't expect it to happen. I was really surprised when Bento contacted me. When bento sent me a message that they liked and wanted my style for their character, I was surprised. Initially, I had cold feet but then the person that brought me on this project, Wole, really motivated me and believed in me. He was like, I can't wait to see what you create which really helped and the project turned out great.
There is another project I worked on that I like but cannot share because of NDA. I actually enjoyed working on it, and it is a really cool project. But sadly, I can't say to the world or even mention that I did.
Also, I feel like I have seen great improvements in every project I have worked on between last year and this year.
How do you stay creative? What do you do to keep the creative juice flowing?
I watch cartoons. When I don't feel the urge to draw or I don't want to design anything, I go online and search for cartoons. Watching cartoons helps me imagine and makes me want to create.
What do you do for fun? How do you relax when you're not actively creating?
Fun for me does not involve physical activities because I'm not strong enough to do them. But recently, I have been learning how to skate.
For fun, I binge-watch content of Tyler-the-creator because I'm a big fan of his. I go online, search for videos about his work. Outside of that, everything I do is usually design-related.
I'm also a big fan of fashion, contemporary fashion. I actually do something of that nature in school. I have a small clothing brand but I am currently on a break. I have got stuff to do, I need money.
Who are the creatives that inspire you?
The first person is Tyler, The Creator because I feel like we have the same creative process and he does the things I actually hope to do. He is the personality I've seen so far that really resonates with me.
Back in Nigeria, creatives that inspire me are Harry Uzoma Dunkwu, Niyi Okeowo, and Arclight.
Who are the creatives you would love to work or collaborate with on a project?
Right now, that will be Harry Uzoma Dunkwu, Niyi Okeowo, and Arclight.
In the long run, I would love to work with Tyler, The Creator
What brand(s) would you love to work with?
Pixar Company, Dreamworks Animation, and Nickelodeon.
What advice do you have for someone looking to get started with design?
When you are just starting, you just have to keep doing, keep practicing and keep working till you get there. And if possible you find a mentor, don’t be like me, make the best use of the opportunity.
If you try something for the first, it’s okay if you do not get the result you want just keep at it. The key is to be consistent.
Who would you like us to interview?
How can people reach you?
You can reach me on social media: Twitter, Instagram, and Behance.
Do you have anything you want people to know?
Yes, my clothing brand, Design-R. I paused because of school but we’re coming back soon on Twitter and Instagram.
It's a fashion brand that promotes expressiveness and inclusivity. I'm just particular about you being able to express yourself.
Thank you for sharing with us!!!
Takeaway Nugget: Keep doing, keep practicing, and keep working till you get there.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share the story
See you next week!!!
Amazing job Rukky!
Great interview
That’s my sister!! 🔥🔥
Making me proud since forever 🤩