#10 Tobiloba: Designing for Startups, studying English, and Everything in Between
At the time, design was one of the other things I could do... It was something I could do and people were paying me for. I have a passion for teaching and English generally.
Hi, Thank you for joining us for today’s episode of StudentsWhoCreate Interview. Our Student Creative for today is a 200 level student of Ekiti State University (EKSU) who out of curiosity started design and has gone on to work with top startups and companies. How did he navigate the pressure of the first year at school and the overwhelming client works he accepted? Read and enjoy!!!
Hi, Thank you for speaking with us. Can we meet you?
My name is Olatunbosun Tobiloba. I'm 20years old and I currently study English and Education in Ekiti State University (EKSU). I am originally from Osun state but grew up and have lived most of my whole life in Abeokuta, Ogun state. I attended Abeokuta Grammar School, Abeokuta.
I do design, generally, I consider myself a generalist. When asked, I say I'm a creative designer. I'm not one to hold on to titles but I like to consider myself a creative designer. I wear a lot of design hats. I do brand identity design, motion design and sometimes UI design. I've been designing professionally for about 4 years because I've been designing before I got into school.
Currently, I work part-time as a visual motion designer at bloc. I've had the opportunity to work with companies like Mono, Goje and some other startups. I work on freelance basis with small business owners and startup founders.
Thank you! How did you get into design?
After I was done with secondary school in 2016, my family had some issues and I had to go and live with my uncle. While living with my uncle, I met a guy named Qudus who had this laptop that he was not really using. I started playing games with it and then stumbled on Photoshop. I started playing with photoshop and from there discovered that Adobe had other software. This was out of curiosity. I looked for money to purchase data and downloaded the cracked version of Illustrator and Indesign, then I started watching YouTube videos on how to use them. I did this for about a year and as a result of me researching groups and communities to join I came across people like me who were also learning and then we started to share things together.
The pivotal moment for me was when I read this book, The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. The book showed me the basic things like the elements and principles of design. It broadened my knowledge of design beyond the tools and ever since, I've been growing and learning.
Why did you still decide to go to school even after getting a design job?
To clarify, at the time of gaining admission, I didn't have a full-time job. I was a freelancer but I was already making money. I really didn't see any reason not to. At the time, design was one of the other things I could do, and didn’t see it as a career for me. It was something I could do and people were paying me for it. Also, I have a passion for teaching and English generally, which was why I chose my course of study. I'm not someone who sees an opportunity and dumps the other ones I have. I think the best way to go about it is to find a way to balance it.
How do you manage school with working as a designer?
Firstly, it is not easy. It is excruciating, to say the least. One thing is that I have been able to manage my time. This is not me saying I am great with it but one way I have been able to compensate for the lack of time is to be rigid with my time. For example, If I have a class from 8 am to 10 am, I go back home immediately the class is over and jump into designing. It may sound very hard, yes it is because it is. I don't get time to rest and when I do, it is not enough. It has been challenging but the kind of people I have been working with has also helped greatly.
The key thing is being able to manage my time and treat it as an investment.
What are some of the challenges you face as a student designer?
One of the most obvious challenge is landing a very good job, this is not to mean that the job I'm on is not good. I have had people come to me looking for a full-time visual designer but it is really hard to be a full-time designer while in school. A lot of people reach out to me and I let them know I'm in school and this usually turns out to be a deal-breaker especially for someone or a startup that is looking to hire because they need someone who is able to dedicate time. I think it is worth it because I believe one will meet better opportunities after school. I used to take it as a challenge but now I think it is about being patient and not being greedy.
Another challenge is not having access to design communities in my school because I've met with other designers who have the same challenge of not being able to connect to designers around and on ground.
Another challenge is time. This should be the first one because school wants 120% of your time and sometimes it can be very excruciating, especially during the tests and exam periods and I believe creativity needs time. Creativity can't be rushed and there's no time. So when I work with freelance clients, I like to give them an outrageous timeframe.
How have you been able to navigate through this challenge so far?
For the first one, there is no way to navigate around it except I am ready to give less time to school which I'm not ready to do for now.
For communities, I join online communities, and with that, I've been able to communicate with people that are not around me. We share ideas and review each other’s work.
For time management, I still work on it and I think it can only get better.
You mentioned earlier that you don’t have access to creative communities in your school. Is it that there are no communities or the ones available are exclusive?
I think there are a number of creative communities in my school but I'm not a part of any because I am quite busy with work and school.
Do you have any plan of joining any creative community?
I don't think so because I've to do school and work and joining these communities requires effort and time to participate in their activities and I do not have such luxury currently.
Can you take us through your creative process? How do you go about a project from start to finish?
Typically, with brand identity projects, I send a questionnaire to the client to discover basic things about the brand as their name, goals, design preference, basic questions to figure out their goals and design taste. Using this information, I build out a proposal, invoice, and timeline. At the start of the project, I like to build out a mood board to get the design direction. I design and afterward go through the options with the client and then do revision if there is any which is followed by delivery.
In summary,
Get the brief > Send questionnaire > Proposal, Invoice and Timeline > Research and Mood board> Design > Present > Revision > Delivery
What are some of the tools you use when designing? What are your must-use tools for a design project?
I use almost all the popular Adobe products. I use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects. I just started learning Premiere Pro. I also use Figma (which is not an Adobe product).
How would you describe the impact of Covid-19 on you and your journey as a designer?
Firstly, the pandemic is a very unfortunate event and a tragedy. It is not something to be taken lightly.
I think for a lot of designers, it boosted their work output because there was a lot of time. I had a lot of time to learn, work and get more knowledge. The pandemic period was when my career started. It gave me a lot of time to work on myself and had something to show for after it.
Have you ever felt like quitting?
Yes
Why and what led to it?
The moment I felt like quitting was in 100level. I just resumed school at the time and then took on a bunch of client work. I had a lot of things to put in place in school that overwhelmed me. I will spend the whole day in school trying to get my registration done and at the same had a bunch of deadlines to meet. At some point, I had a breakdown because I didn't know how to manage my time and was setting work deadlines at the same time. I did a lot of bad and shitty work at the time. I almost died, literally and it was not a good experience.
How did you navigate through the phase?
Firstly, I would like to say it is advisable not to find oneself in such a situation.
At the time, I had no solution than to power through it. I spoke to some of my friends and one of my bosses then who spoke to me about managing my time. I couldn't return the jobs because I had collected the money and spent them and I had to deliver. I just made sure to deliver them one way or the other.
What are some of the proudest projects you have worked on?
I have a lot of projects I really like but CHIPSY is on top of the list.
Another one is SANWO, I wanted to learn how to use my motion design skills in brand identity. These two projects are personal projects and I enjoyed working on them
How do you stay creative? What do you do to keep the creative juice flowing?
Personally, I don't think it is possible to consistently put out great work except you're very special. Sometimes I make bad works I don't post on social media because I know they are bad.
One of the ways I stay creative is to look at other creative people. I check out case studies and the work of a lot of brand agencies and studios. I have a lot of tabs of these agencies and studios opened on my laptop and once they drop a new project, I check it out to see how they use motion, icons, other design elements, and their overall presentation.
I learned something from a fellow designer (and I can't remember the person). The person said, if you see a design you like, take a screenshot and list out 10 things you like about it and learn those things and the next design that you create in that line will have improved greatly. Most designers don't look at a design from a place of learning but they look at it from a point of admiration and that's all for them.
What do you do for fun? How do you relax when you're not actively designing?
Firstly, I don't watch football. I watch a lot of animes and listen to a lot of music. My taste in music is all over the place, I listen to a wide range of music. I play a lot of games too.
Who are the creatives that inspire you?
The first person that inspired me when I started out was Chris Do.
I started my career as a lone wolf and didn’t know what to do or how to start, one of the people that really inspired and helped with my design career was Paul Kelly
I am also inspired by Ogbeni Seyi, Xeun Badejo, Niyi Okeowo, Praise Philemonn, and Fiyin.
The works of these agencies and studios inspire me; Da design studio, Dixon baxi, Pentagram, Meta design (not affiliated to Facebook Meta),
Designers on YouTube like Will Patterson, Zimri Mayfield , Greg Gun, Matthew Encina, also inspire me.
Lastly, I'm also inspired by myself.
Who is the one creative you would love to work or collaborate with on a project?
That will be Ogbeni Seyi. When you see his design you just know it's his. It's very far from the competition.
I would also love to work with Praise and Zimri Mayfield
What brand(s) would you love to work with?
Google. I really like their design language. They manage to make it playful and formal at the same time.
Another one is Da design, I like their work.
What advice do you have for someone looking to get started with design?
The only advice I have is that Ma Kanju, Don’t Rush. Be patient.
People are really hasty with the way they deal with things and learn. There are things that will frustrate you while learning but just take your time and follow the process.
Who would you like us to interview?
Pentifier and Felix Ayoola.
How can people reach you?
You can reach me on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Behance, and my personal website.
Thank you for sharing with us!!!
Takeaway Nugget: Take your time to learn. Stick through the learning curve and follow the process.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share the story
See you next week!!!