Ep 8: Culture, creativity, and creating a distinctive design identity with Olubunmi Adeyemi

In this episode I chat with Olubunmi Adeyemi. Lagos based, Nigerian born designer, Olubunmi is an internationally recognized designer, interior architect and lifestyle entrepreneur. He is the founder of AFROMINIMA™ a design and lifestyle movement inspired by minimalism, and The DÅ brand. Olubunmi has studied design in both London and South Africa. An alumni of the prestigious Lagos Business School, he is currently pursuing a masters at Central St Martins, in London, UK.

Olubunmi has always be a fan of basic design, so from the basics was able to find out how other cultures have used that base intuitive way of designing to solve problems. In doing so he decided just not to be a designer but to be an influential designer, and to use his culture to enhance his creativity In a very intuitive, in a very forward-thinking way.

His interest in minimalism began by seeing the minimalist Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics, and drawn to this he decided to create his own minimalist language, creating Afrominima, which means Afrocentric minimalism. And from there started to design things, creating everyday objects. When he designs thing he tries to look at the process from a cultural perspective, asking himself how he can interpret this object, this culture and take it forward.

Using his Afrominima language Bunmi has collaborated with jewellery designer Adele Dejak to create a range called Ami, which means symbol in the Yoruba language. Ami represents the new African identity, a new Africa that resilience, that strength that we have.

We talk about:

His focus on minimal design, what drew him to it and the difficulty in achieving a minimalist aesthetic

Creating his own design aesthetic and how that is helping to develop his business and make him a better designer

How culture impacts design, and the importance of seeing things from different cultural perspectives

His thoughts on inspiration and appropriation

Getting your products stocked in high profile outlets and how to attract opportunities

The importance of connections to grow and develop your business

How his jewellery design collaboration with Adele Dejak came about and what it has been like designing fashion accessories

“I decided to not just be a designer but to be an influential designer, using my culture to enhance my creativity in a very intuitive, forward-thinking way.” – Olubunmi Adeyemi

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

British Council Nigeria – https://www.britishcouncil.org.ng

Central St Martins – Applied Imaginations in the Creative Industries – https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/business-and-management-and-science/postgraduate/ma-applied-imagination-in-the-creative-industries-csm

Adele Dejak – https://www.adeledejak.com

Sanlam HmC – http://www.artlogic.co.za/fairs

Where you can go to find out more about Bunmi: https://afrominima.wixsite.com/

Instagram: @afrominima – https://www.instagram.com/afrominima/?hl=en

Instagram: @the.da.brand – https://www.instagram.com/the.da.brand/?hl=en

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher (Android)

And before you go I have a favour to ask, if you could you take a few minutes to do the three R’s: that is rate it, review it, and recommend it to anyone you feel would benefit. It will really make a difference and I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again.

Tapiwa Matsinde