Meet The Persona: Yemi Fetch
Recorded in July 2016.
Adetunji Openiyi: Please tell me a bit about yourself
Yemi Fetch: My name is Yemi Fetch, I’m a Creative Designer. I started about 10 years ago, 2006 to be precise. I became a professional in 2009. I specialize in identity design and typography, that’s where my strength lies and that’s where I’ve specialized for some time now.
Naturally most people don’t like to read long form content, but a typographer could take 2, 3 or 4 words out of the story and make them attractive so that people will want to read.
AO: Was creativity a big part of your childhood upbringing?
YF: No, not at all. Let me go back a bit. I studied Mathematics and Statistics, my background allows me to think logically and scientifically about things, so I had no business being a designer. Artists are emotional beings and you have to be emotional to sell creative. But I majored in science. Having that kind of background, I dealt with facts, if it wasn’t fact, to hell with it. Coming from that kind of background, it’s really hard to get into the creative business. If you keep analysing everything, and you’re not emotional, you can’t sell a thing here. I had to make that switch from being an analytical machine to an emotional lamb.
AO: That’s the principle of design right there. Was there a moment when you realized that design is what you wanted to do?
YF: Yes, when I was in school, next to my faculty was the art faculty. Whenever I’m going to class I would see these guys, these artists, painters, drawing stuff, making stuff, making sketches of buildings and all. So I was fascinated. One day I approached one of my lecturers and I asked him what are the things I’m likely to do when I graduated from that course. He said “Well, I think you’re going to end up being a teacher like me.” I thought “Hell no! I’m not going to be a teacher like you, there should be better jobs for statisticians.” It was that moment I lost it. There were guys in the next building doing something, making awesome stuff with their hands and I was in the ‘other room’ killing myself over calculus and experimental designs.
You know, in Nigeria, you have inherited poor educational system, you’re studying a course and you don’t even know what you’re going to do with it. So I thought, look at those guys out there making something with their hands, they tell the stories behind their creations. And look at me, all I do is cram a useless formula someone created in the 18th century. That’s when I thought about going into design. I also knew I had the flair for it, I’d been sketching since I was a kid, I had never imagined that I’d make a career out of it.
AO: What was your first design job?
YF: It was a logo I designed for a friend of mine. He was setting up an outlet somewhere on the island where he would supply packaged fresh fruits and vegetables. He contacted me for a logo and I did a fairly good job. I was paid handsomely too; I received a firm handshake.
AO: Do you create typography everyday?
YF: Of course, everyday. About 10 sketches everyday. You have to put in work if you must achieve desired result. I wake up in the morning and I sketch. You just have to make something everyday even if you’re not going to sell it. It’s like singing; if you want to be a professional opera singer, you have to practice everyday. In fact right now on Instagram, I have what I call “The One Word” typography. I started it to ensure I practice everyday.
AO: I know those, there’s “Yolo” and the rest, I saw you featured on Abduzeedo. It’s interesting how some of them look like 3D.
YF: Yeah, that was some time ago. A few folks still believe I use 3D software for some of my typography. But these are purely illustrations. Yes, I like to apply real life or 3D treatments to some illustrated custom types. It has nothing to do with 3D apps. One just needs to understand perspective and flow. It’s quite an easy trick to pull off, especially if you intend to create a catchy editorial headline.
AO: How do you balance work and life, or is your life your work and vice versa?
YF: For me, they are not the same thing. We work to make a living, but we are not living to work. Whenever I think about that, I know it’s time to take a chill pill. There are people who are alive to work. That’s all they do throughout their lifetime. They never stop to notice the plant sprouting by their fence. They are too busy to watch a baby smile.Too busy to hit the gym. And when their health deteriorate, they look up to heaven. I’m not that kind of person, work is fun but we are here to live. I want to live. I want to cherish every living moment. I have an article on Medium titled “I don’t work anywhere, wherever I find myself I work”. That’s the beauty of design, you have your laptop and you’re good. Balancing work and life is something that is very simple for me. I would never put myself on the edge, even if I’m having issues with clients. I think time solves everything.
AO: Tell me about FETCH Signature, how was FETCH Signature born?
YF: It’s a year old now. I’m so lucky to have a brother who happens to have a knack for street wears. So we had the infrastructure for it set up already including material sources. I was with him last year and he was talking about having a Nigerian clothing brand that fits creative hustle. By ‘creative’ I’m referring to people that wouldn’t just wear a shirt and suit to the office, people that would put on some jeans and a t-shirt and pop out. I thought this guy is actually talking to me because I’m not the suit type. I also know there are many people like me out there that have a passion for t-shirts and joggers.
After working on the idea for about 3 months, we launched FETCH. It wasn’t something blown up on sponsored pages or hyped on social media, it was just our idea of what freedom feels like. We wanted something that would grow organically without hype. And so far, the journey has been nothing but amazing.
AO: So was it challenging trying to break into clothing and fashion and trying to pivot your clothing brand from a design standpoint, were there any challenges that you faced trying to do all this?
YF: A lot, I have to be honest, and I’ve not actually broken through — don’t even use that word ‘breakthrough’. There’s a lot, and you know sometimes when you’re known for something and you want to do something else people generally think you’re confused. So you want to be careful, you want to avoid misconceptions as much as possible. I really thought about the challenges before going into clothing. Like what would my clients think? How do I manage two different brands at the same time? But I was glad that my clothing label needed my typographic skill. Designs go on tees and I wanted to create unique custom lettering for tees.
AO: You can scale up organically without trying to start as if you have a monster and look for how to give the monster food after sometime.
YF: Exactly. We are not trying to be everything to everyone at this point, we just want to do our thing, satisfy as many customers as possible and keep it going that way.
AO: Do you feel like you have a responsibility to contribute to something much larger than yourself?
YF: Of course, that’s a good one and it got me thinking already. It has to be a cause I believe in personally. If you want to contribute to something much more larger than yourself it has to be something that you’re passionate about, something you would do and not expect anything in return, you just want to put everything you’ve got into it and be happy. There are lots of stuff like that I want to be part of, it’s either I’ve not gotten the opportunity or I’m not ready yet. But if I see somebody doing something noteworthy, I would like to be part of it.
AO: Could you tell me a few of these things?
YF: First, here in Nigeria we don’t have this known art exhibition or art fair. A week long event that allows everyone to participate and share ideas. It’s more like moving the museums and art galleries to an open space. You know, In most cases, only the affluent in the society get access to exotic art galleries. I’m thinking about taking these galleries to the street and have something similar to ‘social media week’. That’s how I hope to make a big impact.
Look at it this way, if we have a huge art fair in an open place where school kids are allowed to freely come in and have a look, then we would be shaping them to appreciate art in the future. This will help prepare those ones that are really interested in art from childhood. Now imagine we expose these kids to art at a very tender age, would it be difficult for them to pay for art in the future when they need someone to design an identity? The answer is No. Because they would have grown to understand and appreciate art. Now if we have a national art fair from now, an exhibition you can take kids to, in 10–15 years time these kids would be the ones paying for art, and they would respect artists, they would respect designers and they will pay very well for it. And that’s where collaboration starts from, that’s where everything good that will happen in the art industry starts from, exposure of the next generation to what art is, the essence of art, how it can help impact the society positively.
That’s a cause I want to be part of. If I have the right team in place I will do. So if there’s one cause I want to be involved in, this should be it.
AO: What advice would you give to a young person starting out in this creative industry, especially the Nigerian creative industry?
YF: The Nigerian creative space is a tough terrain. If you think you’re going to do this to make ends meet, please don’t do it. If you think you’re going to do this to acquire unprecedented opulence, to become super rich, then don’t do it; except of course you’re business savvy and know how to leverage on your passion to make money. If not, please don’t do it. Go get some business training instead. Learn about the business of design. I’m not trying to discourage or scare you. If you think design isn’t something that connects with your soul, don’t waste your time trying to make designs. Look, you will be fighting lots of battles as a designer; battles from your family and friends, from people who expect so much from you. On many occasions you’re going to fight with your inner self. You’re going to question your ability. You’re going to resist the forces of low self esteem. For now, Nigerians don’t appreciate design like the western world. I’d recommend you have a creative side hustle that brings in daily income if you must survive as an artist. And that’s the reason you’ve got to love this to do it. We have no ‘Otedolas’ in this industry, but if you know this is something that truly connects with your soul, and it’s a way of expressing yourself, it’s beyond the amount you’re being paid for a job, then, just do it.
Follow Yemi Fetch’s work on Instagram and Facebook.
