The Snippets 01

I published only twice last year but I wrote a lot more than I have in years. In many ways it all came to a head. I won’t make the mistake of declaring publicly that I will now resume publishing. I edit Time Is Such A Fleeting Thing which hasn’t seen much but required writing I’ve had to do. The second publication didn’t live up to the hype I started which is Persona by Layrz, I interviewed Ernest Ojeh and then I interviewed Yemi Fetch which I published nearly half a year later. After that nothing for months.

Unbeknownst to many I had sit downs with other creatives I met in Nigeria, I interviewed Evans Akanno and I spoke to him about the team he was building, I also spoke to Samson Aligba partner at ADE. Those interviews never made it out and I felt very guilty about them, I felt as though I had let Leslie Williams down but he was going through his own thing trying to grow several community projects at the same time. There’s a reason I got involved, which is that African designers need to collaborate more, we need to understand each other better and we need to praise each other more. One way to do that is by telling their stories, so we can all feel a bit closer and relate because by and large we have the same struggles.

I stopped blaming myself though, try as we might to strive towards a larger purpose there’s a saying that goes,

“To help others, you must first help yourself.”

To understand what that means we have to accept that there’ll never be enough time for everything that you want to do and you must prioritize if you want to be great that’s what many of us did so we say we don’t have time for all that mushy stuff. The consequences are that we remain in silos, and myself, I’ve been abroad most of the past 6 years, if anyone is isolated it’s me and yet I tried so if you’re in the community surrounded by other African creatives, on-site what’s your excuse? There’s no trick, that’s why those designers who have contributed to the community are to be respected, Time is money, we know that better than anyone, many of us work full-time who has time for the community but it’s there however loose.

Last year we lost Imogie Mubarak, that was something we all felt in some way. It was a bit sad that we were banding together because of a loss but it was also warming that we did. So in essence, I want to strive. This year I’ll publish those interviews, and we will understand that they are dated but maybe they will offer a look into the past, and I’ll also publish some of the inconsequential things I’ve written as a series of Snippets, this being the first. There’s no better reason to share, but for yourself and if you contribute to something larger while your at it. 👍🏾. AP.