Amaka Pascal

The Curious One.

I pride myself on being a curious person and I like to learn. I have ventured into illustrations and digital arts. At some point, I sold my digital work online however it’s on hold right now but I am thinking of restarting soon.

I love music and creating playlists. I love to read books on design, I also read self-help and non-fiction books. I am currently learning German on Duolingo and I enjoy a bit of photography which I share on my Instagram feed. I give reviews on google maps and I am currently a level 6 local guide.

As I said, I try everything, I play games, watch crime documentaries, and cartoons. I love exploring new places and restaurants. I also used to keep a pet but lost her to an ailment.

Setting Out

My journey started in my first year in university. I wanted to learn something outside of school and so, I took some classes learning HTML, CSS, and other basic skills at a centre. My initial plan was to be a developer and this pushed me to learn front-end development. Then, upon the suggestions of a friend, I tried out designing and realized that I had a better eye and patience for it.

That First Job

I continued visiting that centre where I learned, even after completing the course. They had a workspace where I could sit and work alongside other developers. It was at the centre that I met my very first client, Mr. Abraham. Initially, I thought that Mr. Abraham was only testing my skills, seeing that he worked at the centre. I was wrong. He proposed to pay me ₦100,000; a lot more than I anticipated or ever made for myself. In fact, that was when I knew tech was the way forward in my life.

Freelancing, COVID, and a Job

When Covid came and Nigeria joined the rest of the world in a lockdown, I decided to improve my skills, as well as seek jobs. I took numerous courses online and was being sought out for a number of design jobs. In fact, the jobs made it challenging to return to school for my final year when the lockdown eased. I already had a decent income and the decision to go back to school was such a big struggle. I had lost all interest in continuing my course but I eventually returned to school to finish my degree as a good Nigerian child should.

The thing is, I spent most of my career freelancing and somehow, wanted structure. A friend informed me of a vacancy at an agency – CheckDC. I was not certain that the position would still be open when I was done with school, which was why I was surprised when the agency reached out to me and agreed to let me join their company when I was ready. That was how I joined the CheckDC team right out of school.

Challenges

While I was able to get an early hang of visual design, my biggest challenge came in the form of communication. Being quite introverted, I didn’t have the required skills needed to effectively communicate ideas and receive feedback from my clients and this cost me a lot of times. I also struggled with creating schedules, negotiating fees, and communicating timelines with clients.

I have had to learn by experience to find different ways to communicate and by sifting through to hold on to strategies that worked while disposing of strategies that didn’t.

Looking Back

I wish I knew that design was not just about colors and typography and making an artboard fine. There is a lot of thinking that comes with design, every decision has a reason behind it. I just recently figured that out and  I didn’t know that it was going to be this stressful. So, I hope that people know that before they decide to venture into design. 

On Community and Networking.

It wasn’t till much later that I started to chronicle my design experience on Twitter. I originally didn’t try to network or join any design community. I was more like a sole runner in my own game until my Twitter audience started to respond to my posts and interact with my work.

I admit that I should have sought out a community earlier, and have since made conscious efforts to network with other designers and developers. I believe networking is an important skill every designer must try to hone.

On Design Thinking

I believe design thinking involves the understanding of human desires in relation to a problem and then identifying strategies and alternative solutions to it. I believe it isn’t about pushing pixels and that visuals are the last thing to think about when talking about design thinking.

Design thinking is very iterative and non-linear, meaning there is no start or endpoint, you can go through all steps in any direction, the results determine what to do next. Even after a product has been launched, the research process could start all over again. This is because humans or users are forever changing and growing, which means desires change with time and so, the study and understanding of users is a forever-long iterative process.

Inspiration, Favorite Design Tools, and Apps

I am inspired by many things including physical forms, buildings, layout, colors, and sounds. I also find inspiration sites very helpful.

As for my favorite design tool, I am drawn to Figma’s live collaboration and real-time design. I also admit a bias when it comes to Adobe products as Illustrator is one of my all-time favorites.

Twitter holds a special place in my heart as it has helped me create amazing relationships with people and has brought countless projects and referrals my way. I also love Stoic where I enjoy journaling about my daily experiences and enjoy the meditation and breathing exercises, daily reminders, and quotes to improve my general wellness. 

This is my general playlist updated with daily songs I vibe to 👇🏽

Advice for Budding Designers

The best advice is to improve one’s skills and expand one’s range. Anyone setting out in Design should try to identify his/her weakness and improve on them. They should also make the effort to take other digital arts courses outside of UI/UX courses. They also need to pay attention to details, especially with their work and relationships with clients and peers.

I often say that people interested in design do not have to wait to find mentors, or special gadgets before taking design seriously. In my opinion, they just have to start from somewhere and stay focused.

Lastly, my advice is that people ensure they don’t delve into design for the perceived financial benefits, but rather because they have an interest. You see, design and careers in tech generally demand a lot of patience and one could get really frustrated if one is in it for the wrong reasons.