Every designer, at some point in their career, has imagined what it would be like to work on a project that shapes brands at a global scale. The kind of project that makes headlines, defines industries, and leaves a lasting impact. But what does it really take to lead these massive, high-stakes design initiatives?In this conversation, we sit down with Mary Afolabi, Design Director at FourthCanvas, whose decade-long career has been defined by leading brands through transformative design processes — from Nigerian Breweries to Ventures Platform. Featured in the Best of Ife Art Hall of Fame (2015) and a Fine & Applied Arts graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University, Mary has built a reputation for delivering strategic, impactful design at scale.But beyond the work itself, she is also deeply passionate about mentorship — guiding fellow designers to grow in their careers — and is the author of Mae’s Book on Colours (2023), a resource on the power of color in design.For the design community — especially those with the ambition to work on agency-level, high-impact projects — this conversation offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the challenges, trade-offs, and skills required to operate at the highest level.How do large-scale design projects come to life? What does leadership look like when managing multiple stakeholders, evolving creative demands, and business objectives? And most importantly, how can ambitious designers position themselves to one day be part of, or even lead, such projects?This episode isn’t just a conversation — it’s a blueprint for those who dream of designing at scale.Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Mary Afolabi
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Oyeleye Ogunsanya popularly known as LeyeConnect is the Lead Designer at Risevest. A Senior designer who approaches design problems with high level of excellence; with every touch unique to the click of his mouse.
In this episode, we talked about Leye’s insightful journey into design as a rookie. The challenges he faces, his process, and the roadmap.
Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Oyeleye Ogunsanya
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Season 1 // Episode 18 - #DesignstrationPodcast
Usifo Murphy (Druids) is a Senior Product and Interaction Designer with Six Years of Experience Leading Design at Early Stage and Series A Web3 Companies.
In this episode, we talked about negotiation from both the client and designer’s perspective, we talked about the business of design, basically; money in general.
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Season 1 // Episode 2 - #makingmistakes
Making Mistakes is a series where we talk about Grave and Great Mistakes creatives make in their careers; and how we can manage and avoid such as we progress in our career.
In this episode, we are joined with Rukayat, Rue, Kems (co-host), and Ubon (host); discussing on mistakes they’ve made over the years in their career.
Connect with Rukayat on X (formerly Twitter): The Ruqayyah
Connect with Rue on X (formerly Twitter): Rue UX Design
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Colins Donye heads the team at Rvysion Studio. A team of creatives that helps brands prepare for the market with intuitive design development.In this episode, we talked about managing creatives; the challenges and successes that comes with such heavy task.
Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Colins Donye
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Our Stories is a series on the Designstration Podcast where we tell our stories.
In this episode, Ufot Ubon shared his childhood memories of his creating and flying kites with his friends; and the lessons he can deduce from that experience today.
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Oyeleye Ogunsanya popularly known as LeyeConnect is the Lead Designer at Risevest. A Senior designer who approaches design problems with high level of excellence; with every touch unique to the click of his mouse.In this episode, we talked about the business of design. The technical knowledge needed for beginner designers to breakout into the labour market in the Nigerian design industry; as well as working with clients and business owners.
Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Oyeleye Ogunsanya
Connect with guest on Instagram: Oyeleye Ogunsanya
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Connect with host on X (formerly Twitter): Ufot Ubon
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Our Stories is a series on the Designstration Podcast where we tell our stories.
A series that merges the gap between writers and voice-over artists where in each episode, we look to convert writer's original content into audio format with interesting sound and visual design with full credit to both our writers and voice-over artists.
Credit:
This Episode was written by Kathryn Olushola & voiced-over by Delight Nat
Connect with the Writer on X (formerly Twitter): Kathryn Olushola
Connect with the Voice-Over Artist on X (formerly Twitter): Delight Nat
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In this episode, Kems & Ufot came with their lists to pair up designers to different mobile applications. Enjoy the episode without spoilers.
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Buy your UDC24 Tickets: UDC24 Tickets
Use the Coupon code UDCXDSP to get a 50% Discount off!
Oyeleye Ogunsanya popularly known as Leye Connect is the Lead Designer at Risevest. A Senior designer who approaches design problems with high level of excellence; with every touch unique to the click of his mouse.
In this episode, we talked about the process of hiring designers in not just Nigeria but Africa at large; the system, theft in designs, AI portfolios crafting and lots more.
Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Oyeleye Ogunsanya
Connect with guest on Instagram: Oyeleye Ogunsanya
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Connect with host on X (formerly Twitter): Ufot Ubon
Connect with host on Instagram: Ufot Ubon
Join the community on X (formerly Twitter): Designstration
You can suggest a topic/ask a question by filling out this form
Like, Share, Subscribe and leave a Comment on YouTube
#DesignstrationPodcast #Designstration
Buy your UDC24 Tickets: UDC24 Tickets
Use the Coupon code UDCXDSP to get a 50% Discount off!
Making Mistakes is an audio-visual series curated by the Designstration Podcast. A series where we talk about both Grave and Great Mistakes creatives make in their careers and even life in general, and how we can avoid such as we progress in our career.
In this episode, Ufot Ubon talked about one Grave Mistake he made while starting out in his career, specifically as a Content Creator and Video Editor.
Connect with Ufot Ubon on X (formerly Twitter): Ufot Ubon
Connect with Ufot Ubon on Instagram: Ufot Ubon
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Join the community on X (formerly Twitter): Designstration
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#DesignstrationPodcast #MakingMistakes #Designstration
Buy your UDC24 Tickets: UDC24 Tickets
Use the Coupon code UDCXDSP to get a 50% Discount off!
Bolutife Awakan leads the design team at Traction, a brand strategist & designer with over 8 years of experience in brand designs, printing, as well as in business. Bolutife has worked on and delivered projects across various industries, locally and internationally.
In Nigeria, oga simply means boss. Oga-Centred Design is a term commonly used in describing a boss (usually one little knowledge on design) who heavily influences design decisions and directions based off of their plans, especially in an egoistic manner.
In this episode, Bolutife shares her experience with bosses on the subject at hand.
Connect with guest on X (formerly Twitter): Bolutife Awakan
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Kachi Dominic is a Senior Product Manager at Norebase.
In this episode, Kachi shares his journey into Product Management and the role of a Product Manager.
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X (formerly Twitter): Ufot Ubon
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Oyeleye Ogunsanya popularly known as LeyeConnect is the Lead Designer at Risevest.
A Senior designer who approaches design problems with high level of excellence; with every touch unique to the click of his mouse.
In this episode, we delved into the world of Product Design; conversing on the basics to the complexity of product design.
Click Here to follow Leye on X (Formerly Twitter)
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Watch this Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HtEqYxp4PbA
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