A: A NEW DESIGN LANGUAGE, A DESIGN MOVEMENT.
Over the years and all over the world different art and design movements have been created by either an individual or a group of enthusiasts who come together to disrupt the global art and design scene from Bauhaus, Art Deco, Rococo, Modernist, Minimalism, Futurism to Cubism all these creative ideologies were born out of different cultural and social beliefs. As a designer and creator from Africa who’s is seeking change and breaking free from the norms of society, I decided to create a design language that can operate on a global platform of design, my approach is a combination of afrocentric culture, minimalism and modernism in particular focusing on my African identity as a Yoruba. The word afrocentric which regards African or black culture as pre-eminent, the afrocentric perspective is a culturally grounded social work practice-based model that affirms, codifies and integrates common cultural experiences, values and interpretations that cut across people of African descent. The term Afrocentric, Afrocentrism or Afrocentricity was coined in the 1980s by the African American scholar and activist Molefi Asante, combining this intellectual and philosophical frame of work with design and minimalism (in everyday culture (The Yoruba tribe)
Design is a missing gap between the future I look forward to, design is evolution and evolution is what shapes our world, creativity is the fundamentality of the human species, the beauty of nature and the power that drives the circle of life, using a common sense and basic approach to design with a combination of acquired skills in technical design, intuitive knowledge and research I aim to create a modern language in design that can be used in different mediums from art, food, music, fashion, literature, furniture, graphic and creativity in general, most importantly following the ethos and principles of good design from design icons such as Dieter Rams. Afrocentric Minimalism is the future of my culture, combining the past, present and the future, a forward thinking perspective is truly needed in these unprecedented times, we need new forms of expression that focuses on true social values, economic growth and sustainability, these are the ethos and philosophy of a new design language, I will like to end with a saying from a traditional ruler from the Yoruba tribe “We should not forget our past, at the same time we have to evolve any aspect of our culture that is not progressive should be removed and others fine tuned to meet the needs of civilisation”
Below are images of different ways this language has been expressed.
