Okeowo Adeniyi grew up around artists — a drawing uncle, creative siblings, and a curiosity that was always looking for a channel. He found it in his second year of university when he discovered Photoshop, and then Abduzeedo and Behance showed him that this could actually be a career. Lagos-based and Yoruba-rooted, he's built a practice shaped by two philosophies that might seem like opposites: reductionism, which strips everything back to its simplest form, and wabi-sabi, which makes space for experimentation and imperfection.
Post-pandemic, something shifted. He started going deeper into his traditional roots — learning Yoruba, studying the patterns of Aso-oke cloth and translating them into digital work and concrete. Lagos itself feeds everything: the chaos, the expression, the energy that never quite switches off. For Okeowo, that constant alertness has become a way of seeing.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
I've always grown up around artists and art, my uncle and my siblings where very good at drawing, in my second year in University I discovered photoshop and it just open a world of possibilities in my mind. The final part was discovering abduzeedo and behance, that put it in perspective how I could make it a career and work on impactful projects.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
Always do some form of research, its very easy to be on the wrong side of the brief when you don't research.
Design is service based, there are no best designers, it isn't a competition.
Form is equally as important as function.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
Reductionism and Wabi-sabi are a core part of my design philosophy. Reductionism allows me to look at things in their simplest form before making decisions. I lilke to fragment the concept and treat each part with research before the final work. I love wabi-sabi because it allows me experiment. I mostly use Wabi-sabi for my personal work and experiments.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
Third spaces: the revolution will happen in third spaces, people gradually coming together again because of their shared passion and interests.
The internet has become so dependent on design trends and gimmicks.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
Very! In personal projects anyways. It's important to make space for your personal and unorthordox ideas, your body of work can't just be client work. It's important to find your voice or at least attempt it by working on personal projects, collaborating with other creatives and research.
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
Taste and adaptability. Unfortunately we are in the era of A.I and it's unvaoidable at this point. I think taste would be the key factor, with all the influx of slop content, taste curation would help creatives . Also learning to work around A.I without leaning too much on it. A.I should be a tool and not a final output for creativity based on prompts.
How much does your city influence your work?
Lagos is a big part of my work, especially post-pandemic. Lagos is one big bowl of chaos, expression, and sunshine. It's a very vibrant and loud city that almost never sleeps. It reminds me of New York. I am inspired by the people, the buildings, the music, and the energy that comes with it. Lagos forces you to be alert all the time, which for me has turned into hyperfocusing on elements of the city I have never noticed before that end up inspiring the visual language in some of my work
How much does your culture influence your work?
Culture is also a big part of my work post-pandemic. I have found myself going back to my traditional roots (Yoruba), learning my traditional language. Recently, I have been experimenting around with the patterns used in Aso-oke, which is traditional Yoruba cloth, as digital patterns and on the physical level in concrete.
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?
Look to the past for information and research, but also stay current. Especially african creatives, there is a lot of untouched or uncovered history waiting to be interpreted for modern times. Also experiment as much as possible, play is a very crucial part of the learning process.
