Who are you and what do you do for Kishi?
My name is AdeoluwaKiisi Abraham. Call me Ade for short. I wear a few hats at Kishi Creative. I am a strategist and a Web designer amongst other things. I’m also a co-founder of the company.
How did you end up on this career path?
I discovered my creativity at a very young age. Or better still, I never lost touch with my creativity, because I believe all humans were born with creative gifts, but many of us lose touch with it as we develop into adults. Which is neither good nor bad, just my observation. Anyway, as a kid I was heavily into music, if you knew me then, you would have thought I would grow up to be a musician, but that was not to be I guess, but then again, who knows what the future holds. Fast forward to when I was in University. I needed a way to make some extra money along with the tiny allowance I got from my folks, so somehow I found myself printing designs on t-shirts and selling them. The hustle eventually turned into a brand with promise at the time, but it didn’t get far due to my immaturity as a young entrepreneur, but you know, you learn from these things. Anyways, that was my intro to design.
As time went I started designing logos for people around me, family members, friends etc. In my final couple of years at university, I got curious about web design, so I started to learn what it takes to develop a website and over the next 3-4 years I became a confident web designer. During that period, I started an agency. Well, really it was just me, but I got a few design projects to experiment and test my skills with. Bless those clients because they gave a young designer an opportunity to work on real-world projects. Thankfully most of the projects were successful.
After this period I was a YouTube junkie, and I still am if I’m being honest. I consumed a lot of information about brand strategy and how it can level up your game as a designer. I wanted that, so I chased it down learning the ropes and voila! I'm a brand strategist now. Lol. So yeah, that’s a rough summary of my path.
What inspires you to do what you do?
Oh man, what inspires me? Let’s see. I have a genuine love for creativity. If I wasn't doing what I do now, I would still be a creative professional in another field. Making something that didn't exist before is fascinating. I’m also inspired by successful designers I know who have come before me. Seeing their work and their accomplishments helps me to understand the heights that are attainable as a designer.
Apart from what you do for Kishi, what interests you?
I’m a gamer. I enjoy playing video games, especially FIFA, as frustrating as the game can be sometimes. I still enjoy music. I’m a big hip-hop head. Beyond just listening, I enjoy free styling and I just love the culture. I also enjoy many other genres of music. If you ask my wife, she’ll tell you how sometimes I'll start playing some old-school highlife music around the house just randomly. But hip-hop has to be my favorite genre. I like photography, however, it’s mostly because I'm a brand designer, I like the way it can elevate a brand’s visual identity. Remember how I said that I got curious about web design and strategy in my answer to the second question? I also got really curious about photography at some point and learnt the ropes a bit.
What changes do you think Kishi can make on a global level?
As a team of creatives, the dream is to go far beyond just brand design. Sometime in the future, we will create something that will improve the quality of life for people across the globe. Something that will change the human experience for the better. To be honest, behind the scenes, we’re already working on some products that we’ll introduce to the market properly as time goes on, but that’s a story for another day.
What is your all-time favourite movie/tv show?
Hard to say. I’m not much of a movie fanatic as such. I like everything they did with the Marvel cinematic universe. For someone who’s not a big movie head, they got me with that one. I am a big fan of Anime though. I have to say, although the story has been on pause for a very long time due to fatigue from the writer, my favourite anime of all time has to be Bleach. I am currently watching all the past episodes again for like the third time. They’ve announced the final arc of the anime series will be released soon. So I went back recently to start watching again from the beginning. A close second is Naruto.
If you could meet anybody in the world for dinner, who would it be and why?
It would have to be Kendrick Lamar. He has a very unique sense of creativity in his music. I would love to pick his brain to understand his creative process, his view on certain happenings in the world, and just vibe with him. He strikes me as someone that I can have some deep philosophical conversations with.
What is your pet peeve?
When people don’t attempt to understand other people's points of view. This is the reason for cancel culture and all the stupid sh*t it represents. People like this are quick to colour other people as bad, weird etc. I cannot be friends with those kinds of people.
If you had to pick a song and sing every lyric word for word, what song would it be?
Let’s make the question more fun. You know the story about Noah’s ark? If I had to sing every lyric to a song to enter the ark, it would have to be Life’s a b*tch by Nas ft AZ. Either that song or Space Cowboy by Jamiroquai.
