Where Are the African Designers?

One aspect of technology I discuss frequently for my work with ImaginePublishing and blogs like Smashing Magazine is the world design community. In Asia groups like SIGG are making big names for themselves and as a result bringing a lot of attention to the Chinese ‘designing class’. But is there an equivalent in Africa? It turns out there is and people from all over the continent are revolutionizing the design industry, paving the way for others to follow in their footsteps.

The following is sort of a who’s who of African natives pushing design standards, innovating and getting the world’s attention. It’s a brief look at some of the people bending the curve…

G. Kofi Annan (Fashion/Design)
Kofi runs two blogs and a popular clothing company (Annansi Clothing Co.). His work is heavily inspired by hip-hop culture but what impresses me most is his work on his blogAnnansi.com which all about branding and marketing in African markets.

Justin Hartman (Web Graphics /Development)
Justin Hartman is the co-founder of the African news aggregator Afrigator.com and he’s the Digital Innovation manager at Avusa Media in South Africa. He’s also launched a number of web projects including Grabble, Nudjit and Webshots.

The Afrigator Staff (Design/Web Development)
In addition to Justin Hartman, Stii Pretorius, Mike Stopforth and Mark Forrester have all collaborated to create one of the most trusted brands in African web properties….Afrigator. Apart, their indivual contributions add up to create one long list of projects that help raise the profile of Africa’s contribution to web development.

WebAddicts (Web Development)
WebAddicts is a group of developers in Capetown creating web applications and web sites.

Just A Band (Animation)
JAB is a trio of Kenyan music producers and animators that are doing a great deal to establish Kenya as a place for artists and musicians alike. They also started the blog kenyananimation.blogspot.com to act as a place for other animators to network and share ideas.

Erik Hersman (Design)
Erik is the founder of Afrigadget and a co-founder of Ushahidi. He grew up in Kenya and Sudan and started Afrigadget to help profile notable cases of ingenuity and innovation by native Africans who lack the abundance of resources found in the western world. His passion and enthusiasm has helped turn Afrigadget into an incredible success.

Sheilla Constance Sidney (Fashion)
Another fashion designer, Sheila has made a lot of noise in the fashion industry for traditional African styles with the high fashion trends of Shanghai.

Saki Mafundikwa (Typography)
If you thought Africa was absent on the typography scene you were mistaken. Saki Mafundikwa is a Zimbabwean typographer and graphic designer. He’s also a senior partner at Cyberplex Africa, a web development firm.

Simon Njami (Contemporary Art/Photography)
Simon Njami (originally from Cameroon) is an independent lecturer and art critic, and is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Revue Noire. He is also a consultant in visual arts for the Association Française d’Action Artistique.

Of course I can’t list everybody, if there’s someone you feel I missed, please profile them in the comment field below!