Grace Enemaku is an award-winning, Nigerian-Irish designer and illustrator from Dublin, who creates vibrant, playful branding and imaginative illustration work. Often filled with colour, a touch of sparkle and surreal shapes, Grace’s work features a diverse array of characters and is heavily nostalgic, mixing 90s imagery with motifs from sci-fi and video games. Previous projects range from conceptual branding for start-ups and SMEs, to print and illustration for local arts projects. She’s exhibited with Music, Memory and the Night, Hen’s Teeth and Where are the Black Designers, plus winning a 100 Archive Award for her Dublin Vinyl record packaging.
Alongside her creative practice, Grace is also a co-founder of DesignOpp, a recently launched, IDI (Institute of Designers in Ireland) initiative to champion people of colour in the Irish design and creative industry. Founded with brand designer Mic Chikanda and branding consultant Greg Osborne, Grace tells DbyW that “through events, mentorships and portfolio reviews we want to create a community for designers of colour that will be a safe space for them to learn and grow with their peers.”
We recently talked with Grace to find out more about her design journey, DesignOpp’s latest collaboration with Damn Fine Print’s Good Vibes Collection, and her thoughts on how to encourage diversity and inclusion within the creative industries.
Can you tell us about your career journey so far?
In 2016 I graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology (now Technological University Dublin) with a BA in Visual Communication and started working at a tech start-up called Intouch as lead designer of a small team. The following year, I landed my first agency job at Thinkhouse, which is one of the world’s leading independent agencies with a focus on youth culture. Looking back, this move definitely sent me down the path I’m on today, as I met so many inspiring, creative peopleas well as future collaborators such as Mona-Lxsa, the founder of the female collective GXRL CODE, which we ran together at that time. I started as a Midweight Designer and by the end of my (almost) 3-year term was Design Manager.
By this stage I had developed so many creative outlets and side projects between GXRL CODE and my streetwear brand KTSCH that I started to consider going freelance. I wanted to have more control over my time and be able to lean more towards different types of projects when they arose. I took the leap at the end of 2019 just before the world as we know it ended—I’ve always had great timing! I was lucky that the pandemic didn’t hinder me as much as I expected due to the remote nature of design work. I’m thankful that I made the decision when I did, as I don’t think I would have been brave enough to take that risk in the middle of a global pandemic.
Since then I’ve honed my skills as a designer and illustrator, working with amazing brands such as Arnotts, Facebook, The Science Gallery, St. Patrick’s Festival, Design Bridge and Gill Books. I won a 100 Archive Award in 2020 for my Dublin Vinyl record packaging – one of my favourite projects – and have exhibited with Hen’s Teeth and Where are the Black Designers.
DesignOpp launched in 2021. What made you want to co-found the platform and what are you hopes for its future?
I’m one of the founders of DesignOpp, along with brand designer Mic Chikanda and branding consultant Greg Osborne. DesignOpp is a platform championing diversity in Irish design by POC, for POC. Black people and POC are seriously underrepresented in the design industry, which doesn’t reflect Irish society today and the many different cultures that now call Ireland home. We are partnered with the IDI (Institute of Designers in Ireland), a professional body that advocates Irish design while working to change its face.
Through events, mentorships and portfolio reviews we want to create a community for designers of colour that will be a safe space for them to learn and grow with their peers. We created the DesignOpp directory for creatives of colour in Ireland to display their work to potential clients and employers and provides a resource for hirers to find diverse talent. We welcome people of colour in graphic design, illustration, 3D/motion, web, UI/UX, architecture, product design, interior design, photography and videography. A revamping of third-level education is in our plans, to make it a more inclusive experience for students of colour, provide guidelines for environmental stressors and decolonise the curriculum by including African art movements and designers of colour.
We approached the IDI for support in creating this initiative after the tragic death of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020. It made us really look at ourselves and our industry and interrogate what we could do to better serve our people and community, as designers and as Black people. I didn’t think of myself as an academic or an activist at that time and struggled to see where I had skills to offer in those realms, so I chose to support initiatives that were already established in the community (such as MASI, Black and Irish, and Black Pride Ireland who all do incredible work). Then I focused on using my skills to provide more opportunities for Black people and people of colour in the Irish design industry. Originally, we had intended to create DesignOpp for BIPOC only but after seeing the levels of hate and racism towards the Asian community increase during the pandemic, we realised that though our struggles may look superficially different, they are often the same. We are not free until we all are free, and so we decided to include and support all POC in DesignOpp.
“DesignOpp is a platform championing diversity in Irish design by POC, for POC. Black people and POC are seriously underrepresented in the design industry, which doesn’t reflect Irish society today and the many different cultures that now call Ireland home.”
You were previously creative director at GXRLCODE—a creative collective and platform that amplifies female talent—could you tell us bit about the initiative?
GXRL CODE is a female collective that amplifies female talent in the creative industry, with a strong focus on visual creatives and music artists. I was co-founder and creative director of GXRL CODE for 3 years, working with the original founder DJ Mona-Lxsa. Through the collective I met the most incredible women and made lasting friendships—there was no event like a GXRL CODE event for showcasing female talent! However, I decided to leave last year as I had just too much design work and work at DesignOpp, which as a much younger initiative needed more input. Plus, I knew Mona could handle things with GXRL CODE. She’s taking the collective to new and exciting places after an incredible collaboration with Ireland’s luxury department store Brown Thomas for Black History Month, creating content for them featuring upcoming Black talent such as, photographer Tobi Bello of The Naked Studios.
Is there a particular personal project you’ve really enjoyed working on from the past year?
A personal project I just finished up was DesignOpp’s Good Vibes collection, in collaboration with Damn Fine Print, an Irish screen printing studio. In collaboration with two other members of the team, Ashwin Chacko and Hannah Chang Hui Ross, we created limited edition risograph prints on the theme of good vibes and positivity, to look toward the New Year with hope and optimism. We also want to use the collection to raise funds for DesignOpp so that we can continue our work this year to support our community in a bigger way. We’re hoping to expand and do a bigger exhibition this year with more artists of colour and highlight the creatives in our directory. Prints are still on sale now at Damn Fine Print.
I’ve also decided to do a sketch a day this year (this month at least, let’s see how long I can stick to it) to get away from the computer, although ironically I’ll still be posting them on my tiktok every day. I do a lot of digital work and I’d like to get back into drawing and sketching, like I used to as a kid and just draw something new every day. I’m also using a marker pen to overcome my terrible reliance on Cmd Z.
Good Vibes prints now on sale now at Damn Fine Print.
What are your main influences and inspirations for your work?
I’m influenced by nostalgia and imagery from my childhood in the 90s, from old sticker books to anime and all kinds of digital aesthetics stemming from coming of age during y2k and a lifelong love of sci-fi and videogames. My work is very colourful, sometimes surreal and filled with sparkles and other kitsch iconography. Women feature heavily in my work (especially Black women) and I take every opportunity I can to explore my identity in my pieces. I find this has informed my work more and more as I got older and went freelance, giving me more control over the type of projects I take on. Fashion and streetwear inspire me every single day and I live vicariously through the clothing of the characters I draw.
”My work is very colourful, sometimes surreal and filled with sparkles and other kitsch iconography. Women feature heavily in my work (especially Black women) and I take every opportunity I can to explore my identity in my pieces.”
How has being a woman of colour impacted your career so far?
Being a woman of colour in the design industry has been challenging at times. It can be isolating being the only woman of colour in the room, which is a regular occurrence. You’re always pushing against stereotypes like the “Angry Black Woman™” and I often catch myself trying to make myself smaller during negotiations or softening my words in emails, anticipating a backlash on the bais of previous experiences. Internally, you struggle with taking up the space you know you deserve, while weaving between the complex societal expectations of the world. That said, being biracial, Nigerian and Irish has given me a unique perspective on the world that I wouldn’t change in a million years. My ethnicity informs my work and has allowed me to explore my identity in wonderful ways. It has opened doors to cultural projects like the Dublin Vinyl cover featuring the Black Irish identity which won a 100 Archive award. It’s reassuring that people are now starting to become more aware of the need for diversity in creative. Although some may exploit it by being performative, I do truly believe that we’re moving in the right direction, when it comes to authentic collaboration and giving women and people of colour ownership and control of creative narratives.
Do you have any thoughts on how we can encourage greater diversity and inclusion across the creative industries?
This answer will be long so apologies in advance! Firstly, it is so incredibly important that the creative industries take a stand against unpaid internships. If the only people getting their foot in the door are people who can afford to work for free for months at a time, then already you have closed that door on so many people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. The industry will remain dominated by one type of voice which is the antithesis to both inclusion and creativity.
When hiring don’t just hire someone recommended by someone you know. Yes, that is easy and safe, but you need to expand your circle and your searches. Put out ads open to everyone, contact local community groups such as DesignOpp, Fuse Manchester, Where Are the Black Designers, Diverse Creatives, Black Artist Database (and many more depending on your location!) that have designer directories and links to a wider demographic than you would normally have access to. We are always delighted to share job opportunities with our community.
Lastly, I would say be aware of your inherent biases; we all have them. Consider whether your idea of “a good fit” is just someone who is similar to you and assess whether someone different may bring new ideas to the team. And be willing to take risks. On more than one occasion I have talked colleagues, and other hirers, into hiring a young woman they weren’t 100% sure about because she seemed less confident than other interviewees. However, the work spoke for itself and once in the job they excelled. Young women fresh out of college are often harder on themselves than their male counterparts, and that is not indicative of their ability, but of the world that tells them they have less to offer. Research shows that female candidates perform better when a female interviewer is present in the room so bring women into the interview process (though hopefully you should already have women in management positions!). Women, people of colour and those with underrepresented identities have high rates of imposter syndrome, no matter how talented, popular or award-adorned they become.
“…it is so incredibly important that the creative industries take a stand against unpaid internships. If the only people getting their foot in the door are people who can afford to work for free for months at a time, then already you have closed that door on so many people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.”
Mural by Holly Pereira, commissioned by DesignOpp and Dublin City Council
What do you hope to see in terms of design’s role in influencing societal change in the future?
Design allows you to connect with people visually and emotionally. It has the power to change hearts and minds, telling the stories of real people and their experiences. I think in the future we will continue to see it play a big part in social activism, particularly online and in social media. The carousel has become synonymous with learning and conveying complex information in bite-sized form. The creative industries consider themselves to be among the most compassionate and forward-thinking industries in the world. My hope for the future is that the design industry will lead by example in amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities. Hire us into more leadership positions and encourage other industries to follow our lead when it comes to diversity and inclusion.
“The creative industries consider themselves to be among the most compassionate and forward-thinking industries in the world. My hope for the future is that the design industry will lead by example in amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities.”
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- Twitter is @GraceEnemaku