From walls to canvas

Everyone has their unique story and most of the time, we know how these stories play out from one struggle to victory but for others it is more complicated than that. It’s a build-up- a journey that no one sees the end quickly. We had the privilege of having a sit-down with one of the diamonds in the stubble whose story is quite intriguing- maybe not fascinating to the simple mind but one that mirrors that you can create your path even when all paths are blocked. 

In this exclusive interview, Victor Fatanmi, CEO of FourthCanvas shares his journey. From staring at images on his father’s walls to becoming an iconic designer and entrepreneur.

Can you share with us what growing up was like for you?

I was born in Oshogbo and grew up on the hills of Ira-Ikeji-Ile, Osun State. My parents were active as pastors and they moved a lot. I spent less than a year in Oshogbo, moved to Ife, and then at age three, I moved to Ira-Ikeji-Ile which would later become home because my father was a traditional ruler. 

My dad had a daily subscription to newspapers and we had a library. So, I got exposed to a lot of reading materials. But what fascinated me as a child were the books I saw and the calendars my father always received from different banks. The pictures on them caught my attention. So, I would spend time flipping through the calendars on the wall while I admire the pictures. Flipping through the pages was a beautiful experience then. All those images also influenced my drawing. However, I couldn’t really put a name to the things I experienced with the pictures until I got to the university.  That’s when I knew that those images on the calendar were graphics designs. My brother also ran a magazine and usually paid for graphics design. That’s when I got introduced to the world of graphics designing.  

That’s quite intriguing. It’s safe to say that your exposure spurred you into the art?

Hmm! First, I started to form opinions about designs. I could look at some designs and imagine other ways they could be better. “Oh! this should be bigger, the colour here is too much”.

Well, my brother noticed my curiosity and advised me to get training. I couldn’t afford to pay a training fee at that time. I just made do with the software on my laptop. This was in 100 level. My mother got me a laptop- that’s more like a family tradition for us when we gained admission. To put your question into perspective, I was exposed to designs but I didn’t think human beings were behind the beautiful designs. Matter of fact, I didn’t even think people got paid for it. So, I didn’t dream of making those designs. I was simply fascinated. Until I saw people doing it. That’s when I started dreaming it. There is a difference between watching football matches on TV and experiencing it on the pitch. That’s the clear difference between exposure and experience. Exposure will open your eyes to something, experience will help you define the art.  

Exposure gave me an inkling but experience spurred my interest in it. And it took me a long route before I arrived here. As a kid, I had multiple interests. I wanted to be so many things- a pharmacist, a sailor and even a referee. Then, I made up my mind that architecture was going to be final but after so many thoughts, I dropped the idea because I hated math and it seems to be the core of the course. So, I went for Estate management. 

Interesting! So, you picked estate management? Did you know what the course was all about?

My decision to study estate management, was because my dad said one of the richest men in our town then made money out of real estate. So, I wanted to make money. My dad used to say he was a medical doctor but made his money from real estate. And that kind of got me a little curious. Of course, when I entered estate management, I realized that it had nothing to do with real estate investments. I was merely studying to become a manager of real estate, not an investor.

What my dad was really talking about didn’t require me to study estate management. It just needed you to have money, to understand the investment and to be business savvy. But at that time, I confused it all as one. Just looking at the course, Estate Management, it just sounded like something more theoretical. And I’ve always been the kid that loved theory and excelled in English.

Let’s go back a little bit. You mentioned that your brother gave you the nudge to learn about design since you already formed an opinion about it, right? Tell us more about what the journey was like from there.

My laptop already had design software loaded by people my brother had recruited, which served as the starting point. They used it to edit anytime they went to his place. Curiosity drove me to investigate the software, and I began studying its features, eventually becoming hands-on with design. Initially, I worked on existing designs before creating a flyer for an event hosted by my brother’s magazine using a template from the software.
The most important aspect of my path was my entrepreneurial mindset. During my secondary school days, there was a common narrative of university students earning money in addition to their parents’ stipends. My brother’s experience supported this notion, as he was also earning money while attending school. Inspired, I decided to go into Event planning. This is actually the first time I’m sharing this. Event planning was popular at the time, and I like organizing things. I produced a logo for my firm and set up a business profile on Facebook. However, I didn’t invest in the intricate aspects of the firm, believing that the name and logo would be enough. As a result, the business did not prosper, and my first attempt at entrepreneurship failed.

The tipping point came when I listened to a conversation with a speaker invited by Navigator Christian to discuss entrepreneurship. The speaker simplified the business experience by emphasizing the importance of finding something you enjoy that people will pay for. That’s when I understood my brother had paid others for design work and I could do design to get money.

How did you grow into becoming the professional you are today?

Constant practice. The truth is that I never paid for any course to learn design. I practiced a lot with people’s work. In the early days, I joined a community called Naija graphic designers. Communities are important. I later found Evans Akano who later found Vzy. I followed his page on Facebook and their designs when I compared them to mine was much more beautiful at then. I was conscious of that and became my own critic.  While it is easier to judge your work and be your greatest critic, it is very important to be kind to yourself and work on your process. 

So, I never did a masterclass in design. I never went to school for it. I just continued to practice and I continued to gain inspiration. However, as we entered FourthCanvas, I switched focus from designing itself to mentoring other designers. And then learning more about sales and business development and trying to attract opportunities for running the business.

So, how was it transitioning from being a designer to a full-time entrepreneur?

While I believed that I could make money out of design, I didn’t fully think about it as a career. It was my roommate who made me realize that I could make a career out of design. Remember, I still had my estate management course before me. It was when I had an introspection that I settled into my life as a designer. And that’s when I began to slip out of school. When people ask about when I dropped out, I tell them I actually slipped out. Counting the cost and facing my consequence- which is the life I have now was not easy but the decision must be made. 

Right when I knew this was my life, I employed a designer. That’s when I began paying people for the job. That spurred me to continue to build by looking for more opportunities.

When did it cross your mind that you could impact the world? How did you evolve into an agency?

We saw a need to make businesses beautiful. We did an outreach in Akure then because we just wanted to improve businesses. As we continued to get more clients, we got more curious. We would look at other aspects of the business- for instance, we could see that the content needed fixing, and the colour of the brand could be an issue. That was how we were able to position our brand and we became an agency. We just wanted to fix things and that’s what we’ve been doing. Our clients know us for that.

What would you say is the most challenging thing about running a design agency in this part of the world?

The economy is the most challenging thing. Regardless of how much worth you’ve placed on yourself, you have to be flexible when it comes to pricing otherwise, you might not get many clients in Nigeria. So, you can’t charge higher than the impact you can have on the businesses now and you can’t have an impact of a hundred million dollars on a $10 million business.

Secondly, the competition is not fierce. You would think that must be good thing but it isn’t. Without competition, people just make do with the basic things. They don’t really get to appreciate the work that is being done.  It is quite challenging running an agency because you don’t get the right demand for your work.

What’s your advice for that young person who wants to start a design agency?

I would say, don’t start an agency outrightly. Take a job, save money, build connections, gain experience, gain organizational skills, and learn the business. But always have the builder’s mindset while at it. The truth is that it is quite easy to get comfortable and get lost in the splendour of stability but you need to be determined. Be focused on the goal.