ETHIOPIAN GRAPHICS DESIGN

By Zee Amanuale

INTRODUCTION

Ethiopian is one of the countries that can be called fascinating because of its multiplicity of culture and assortment of languages with in more than 80 nations in it. Imagine how diversity is settled and equality within every ethnic groups is managed. Generally Ethiopia have a large cradle for those who has interested in any kind of visual research, Graphics scheme and it is also safe and sound to decide working here.

DISPARAGEMENT

However I have lucid hesitation on Ethiopian graphics designers. I am not trying to criticize as a professional graphics design but I am going to suggest and recommend those designers a good way to work an interactive and tolerable effort on their designs. It also helps promoting our own country and can show what we have to the world.

So here is my suggestion. As I mentioned before we have a bunch of cultures and ways that enables us to express our notion to others. What we have to do is knowing how the culture holders manage that then we can demonstrate it with in our designs and illustrations. We didn’t supposed to copy it from the rest of the world. What we have to acquire from others is the technique, routine and the tool to do such work.               

Here is what I realized in some of photo studios in the city I live, Bahir dar. I saw a picture of two persons having a different sex and put on one of the Ethiopian traditional cloth but the background of their photo is one of the reason why I wrote this article, I didn’t know it exactly but I can make sure guys it is not in Ethiopia and it is in the middle of huge buildings and skyscrapers. It is like wearing shorts over trousers.       

Even though a lot of graphics works depends on the spectators. One may be impressed and the other might see it as a nonsense, we can make it much better if we really know what we are doing in our designs and editing’s. You might be a motion graphics designer, Character designer or an illustrator, but all of the things related to graphics want you to know what you are doing. You must be reasonable for everything inside your work.  We can take an example of a rapper with a dark background, chain on his neck, smoke running out from his mouth. The editing might seem very epic, stylish, and modern. But you don’t have to use the same style for everybody. Each and everything inside your graphics must have a meaning unless it will be putting something to something. Now a days a lot of graphics designers who mainly work on Adobe® Photoshop and other photo editing soft wares believe that without some lights and flares in their work might consider them as an amateur so as a rule whether it fits or not they will always add some flare to everything they do.

SWEEPING STATEMENT

Finally, we don’t have to copy everything from others. Let us use our imagination and creativity to signify our culture within our graphics. If they use Eiffel tower as their background well then let us use Aksum obelisk. Let us put things together and reshape them to apt or fit with our culture. I hope it will help you and makes u feel to change the way work before And I will put some of my works and other links that will help illuminate my idea.

 Zee

Thank you.