A United Nations report revealed that in 2022 alone, flooding killed at least 662 people, injured 3,174, displaced about 2.5 million, and destroyed 200,000 houses, which are some of the devastating effects of climate change in Nigeria.

As an approach to solving this problem, there have been moves for private-public partnerships (PPP) in embracing circular and designers are not left out, as they play a key role in ensuring that products and services are climate-friendly.

In this interview with CrispNG, Seun Olatunji, design strategist and design thinking expert, and founder OLAT Design Consultancy, talks about the role of design in circular economy and how to embrace this unique design approach.

Can we meet you?
I am Seun Olatunji. I’m a design strategist and a design thinking expert. I help businesses innovate better by deploying strategic and design thinking principles to create products and services that are not just profitable but also socially responsible. I currently own a design consultancy called OLAT Design Consultancy.

Can you share your journey, experiences and what led you to become a design strategist?

My design background started as a graphic designer. I studied industrial design at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and I specialised in graphics. I practiced that for four years before transitioning into design strategy.

What prompted my transition was my love for seeing the value of design in business and also the business value of design. When I started writing articles and researching the details of the business value of design, I stumbled on design thinking.

Design thinking is a methodology that put users at the center of innovation, it’s focused on empathy and creating human-centered solutions. I loved the principle, I adopted it and wanted to practice it better, and design strategy gave me the opportunity to do so, and even to be able to do design better.

When I used to be a full-time graphic designer. In that period, I met people and I discovered over time, especially in this part of the world, that we streamline design to aesthetics. Even as an undergraduate, I discovered that design is actually beyond aesthetics; it’s about problem-solving.

People don’t really see design as the process, they see it as the end goal, but Design Thinking helped me to embrace design as a process, and also to be able to come up with better strategies that are human-centered in nature. The proper definition of what design is made me embrace the profession of design strategy because it helps me to apply it better. So, I transitioned into design strategy in 2020.

As the founder of “The Creativity In You” and OLAT Design Consultancy, what inspired you to start these ventures and what are your primary goals with each?

Back in 2015, I started a design movement called ‘WHATisDESIGN?’ which is a committed movement focused on helping people discover what design is all about through the instrumentality of new thinking technology research, conferences, and seminars. To be able to understand design, I believe that we cannot sideline creativity.

Read more: https://crispng.com/interview-we-need-to-start-embracing-circular-economy-principles-as-designers-seun-olatunji/