Coffee NUBIA logo

5 Dec 2018

The making of Coffee Nubia logo was one of the most exciting enterprise we had been given. The idea was to reflect the essence of this café. This is not just a coffee place, it is a hub that welcomes the African Caribbean community regardless of tribe but also any other races for one of the best coffees but also African, Caribbean and European delicacies.

Many coffee places, although serving other products, use coffee as the centre of their symbolism. This is an aspect that the quality of the coffee served urged to reflect, without getting its aroma and strength lost in the one-dimension of such superficial symbolism. Coffee, it was going to include but not just coffee, exactly like the place itself.

The foundation of the place resounds in its name, Nubia, which refers to a region of Eastern Africa. The first thing we thought about therefore is to go to the other side of Africa to look into the symbols that characterise the other aspect of the hub. So, unavoidably, we looked into and browse through Adinkra symbols looking for a representation of what it is that Coffee Nubia represents for its community of customers. The Adinkra signs contain many attractive and adequate signs in terms of their meaning and impact.

The community aspect resounds in the BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO1 symbol meaning “help me and let me help you” and represent the cooperation and interdependence which distributed diasporas are reminded of in such few places as the café. FUNTUNFUNEFU DENKYEMFUNEFU, the “siamese crocodiles” is democracy but ore importantly in our context, unity in diversity.

NKONSONKONSON, the “chain links” means unity, human relations and mainly confirmed that there could be quite a number of options for this project. Together with the ESE NE TEKREMA, they were a favourite because they looked like a bean, which would allow me to include the coffee. The latter symbol has the the literal meaning “the teeth and the tongue”, and represents friendship, interdependence but also,  But I was not satisfied.

adinkrahene

Then I came across the ‘chief of all Adinkra King, the ‘chief of all Adinkra designs’, the Adinkrahene. In everything it was, it appealed to us and represented the project. Its strength and shape was coffee. Its responsibility and leadership. Its inspiring character is reminiscent of those moments when great authors are typing their opus in coffee places, businesses are being set up at the corner of such places, people are getting together ideas to lead the future. That was the symbol we were going to go with. Not at once apparent yet clearly unveiled.

It is one thing to find the symbol to design, it is another to design it. The Adinkra hene is perfectly formed in most of its designs but when you look into it for too long, it is like getting lost in a cup of coffee. In effect, it looks like the circles of any liquid into which a drop of liquid is falling. We explored this, the designer and myself for a while. I felt we were near the final idea, but I still felt it was missing the essence of the coffee, the after-taste, the impact.

This is where it occurs to me. Just like we take for granted the origin of our inspiration, such as how the comforting homeliness and hospitality of a coffee shop favours our ability to reconnect with our inner muse, there is a part of sitting at a coffee place that most of us completely ignore or even try to wipe out, the coffee stain. Those circles, in which I once saw liquid dropping into liquid suddenly became the stain that a cup leaves behind, similar to the trail of its presence that is the aroma in the air. There it was, the idea I sought, I found it. Certainly some will still see it as just-poured coffee and we did our best to allow for that because it is different perspectives that make a hub. But the coffee stain , the leftover after all is drank and said, is that little surplus that this business offers.

We weren’t out of the water yet. Branding is an identity that had its shape but begged for the remaining elements of its look and feel. The colours, the font, the size, they all had to be determined, played with, evaluated, eliminated or selected. The final colours chosen were not just there to say coffee and Nubia, they were also selected as a canvas to showcase the multiple colours and vibrances that each inidividual and group brings to Coffee Nubia.

1. http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra_index.htm

        

Silence Movie Translation

10 Aug 2016

Silence Movie Translation from French to English. Although the film has no dialogues, a number of written parts required translation which we were privileged to assist with.

About the film Silence, stylised $ILENC€

$ILENC€ is an independent short film from multiple award-winning director Glad Amog Lemra and lasts 16 minutes. The film is self-produced by both Glad Amog Lemra and Florence Elomo Akoa. Glad Amog deliberately chose the non-dialogue to express his loss for words towards a situation that continues after independence as well as to give viewers the freedom to analyze for themselves. The African director of Congolese origin wanted to stage the massacre in Africa during the various presidential elections in recent months. Because, beyond the killings of thousands, it is the despair of many generations of Africans who, since the independence of the 1960s, continue to be the victims of coups, killings and civil wars.

You can find out more about the film here.

Translation of Silence

3E Web Media was called upon for the translation from French to English of the film text including quotations from celebrated freedom fighters Franklin Boukaka and Lumumba.

Fiverr Translation

21 Mar 2016

Fiverr is a digital marketplace for freelancers to offer services (called gigs) to customers worldwide at a starting cost of $5 hence the name.

Our high expertise was recognise by the giant tradeplace and we were called in to work with other freelancers on a project to expertly translate the Fiverr framework into the French language.

Translation is always a serious project that is about converting more than words and a lexicon but meaning and culture. For us, it was about making a French speaking person coming into the Fiverr environment feel as if the place was just made for them. We are grateful to  such a leading  brand to acknowledge and have requested to use our knowledge in the area and carried out the work with a sense of privilege and duty.

Out Of The Black album release

20 Mar 2016

The Out Of the Black project is the production, release and promotion of the debut album by Tiki Black, Manchester-based performing songwriter by way of Paris and Cameroon. We created the website, designed the media for and distributed the release for promotion.

The release has received an Akademia award for best Folk/Singer-Songwriter album Nov 2013, the website has been highly praised and the music has been played and reviewed worldwide including in France, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Mauritius, the USA, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.

The Music was prepared in CD and WAV/MP3 formats (including radio-ready tags) and distributed to all major music retailers and some independent ones including Bandcamp, It also has been sent to over 20000 blogs, ezines, magazines, radios, with a press release written specifically for it.

The deliverables included a written and distributed press release, a designed CD cover and booklet, distribution to radios / magazines / blogs for feature request / airplay with analytics, a website design that reflects the music release.