Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniella Uche-Oji.
Hi Daniella, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Houston, Texas but I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. I’ve always been an artist – Used to draw and paint a lot. I also loved photography, film and storytelling. While I was in boarding school in Lagos, I used to spend most of my time painting and drawing by hand, I still do it today. But then that was my primary medium. Separate from all that, I had an obsession with computers and technology; Used to sneak to the computer lab to learn photoshop and blender in school then, I got opportunities to learn to code a little bit as well so I thought I was going to be a software engineer. That was initially what I was going for but I didn’t like math or physics. One day I saw an interview on MTV base in the year 2012 of Sesan Ogunro who is a Nigerian Music video director and, in that interview he said he studied 3D animation and special effects. I was intrigued and went on to look it up and saw that there was such a thing as Computer art; I was happy because now I felt I found something that was going to allow me to blend my art and technology. So, I told my parents that was what I wanted to study in school.
I moved to the US in the year 2016 and I started out at Drexel University studying 3D Animation and Visual Effects, was on academic probation twice and people had really put me on the boat of the “dumb ones” whole time I was struggling to adjust to the country, get better grades and also live the life of a young one. One comment that stood out to me was when someone had said, “maybe you should go to community college, you know university isn’t for everyone” and I understood that was shade. I then focused on trying to prove myself instead of just existing. So, I started hating this person and the energy that exuded from them. I just wanted to be away from them – Eventually started getting better grades and changed my major to film and media art (post-production) so, when I finally was able to leave – took a lot of mental strength and support from God to be able to focus, finish my quarter and then switch schools. Especially because I didn’t have my family with me, they could only support me over the phone. I finally finished school at Temple University where I studied the same thing and focused mostly on post-production which was the editing, animation and the graphics aspect of storytelling. Then I decided I was going to pursue a career in Graphic and Motion design, which is what I am doing now. Too many rough patches but I am here now!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all. I moved from a different country with a different mindset and I was just too nice to be in a place like Philadelphia; All that empathy in a place where people are just cold-You know? That mindset was very different from what I could understand even though I grew up in Lagos so I already knew how to navigate through many life struggles but, I can’t say it was all me. It was God’s protection.
There was culture shock, and people making fun of my accent, throwing little shade here and there, they see you as that African girl and because of the media perception of Africa – seems like there was a lot of disrespect. Which was now in turn affecting my mental health; I was struggling to remind myself that I was still worth everything that I knew I was going for and put on this earth to do.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in graphic and motion design. Amongst every design I have done, the one I am most proud of and actually got the most recognition is the colors studio design I did. I designed my favorite colors shows, did a polaroid type of design with colors complimenting what they had on and grains. I post my designs mostly on LinkedIn, I post on my Instagram as well but, LinkedIn is my favorite social platform right now. Most people saw it on LinkedIn and shared it everywhere. I designed it in about 2hrs and I was definitely surprised by how many people liked it.
I think what sets me apart is the way I see and interpret things. Every artist sees things differently but I see everything through a poetic and colorful lens. One of my favorite books is “The Beauty in Everyday Things” by Yanagi Soetsu. I believe that everything, even art should be playful, made with some form of care and empathy. I treat it the way I want to be treated and this includes human beings as well -mentally, that’s where I create from. I want people to be able to understand vulnerability and empathy differently through my designs. Everything from over here is created with a pure heart and good intentions.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have mentors. I get from book recommendations to design principles, major career advice and what it does is keep me focused. I think this is very necessary, I reached out to my mentors on LinkedIn or sent a DM on Instagram, quite frankly. Most of my life, I have been persistent with networking, reaching out to people and it has paid off big time.
My advice will be, don’t think about the reality that people won’t respond to you. It’s reality but people not responding to you shouldn’t stop you from reaching out. Just reach out to people, ask for a conversation, Introduce yourself and what you do to people. It just increases your opportunities and connections; There are people that are always willing to help. And, be humble and respectful to everyone, even people that you’re helping.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.daniellauche-oji.com
