Today we’d like to introduce you to Kwasi Frempong.
Hi Kwasi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I initially started just doing sketches in my sketchbook at a young age, but I stopped after a while. I picked sketching back up when I got to college and eventually I took up a role as a part of the social media team for my friend’s dad’s drug testing business. At the same time, I was also working on the social media team for a ministry where I was a member and a leader.
For the drug testing facility, I created flyers that advertised its prices, sales, services, and other business-related affairs. Similarly, my role in the ministry consisted of creating flyers to promote our service nights and community events. During my tenure at both organizations, I decided to start my own graphic design business and soon found clients within my community to serve.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It most definitely has not been a smooth journey. The main struggle I have faced and continue to face is consistency.
It has been difficult to remain consistent in working on my craft and marketing my work and services when there are no customers. I’ve also encountered difficulty in deciding what specific avenue to go down. My passions range from fashion design, branding, flyer/informational design, and many other like areas, and as such, I’m never sure what area I should focus on.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently, I perform a host of services that fall under the banner of design. Within this, I design fashion and product mock-ups, some of which could also be considered product branding. Within this, I’ve designed fashion shoot mock-ups, shoe mock-ups, product mock-ups/advertisements, and t-shirt/hat designs for customers.
I also make logos, flyers for people’s businesses and events, and simple informational graphics. Funny enough, my weakness in my inability to choose which design path to focus on has also helped feed one of my greatest strengths: my willingness to branch off into other fields and not be afraid to try new things.
This has been a huge help in keeping me going even when I wanted to quit and has been a constant reminder that there are endless possibilities in the world of design. I would say that what sets me apart is my versatility. Relating to my earlier point about branching into other areas, I believe that my ability to operate successfully within other artistic media is what differentiates me from others who may only be comfortable in one specific area.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The biggest lesson that I have learned is to take advantage of the ideas that you have. Quick story; months before Covid-19 even hit, I had a now-brilliant, but then-mundane, idea. My idea was to create designer face masks. At that time, I was inspired, and still am inspired, by Japanese street fashion and anime. I wanted to incorporate this type of fashion into face masks, as I knew that they were already heavily used in many Asian countries.
Figured that if I were to place cool designs on them, then I could appeal to those in the surrounding cities who were already fond of street fashion, and if I made enough of an impact here, then I would look to capitalize on the areas that already heavily use face masks, thus expanding my reach. However, this thought lasted for a couple of days and I let it go.
During the height of the pandemic, I remembered this thought and realized how big of an opportunity I had passed on and deeply regretted it. Since then, I have tried to document, and at times, act on certain ideas that I have gotten, some of which have been good, others, not as good. But at the end of the day, I have realized that pursuing these ideas has helped me to grow in my boldness and tenacity.
Pricing:
- Flyers: $30
- Logos: $60
- Edited Pictures: $50
Contact Info:
- Website: kafdesigns.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @official_kaf_designs
