My #2022Wrapped
Q1
It was a busy and exciting year for me in 2022. I started off by moving to a new city, which was both a challenge and a great opportunity for me to explore and get to know a new place.
One of the main things I focused on in 2022 was learning more about business, sales, and design. I joined CuratorsDAO as a council member and participated in various online meetups and spaces to curate and help projects building on the NEAR Blockchain
One of my biggest accomplishments in 2022 was starting a Twitter Spaces: “Tech Talk with Zara” with Victory Brown as Co-host, where I invited up to 12 speakers to discuss various tech-related topics. It was a great opportunity for me to connect with others in the industry and learn from their expertise.
I also had the chance to travel to Lagos, Nigeria for the biggest Open Source Festival of the year (Oscafest 22). It was an incredible experience to be surrounded by so many talented and innovative people in the FOSS ecosystem.
I was invited to Next Creators Podcast, one of the biggest web3 podcast on $NEAR — HumanGuild, w/ host Aliaksandr Sasha
Q2
In addition to attending conferences and workshops, I also took a short vacation to Dubai in April. While there, I was exclusively invited to join the British Business Group, UAE and had the chance to explore the city and try new activities, such as ice skating, yacht cruising, visiting a Ferrari stand for the first time.
In addition to personal milestones, I also made significant progress in my career. I mentored over 126 newbie designers on an exclusive online platform, sharing my knowledge and experience with them.
- Sponsored my first design workshop (Motion Design Experience, Ph) — It was a great opportunity for me to give back to the community and support the next generation of designers with the resources i had.
- Co-founded Web3Afrika, a community of blockchain creators, developers and designers in Africa/diaspora. W3A is a developer_dao spinoff led by Idris Ola
Q3
I made another quick trip to Dubai for a Web3 event (Web3 Dubai), where I had the chance to meet some of my crypto friends from The Graph, Binance, NEAR Protocol, and ChainIDE, among others where i also sealed some partnerships for Web3Afrika.
It was great to connect with others in the industry and also learn about the latest developments in the blockchain ecosystem. (TYSM, Khadijah)
Highlights
- In addition to personal milestones, I also made significant progress in my career. I mentored over 126 newbie designers on an exclusive online platform, sharing my knowledge and experience with them.
- Enhanced my brand design skills by learning more on conceptual storytelling, colors and typography.
- Spoke at 15 events, 5 conferences and a made special appearance on Next Creators Podcast. Won an award from Tech Trends Africa as the Best Visual Designer of the year 2022.
- Became better at community building, marketing and business of design.
- Invested in myself, people, products and assets.
- Was affected by recent layoffs at my previous company.
- Got two of my design projects featured on Behance for Graphic Design Category. Grateful
- Got into influencer marketing partnerships with three different companies, which allowed me to do more content creation and grow my Twitter to over 17,000 followers. This led to a significant increase in my passive income, as I made $3,000 in annual recurring revenue from influencer marketing alone (Oct-Dec).
- Towards the end of the year, i was selected as a Judge for the blockchain design hackathon 2023 — Visual Design category, powered by Blocasset
- I also made some improvements to my workspace, upgrading it to better suit my needs as a brand designer. As someone who works from home, I’ve come to realize the importance of having a comfortable and functional workspace.
Q4
Despite attending & speaking at professional events and also juggling my job, I also made time for personal activities, such as going to amapiano themed party, brunch hangout with friends, reading books, visiting art galleries and spending quality time with my family and partner.
Another highlight of the year was when I threw a surprise custom themed birthday party for my partner. It was a lot of fun to plan and execute, and my partner was thrilled by the surprise. I even invited her close friends over for an indoor hangout, which was a lot of fun.
you need to see her tear up..I forgot to add that i made her bake her own birthday cake without any slightest suspicion..hehehe
……plays a suspense music
My Trip to Excel London, United Kingdom
On a crisp autumn day in London, I arrived at Modern Frontends Live Excel London, a 2 day conference dedicated to discussing the latest web, web applications and best practices in improving the experience of modern technologies. Prior to the event, we had a speaker’s dinner at Sunborn Yacht Hotels where we networked with other speakers.
As a speaker at the event, I was excited to share my insights and experience with the attendees. As I made my way to Excel London — the conference center, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation and nerves. This was my first time speaking at an in-person conference of this size, and I wanted to make sure I did my best to engage and inform the audience.
Upon arriving at the conference center, I was greeted by a friendly and welcoming staff. After checking in and getting my tag, I made my way to the speaker’s lounge to prepare for my presentation.
As the time for my talk approached, I took a deep breath and made my way to the stage. As I looked out at the audience, I saw quite a sea of faces, all eager to learn and engage with the content I was about to present.
I began my talk by sharing some of my personal experiences at my previous company, designing interactive overlays for virtual events, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities that come with this rapidly growing field. I emphasized the importance of creating immersive and engaging experiences for attendees, even when they are participating in an event online. I used Dubai Expo 2020 as a case study.
As I continued my presentation, I could feel the energy in the room shifting. The audience was fully engaged, asking questions and sharing their own experiences. It was a truly fulfilling experience to be able to connect with such a diverse and enthusiastic group of professionals.
After my presentation, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with many attendees, who thanked me for my insights and shared their own experiences with virtual event. It was great to be able to connect with others in the industry and learn from their perspective.
As the conference came to a close, I left feeling energized and inspired. I was grateful for the opportunity to speak at Modern Frontends Live Excel London and for the chance to connect with so many talented and passionate professionals like Catalin Pit, Pratham, Bolaji, Ayo, Sultan, Tejas, Natalie, MarkTechson, Eddie and many to mention. It was an experience I won’t soon forget, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the web.
Overall, 2022 was a fantastic year for me, filled with new experiences, personal and professional growth, and fun moments with friends and loved ones. I’m grateful for all the opportunities and experiences that came my way, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.
My playlist of the year
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