Victor Fá: The artistic kid now helping people find what is special about them — #001

The artistic kid that grew up to help people find what is special about them and make the world know about them being special... I almost don't have creative blocks because I live an active life

Oct 01, 2022

Hi, thank you for joining us for our first published interview. In this very first edition, I spoke with Victor Fatanmi, a brand consultant, leader, and identity campaigner who is committed to finding his voice and identity while helping other people and businesses find theirs. He shared how he started out as a designer and how he cofounded FourthCanvas, a strategy-led design agency serving ambitious brands from across the globe in 2015.

If you are curious to know what drives the work he does, his favourite projects, how he spends his day, the people that inspire him and the people and brands he would love to work with on a project, you should continue reading. You will definitely love and enjoy reading this!

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Victor Fatanmi. I am a brand consultant, leader of people, and identity campaigner. I've been committed to living my own voice to the full and helping others like business leaders, creators, and designers find theirs. I am all about people finding their identity and brand.

I am the co-founder and lead partner at FourthCanvas, a strategy-led design agency serving ambitious brands from across the globe.

I am a Christian. I am from Osun state in Nigeria.

How did you get started with design? What led you to design?

I was an artistic kid who was privileged not to lose my art. While I enjoyed it, I never thought there was a field in it. I found out that people get paid to create stuff and mix colours because my brother used to produce a magazine at the time and he pays people to design them for him. One day, he installed a design software on my computer so that his designer could edit the magazine. When he was done, I started to play around with the software on my computer. Also, while he was making the edit I gave some suggestions, so my brother encouraged me to learn design. I didn’t learn formally but I started to practice. After a while, I started creating logos and other designs for friends, then I started getting paid.

I kept enjoying myself but with time, I started to struggle with structure, deadlines, delivery, and agreement. I wasn't disciplined but I had a disciplined friend in Bolaji who decided to help me. So, we became partners, I had ideas and he added the structure. That was the start of FourthCanvas and it meant that over time, I moved from being a designer to helping other designers with ideas.

How would you describe what you do to a 5-year-old?

I help people find what is special about them and make the world know about them being special.

What is your day-to-day routine? What does a typical day look like for you?

I sleep early and journal before sleeping. I wake up early and meditate in the early hours of my day. I do my affirmations, pray and then get to work. My mornings are for important things like writing an article, working on my book, developing a process or creating a new idea and taking it down while my afternoons are for urgent things. My afternoons are always filled with responding to emails, reaching out to people, meeting and so on.

What do you enjoy most about what you do? What is the most satisfying thing about your job?

I think it’s the joy of helping people find clarity about themselves.

Victor speaking at a team’s offsite retreat

What is the best career investment you have made as a creative?

It has to be attending the “Joy Retreat” by Joy Inc of Chude Jideonwo and reading books. All the things I did mentally for myself starting from the Joy Retreat exposed me to some thoughts and books that helped me in taking charge of my life and taking responsibility. Along that same line, there has been meeting my fiancé who is very mindful and has impacted me positively in many ways.

What are the challenges you face in your day-to-day activities?

The biggest challenge I face is the mindset of business leaders. It is a challenge I am thankful for because, in our attempt to solve it, it gives birth to great things. We have more business leaders trying to double down on maximizing things like speed and exploiting opportunities but with this mindset, they struggle to get the conversation on branding. They don't understand the emphasis, priority, the level of intentionality that branding requires and helping to close that gap has helped us understand our work on a deeper level.

‌How do you navigate this challenge?

We navigate this by having conversations. It takes a relationship and helping them to see things a certain way. We do educate them for free but the returns are always worth it.

What is your creative process?

I plan out what I want to do, understanding the goal of what I want to do, who I want to do it for, and the reason I am doing the work. I break it into bits and do the more important bit first. The biggest part of my process is Focus. I use the deep work approach where my phone’s internet is off and I concentrate on the task at hand.

What are the essential gadgets, tools and software you use for work daily?

My phone, journal, calendar, laptop, headphone, and Apple wristwatch.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown impact you and the work you do as a creative?

It made marketing easier, that is, it made it possible to be able to market without leaving your home. It also increased the value of the virtual world. It helped in increasing the adoption and value of the virtual world.

How do you handle creative blocks and rejections as a creative?

I almost don't have creative blocks and that is because I live an active life. I engage in different things like playing football, dancing, boxing class, party, church and a lot of other activities. I have a very diverse life because of my involvement in different things.

What is the task you don't enjoy doing but you have to do?

It has to be attending unending virtual meetings. Because it is virtual and easy to set up, there is a meeting for almost everything but I am finding a way around it by cutting them down as much as possible.

What are your top 3 favourite projects you have worked on?

I love our projects but our work for Nomba is number one on my list because of how in-depth and wide we went with the work we did.

The second one is a project we are currently working on for a property company in Lagos.

The third one is a tight one between Pennee and Foodlama.

What do you do for fun? How do you relax?

I play loud music, work out, and party.

Who are the creatives that inspire you?

Seth Godin for his thoughts on purpose and marketing. Ryan Holiday for his thoughts on wisdom for living.

Blair Enns also inspires me. His advice on pricing pulled us out of the mud at the time.

I respect Michael Bierut and Paula Scher from afar even though I have not really studied their work.

For brands, I respect Interbrand, Koto Studios, Landor, Design Studio, Da Design Studio and Check DC.

I respect my partners and the whole FourthCanvas team. Praise Philemon has a special place in my heart.

What brands would you love to work with or consult for?

I would love us to with Nike on a unique project. I also love Zappos, which is now a part of Amazon. I would also love something with Calendly, The Virgin Group and Spotify.

Who are the people you would love to work with?

Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Seth Godin, Tim Cook of Apple, Ije Nwokorie, and Tope Awotana of Calendly.

What would you be doing if you were not a designer?

I would probably be a full-time writer or a football coach.

What advice do you have for someone who is at the early stage of their design journey?

Be patient but while waiting, do something meaningful daily towards your big goal. Be patient with compound interest.

Whose story would you love to read about?

I would like to read the story Omoge Dami and Godwin Olatunde.

Thank you for sharing with us!!!

Connect with Victor on Twitter and Instagram. You should also check out Victor’s latest e-book on selling titled "How to sell anything to anyone" by Victor Fatanmi | Fáctory Notes X01.

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to like and share the interview.

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Special thanks to Lizzle for assisting with transcribing the audio.

See you next time!!!