Welcome to the first post from the brand new Avocado Creative Studio blog, aptly titled “We Don’t Sell Avocados". We are a design studio in Nairobi with a focus on brand development and creative strategy. If there’s a problem that can be solved with generous lashings of creativity then we are the people for the job. “So why Avocado?”, many of you may wonder. The story behind the name is as follows; We will begin with a quick backgrounder about myself; My name is Mikhail Kuzi, I’m a marketer, graphic designer, and creative strategist from Nairobi, Kenya. I have been a freelance designer for over 15 years and I hold a degree in International Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. I am a co-owner and Director at Avocado.
Next, a backgrounder about my business partner and sister, Katya Kuzi. She holds a degree in Business Accounting and has an extensive background in Finance, having worked at one of the top audit firms in Kenya. She made the decision to leave the Accounting world in favour of the Entrepreneurial world a few years back and is now a co-owner and director at Avocado. Three years ago my freelance work was doing well and I was constantly busy. Sometimes to the point where I would need to outsource work to other designers just to meet deadlines. Like most artists, I was a very disorganised fellow who was passionate about producing great design and not so keen on all the invoicing and admin.
we would get a few people coming in to inquire how much we sell our avocados for, or if we extract Avocado oil, or if we would like to buy some avocados off the pickup in the car park
Katya picked up on this and saw the opportunity. One day she made me an offer; She proposed to help me setup my practice as a Limited company and put some systems in place and handle the things that I didn’t do so well so I can focus on creating exemplary work. I thought about how this would impact the hectic way in which I worked and what that would mean for business. I looked at it as the next logical step since the freelance work had reached my capacity. Whether I liked it or not it would whip me into shape, which was always a daunting prospect. Almost as if my design career needed to grow a pair of balls and embrace the uncertain future. Going from this boy-like existence to that of a man takes a lot of courage and after some deliberation I made that leap of faith. I grew a pair.
Around this time I was doing some research on my favourite fruit, the avocado. I discovered that it is referred to as the “testicle tree” by ancient South American civilisations. This is due to how the fruit grows in eloquently hanging pairs. This struck a chord with me and the idea was born. I ran it by Katya and we synonymously agreed that that would be the name of our new venture. Since then we have never looked back.
The next thing you are probably wondering about is the name of our blog? It may sound a bit silly but we have found ourselves using this phrase in the office time and time again. In our first years as “Avocado Studio” we would get a few people coming in to inquire how much we sell our avocados for, or if we extract Avocado oil, or if we would like to buy some avocados off the pickup in the car park. We clearly had to clarify our offering in our name, which brings us to today, when we officially rename ourselves “Avocado Creative Studio”. That should hopefully clear the air a bit.
If we don’t sell avocados then what do we sell? Well we offer a unique set of creative services to help our clients solve business problems with creativity. We have a wealth of experience in graphic design, brand development and creative strategy. In the digital world when good creative is increasingly becoming the most effective way to reach the masses, we are here to make it easier to do so.
You may want to follow this blog if you would like insight into the creative industry in Kenya and beyond. We will feature content on brand development, design, digital, production and creative strategy. If you’re a social butterfly you may want to check us out on Behance, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Linkedin with the handle @avocadokenya
That’ll be all from me this month. Do stay tuned and avo nice day!
Mikhail Kuzi
Creative Director
Avocado Creative Studio.