ABOUT

Brands with clarity, careers with access.

LAGOS, NIGERIA / WORKING WORLDWIDE

I’m Temilade, a brand designer, studio founder and educator. For twelve years I’ve helped businesses find their visual voice, and helped designers find their footing.

ABOUT

Brands with clarity, careers with access.

LAGOS, NIGERIA / WORKING WORLDWIDE

I’m Temilade, a brand designer, studio founder and educator. For twelve years I’ve helped businesses find their visual voice, and helped designers find their footing.

Portrait of a woman in a black blazer against a light wall

MY STORY

I started designing logos for friends’ market stalls in Ibadan. Twelve years on, the projects are bigger but the question is the same: what does this business need people to feel?

Today I lead Ona Studio, a small identity practice in Lagos working with founders, cultural organisations and growing teams across Africa and Europe. We stay small on purpose, so every project gets senior attention from the first workshop to the final file.

Alongside the studio, I teach. Ona School of Design runs live cohorts for working designers, and the Kora Collective, our not-for-profit, has mentored more than 650 women into design careers since 2018.

12

Years in practice

70+

Identities launched

650+

Women mentored

9

Countries worked in

How I work

Hand holding colour swatches over sketches

01

Listen before designing

Every project starts with conversations, not sketches. Understanding the people and the market comes first.

01

Listen before designing

Every project starts with conversations, not sketches. Understanding the people and the market comes first.

02

Strategy, then style

Positioning and messaging set the direction, and the visual identity is built to carry them.

02

Strategy, then style

Positioning and messaging set the direction, and the visual identity is built to carry them.

03

Systems that grow

Identities are designed as flexible systems that work as well on a favicon as on a billboard.

03

Systems that grow

Identities are designed as flexible systems that work as well on a favicon as on a billboard.

04

Teach as we go

Clients leave with clear guidelines and the confidence to keep their brand consistent without us.

04

Teach as we go

Clients leave with clear guidelines and the confidence to keep their brand consistent without us.

The journey so far

From an agency floor in Lagos to a studio, a school and a community. A few moments that shaped the work.

2013

Junior designer, agency life

Joined a Lagos advertising agency and learned to work fast, present clearly and take feedback well.

2013

Junior designer, agency life

Joined a Lagos advertising agency and learned to work fast, present clearly and take feedback well.

2016

Going independent

Left to freelance, focusing on identity work for small businesses and first-time founders.

2016

Going independent

Left to freelance, focusing on identity work for small businesses and first-time founders.

2018

Starting Kora

Hosted a free weekend workshop for twelve women. It grew into the Kora Collective.

2018

Starting Kora

Hosted a free weekend workshop for twelve women. It grew into the Kora Collective.

2020

Ona Studio opens

Turned the freelance practice into a studio with a small, senior team in Yaba, Lagos.

2020

Ona Studio opens

Turned the freelance practice into a studio with a small, senior team in Yaba, Lagos.

2023

Ona School of Design

Launched live cohorts teaching identity design and the business of running a practice.

2023

Ona School of Design

Launched live cohorts teaching identity design and the business of running a practice.

2026

Brand Foundations Masterclass

An intensive for designers who want to lead identity projects from strategy through to launch.

2026

Brand Foundations Masterclass

An intensive for designers who want to lead identity projects from strategy through to launch.

Women painting and talking around a workshop table

THE KORA COLLECTIVE / 2025 COHORT

Kora runs free twelve-week programmes for women starting out in design, pairing every participant with a working mentor and a paid first project.

Have a brand that needs a clearer voice?

Have a brand that needs a clearer voice?

New work, studio notes and Kora news, sent about once a month, never more.

Temilade Ayo Adeyemi

New work, studio notes and Kora news, sent about once a month, never more.

Temilade Ayo Adeyemi

New work, studio notes and Kora news, sent about once a month, never more.

Temilade Ayo Adeyemi

New work, studio notes and Kora news, sent about once a month, never more.

Temilade Ayo Adeyemi

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