Turning the table: Jean Quarcoopome

Jean Quarcoopome, 2023 Applied Arts Student Awards juror and Co-Founder & Design Director at Kenga Media, shared his favourite project - designing the 4th issue of Kenga Magazine.

Kenga Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to spotlighting the trends & trendsetters within the Afro Gen Z community across Africa. Each issue presents a new theme, & with it, a new design canvas in the form of the magazine’s cover. Since 2022, Kenga has released 5 issues of the Kenga Magazine, with 5 covers per issue. This collage showcases my top favourites I’ve designed & commissioned for Kenga Magazine since 2022.

Why this is my fave:

The cover I designed for Kenga Magazine’s 4th Issue is by far my favourite project. It features the graceful form of Emmanuel Osahor, a 24-year old ballet dancer, lawyer & dance instructor from Nigeria. I love the art direction that shows his body moving through 3 different states - representing the 3 sides to his career & craft. To me, this cover is a great example of conceptual editorial design & I’m forever proud of it.

Behind the scenes:

In the beginning stages, Emmanuel sent in several amazing photos for his feature, all of which were strong contenders for the cover. I began testing cover designs with a set of photos taken by photographer, Seun Oderinde, that had such a rich, sensual yet human brown tone in them; reminding me of the photo treatment on the cover of the book: ‘In Past Pupils and Smiles’ by Solange Knowles. Along the way, the idea to multiply Emmanuel’s form, like a single body in motion across the cover, struck me & I was further validated by the June 19th 1966 cover of the Sunday Times Magazine, shot by Brian Duffy.

Why it was a success:

This cover was a huge success because our entire editorial & creative team contributed immensely. The line “Faire un geste” (translates as ‘make a move’) actually came from our Director of Photography, Andrew Djan-Samson, who identified that ballet has some French roots; especially in the names of its dance moves. The cover also scored our highest numbers yet in terms of engagement across our social media, so it literally felt like we shutdown the internet for a day or 2!

We can see how this cover "made a move". Congratulations Jean and team Kenga!