Niyi Adeogun

Niyi Adeogun | By Onyinye Vivian Ulinwa | Photo by Robin Gislain Shumbusho

Niyi Adeogun’s love of creativity and art led him to start his business, Zero Resistance Studio, a multi-media creative studio specializing in graphic design. Adeogun, 23, knows it’s tough to run a business. He first tried starting one in 2015 with a group of friends. “Unfortunately, the business didn’t pull through because there were a lot of things that we didn’t know. We just kind of went in without any form of knowledge or experience on how to operate.” It wasn’t until he tapped into his passion for art that Adeogun found his business niche. Adeogun was five when he began developing a strong love for art by observing his aunt creating different art pieces with broomsticks and rocks. “I was very inspired by that growing up. That kind of sparked my love for design and everything that revolves around the arts.” He attended an arts competition while in high school. Upon seeing his fellow students’ art on display, Adeogun was extremely discouraged. He concluded that art just wasn’t for him. Adeogun didn’t want to repeat the same mistake he made in 2015 with his old brand, so he took a step back from the art scene until 2017 when he moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from Lagos, Nigeria to study Sustainable Design Engineering. His goal was to get better at graphic design. He challenged himself to design a poster daily and post it online to improve his skills. “I got a little bit more confident in my work and I got a lot of comments on that. People were saying the poster designs would look really good on a T-shirt and a hoodie.” So, he thought of printing some of his designs on shirts, hoodies and tote bags for sale, but didn’t have the capital to start. He subsequently applied for the Rising Youth art grant, a program led by TakingITGlobal, an organization that helps young people with community-service-inclined projects. He didn’t think his application would be accepted, but he received a $750 grant to launch his art business, Zero Resistance Studio. “I had the money, I couldn’t back down. I remember going to one of the buildings in UPEI (University of Prince Edward Island) and I sat down there for seven hours straight, and I designed the entire collection.” Adeogun hails from a Christian background; he believes he has a calling to express the true nature of God through his work. That is what he is doing with Zero Resistance. “I began to hear God speak to me. He began to talk to me about using my art to express his love and nature to others. I took it upon myself to make it my mission — to use my art to inspire hope and help break misconceptions of who God is.” Today, he is gaining recognition across Atlantic Canada and he is planning to promote his art across cities in Canada like Toronto. His most recent art show in Halifax, Nova Scotia, themed “Come As You Are” was his way of spreading not just his faith, but love and hope. “The general message behind “Come As You Are,” is to help people see God in the midst of their trial. And to create a space where regardless of who you

are, your background, your trials and issues you have faced in life, this is a safe place for you to be,” he said. “I always see a T-shirt, or anything clothes-related as a blank canvas, and I think of what message I can pass along through this. With that understanding, I’m able to put the brand’s message into each collection.” He had planned to do his Halifax art show in 2020, but the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were in place. Still, Adeogun is happy he was able to do it this year. He was amazed by the warm welcome he received. “We sold about 65-70 percent of the products we took there. For a new place His most recent art show, themed where we have never done a show, it definitely met our expectations.” Come As You Are, was his way of Adeogun plans to expand his brand to include spreading not just his faith but love all forms of media and arts, ranging from fashion, music, movies, production and and hope. graphic design services, but is conscious of “The general message behind barriers to funding. Come As You Are is to help people “Being an immigrant, there are so many opportunities that we can’t access because see God in the midst of their trial.” we don’t have a permanent residence status. There were opportunities I couldn’t be a part of because of my immigration status. Especially in the Atlantic provinces, there’s not a lot of funding available for Black creatives.” He is happy to learn about the Black Business Initiative’s recent expansion across Atlantic Canada. He believes it will make a significant impact. “There are many creatives all over the Atlantic provinces who can’t access funding, I think it’s a positive thing to have organizations that can speak for us and direct some more funding our way.” Since starting Zero Resistance, Adeogun has made more than 500 sales. He is working to start a not-for-profit organization where a certain percentage of his brand’s revenue will be used to fight global hunger. Business Instagram: @zeroresistancebrand Website: zeroresistance.co