The idea behind a ‘Made in Lagos’ badge — a stamp on products coming out of Lagos — was conceived in 2014 by Kene Udeze to identify and showcase the collective inventiveness of Lagos, as a community, through its people and products, and contribute to the Nigerian narrative at large.
Kene Udeze went on to design the current one, but steps for implementing it were never taken.
However, lately, there has been a perceived need to revive the badge — or create another with help from the community — with hopes of having startups adopt it in the long run. As the ecosystem strives to create an identity for itself through the formation of a tech cluster, the badge could come to reinforce these efforts by instilling a sense of belonging and purpose — a unifier of sorts as we embark on a common quest.
So, the aim of this poll is to answer the following questions:
Should startups adopt a Made in Lagos badge?
Yes
No
0voters
If yes, should the current one be made the official one?
I understand the psychological effects of creating some form of alliance that identifies with the Lagos design scene. That said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to create a badge for a brand that isn’t well defined or distinct with clear thinking or visual qualities. The ‘Lagos’ design scene is still quite young.
Secondly, I don’t think the badge represents the Lagos design scene visually. It looks quite generic. (Please, nobody should come and slap that Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge vector on this thing). This kind of ties back to my first point about distinct, unique qualities. Once these qualities exist, visual representation becomes easy and adaptation, seamless.
I think this should be championed more by the state government as a way of promoting Lagos as an investment destination for businesses and manufacturers. Maybe tie it in with incentives such as tax breaks, etc for businesses to use it.
