Meet a Maker: Chuma Asuzu

"I write what's in my heart, don't give a fuck who fuckin' with it"

Newsletter writing is grueling. I oftentimes feel like, at the end of each month, I have to mine my mind for profound insights or funny quips to share. I think what makes it particularly hard for someone like me is that, as a journalist, I’m never the story. So transitioning to this space is a challenge. Nonetheless, one that I welcome each month. Still, I find that I am most thoughtful, interesting, and insightful when I am in conversation with others.

So, I’ll be doing that a lot on here, starting today.

This month, I talked to Chuma Asuzu. Chuma is a design engineer, writer, and MY FIANCÉ!

Okay, hear me out. I’m not cheating by talking to the person I talk to every single day. Yes, I know Chuma a lot, enough to want to share my life with him. But I’ve always found Chuma, as a designer and a creative, really really interesting and inspiring. He is single-minded in his approach to making things (hardware, writing, and more). And his focus on the product, not as a commodity but as a destination, is refreshing for me. Although we’ve had variations of this conversation many many times, I don’t ever get tired of listening to what he has to say.

So here it is:

Ashley: So, my first question is, how would you describe yourself and what you do?

Chuma: I like to say that I'm a design engineer. And what that means to me is that I like to create new things, but I think about them from the perspective of how easy it is to be made, which is the engineering part.

Ashley: So, you're thinking about how people can use the things that you make?

Chuma: No, that's more design. I'm thinking about how easy it is to make [the product]. So, for example, really beautiful things tend to be really hard to make, right? So, I think for me, I try to make beautiful things that are easy to make. And easy to make does not mean that [they are] are cheap. I look for a sweet spot between, how do you make something that looks good, is relatively simple to produce but doesn't look cheap.

Ashley: Why is the sweet spot for you in the making of the thing?

Chuma: The sweet spot for me is in the in-between. I want the thing to be easy to make but I want it to be also incredibly easy to use. So that's where I sit. Pure designers tend to sit in the easy to use, and not really easy to make. [But] sometimes, some really great designs or great sketches don't get produced because they're just hard to make.

Ashley: Okay, so I'm definitely not an engineer, I'm a writer, but what struck me about what you said is how some things never get made because they're hard to make. That seems like something that can apply to other things, right? Like there are some stories that are wonderful but just will probably never get written?

Chuma: Exactly. I have this tension between how well it looks, how it can be used, and how easy it is to make. For you, it's like how big the story is and how well people understand what they’re reading, versus how easy or how difficult it is to report it. I think in every field you face some tensions. I read this book by Roger L. Martin and Sally R. Osberg about entrepreneurial tensions and I think in every field you have this. For entrepreneurs, they want to create a new thing, but they have to demonstrate an understanding of why this situation is currently what it is.

Ashley: How do you overcome your tension?

Chuma: I start with me, I'm at the center of all my designs. This is an incredibly selfish thing to say, but I don't know how to design for somebody else unless I know them well enough, like you. That gives me the opportunity to think as a user, as somebody who will use [the product] because it's for my problem. But the flip side is that sometimes I'm designing things that nobody else will use. And the problem there is that I think it’s great, but then I have to sell it to other people.

Ashley: What are you trying to say when you build a thing? What are you trying to say either to yourself or to people when you're building things?

Chuma: To be honest, I’m just trying to say this is cool. When I build things, I'm not really trying to change the world. I think what I’m trying to communicate is that whatever I’m designing can add something different to your life. And I say different, not better, right, because some things I make might not make your life better, I just think it adds something different. I think the difference is important because I like to make niche products. Things that people will have and appreciate and be like, ‘I got this from this guy and it's been pretty helpful to me.’

I want the products that I make to stay with people.

Like they may pass them on to their kids or whatever and be like, ‘this is something Chuma designed.”

Ashley: I think it takes a lot of confidence to think about design, not as something you're doing for a lot of people, but something you’re doing to build a connection with however many people actually connect with it. So how do you think about creativity in general?

Chuma: This is going to sound weird to say, but I think I get it from music. The kind of music I like many people don't like or the artist.

Ashley: Chuma, people like Nas. [Nas is Chuma’s favorite artist]

Chuma: No, I know people like Nas. I mention music because of something that Nas says about staying in your craft. People want you to change, people want you to make something everybody will like. And yeah, people like Nas but a lot of people only really like Illmatic. But when Nas makes albums, he’s like this is what I want to record, it might not sell, but this is what I want to make. I think that the people who listen to him connect with that. Wale is a beautiful rapper, but he always has this thing about not breaking out or being as popular as he should be. And there was a song where J. Cole was talking to Wale, and he doesn't call his name but he says, ‘dude, you’re one of the best rappers I know. Forget about how many units you sell, the people who love you will love you.’

Goddamn, nigga, you too blind to see you got fans, nigga
And a platform to make a classic rap song
To change a nigga's life, but you too anxious livin' life
Always worried 'bout the critics who ain't ever fuckin' did it
I write what's in my heart, don't give a fuck who fuckin' with it

I think that in a way, that's what I want to do with my designs. The people who like my designs will like my designs, they’ll see something that’s very Chuma about this design. There’s another concept that I heard of recently called 1,000 True Fans. That there are these 1,000 people, it doesn't matter what you do, they’ll buy it. And obviously, it doesn’t have to be 1,000 for everybody. It could be 1 million for somebody.

Ashley: What is the most difficult part for you in the creative process?

Chuma: Getting around my laziness, to be honest. Also, communicating my idea to other people. I think that I'm not creative in marketing. So I'm actively working on how to get better at that. Like, how do I sell better, how do I position myself better? I think really the truth is to just keep working. Just keep doing the stuff that you like and keep putting it out there, and one day people will be like ‘oh, this guy.’

Ashley: Do you ever feel depleted? And if so, how do you renew your creativity?

Chuma: I think the way to get over a funk like that is to just keep doing bad work. I think people get depleted when they feel like they’re not doing good work. In basketball, they say something like “shooters shoot.” So for example, Steph Curry is a shooter, but there are some days when he doesn’t shoot well, but he keeps shooting. And usually what happens is towards the end of the game, he hits two or three good shots, and he wouldn't have gotten those shots if he hadn’t kept shooting.

So, yeah, shooters shoot.

Ashley: What is the most difficult thing you've ever built?

Chuma: Hardware Things, I think, is the most difficult thing. It brings me great joy, but sometimes I’m like ‘do people even read this thing?’ In a way, Hardware Things is a culmination of all the things I’ve done in hardware in Nigeria. I think it's been difficult because I don't know what success looks like for Hardware Things. What does growth mean? I know what growth means, like more subscribers, but what does success mean, really? And that's not a question I think I will have an answer to in a year.

Ashley: I’m happy you said that because I do agree that Hardware Things is the most emotionally difficult thing you’ve built. What do you mean when you say that you don’t know what success means?

Chuma: There’s the success where you have 10,000 subscribers and make $30,000, but I don’t know if that's my idea of success. Maybe my idea of success could be that I’m like a venture scout for hardware companies in Africa. Maybe it’s like going back to Nigeria, starting a company, and already having this network of people [from the newsletter.] But I think my future is in media. Hardware Things is a media company.

Ashley: Was that what you thought when you started?

Chuma: Definitely not. When I started, I thought Hardware Things was just a place to write about cool hardware. It’s evolved. Initially, it was like, ‘between Hardware Lagos events, let’s send newsletters.’ I think I’ve grown to be very comfortable with the [evolution]. I want to do a Zine now, and nobody might buy that Zine but it’s an experiment. It gives me the freedom to experiment.

Ashley: Final question, if you had to pick three words to describe your work, your design ethos, the life you want to live, what would they be?

Chuma: Cool Ass Daddy

Ashley: Chuma, please give me a real thing.

Chuma: For real. I’ve always told you, I really want to be a good dad. I want to be a dad that’s around, a dad that when my kids don’t know something they can call me. Okay, so maybe father is one of the three words. I don’t know to be honest. Flexibility is one word, I like things that are flexible and functional. Then, what’s the opposite of famous?

Ashley: Like niche?

Chuma: Yeah, exactly. It’s funny because there’s a guy who wanted to do something last year and called me. I know that he subscribes to my newsletter, and I asked him ‘why did you hit me up?’ and he said, ‘when I think about Hardware in Africa, I think about you.’ And I thought that was pretty cool.

they (w)rote.

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(w)rite back.

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