“While starting I welcomed other designers on board to create diverse messages and also increase the reach, I even created a campaign logo and made it available for all, for uniformity. Some stopped creating because of their busy schedules while others don’t have passion for this, but I do and I am determined to complete the target I set for myself,” Bujjadda says.
By Davis Kyesswa Ggobi
David Bujjadda, a Ugandan graphics designer has recently taken the Ugandan digital space by storm by influencing a wave of graphical images that contain information on the problems and solutions to the ever-increasing climate change in the world.
His love for weather and climate has not just blossomed recently, having grown up under the watch of both parents, who spent most of their time as farmers, Bujjadda has since been a keen follower of activities that surround climate, noticed seasonal changes which not only affect farming processes but the world at large.
The Genesis
After graduating with a diploma in meteorology studies early this year, he set himself a target of sensitizing the masses and advocating for the curb of climate change through something he knows best, graphics designing, under a campaign he dubbed 100 days of climate activism.
“I have always wanted to do something like this but the work overload I’ve always had on my desk has not let me,” he says, he adds that also the public needs to be sure if the person that is disseminating information is credible and now with the completion of the meteorology studies, the public will trust what he puts out there.
Bujjadda, went for 100 days because he saw the figure as an achievable one for the start. In the first 20 days of the campaign, he focused on portraying the problems that lead to and arise from climate change, thereafter he turned his focus to sustainable solutions to these problems, he plans to do this for 30 days, then turn again to the effects and again the solutions.
Significance of the campaign
The campaign received a great reception from the online audience and also sparked a wave among other graphics designers on the same platform (X, formerly Twitter) to join the campaign to design images that can visually send messages out there about climate change, some of these have dropped off along the way. In contrast, others have on other platforms like Instagram joined along the way.
“While starting I welcomed other designers on board to create diverse messages and also increase the reach, I even created a campaign logo and made it available for all, for uniformity. Some stopped creating because of their busy schedules while others don’t have passion for this, but I do and I am determined to complete the target I set for myself,” Bujjadda says.
The positive engagement he receives on his posts daily gives him an assurance that his message is reaching his targeted audience and also fuels him to keep on going till the finishing mark.
Designing graphical images takes a lot of time since it involves different processes like thinking of an idea, sketching the image and then finally creating it, to counter this and stay on track, he at times dedicates a full day to creating images for a whole week and only posts one each day.
Is he communicating?
Israel Muganzi, a Makerere University scholar while speaking to us said that the world is evolving digitally, and more people are interested in colourful and visually satisfying digital material therefore initiatives like Bujjadda’s can easily sensitize masses especially young people on any issue at hand, “if I am scrolling through my timeline and come across something visually satisfying, I will be forced to stop and see what the image contains.”
“A lot of activities that are practiced by Ugandans such as driving motor vehicles that are in dangerous mechanical conditions, uncontrolled litter of plastic containers among others heavily lead to climate change but many of these are seen as normal because many don’t know their effects, if there’s any sustainable way anyone can pass the message out there then it is welcome,” Sandra Ahumuza, a climate activist says.
Limited coverage
In 2023, A report by Ultimate Multimedia Training showed that, from the estimated total population of Uganda of 47.91 million people, only 2.05 million are active on social media, of these, only a 0.5million are Twitter and Instagram users, the only platforms bujjadda is targeting, the other easily accessible platform, Facebook is blocked from usage in the country.
https://www.ultimatemultimediatraining.net/uganda-digital-media-statistics-2023
Despite the few numbers, he believes that this can be a starting point for something even bigger in the sensitization of people, “It is only the start, I have bigger plans of practising climate activism after this campaign,” Bujjadda says.
Next assignment
At the end of this campaign, he intends to focus more on young people by paying visits to a designated number of schools to recap all the information he has disseminated in the 100 days, focusing more on what can be done to stabilize climate, and also plant exactly 1000 trees there.
He also hopes to collaborate with big organizations and ministries to spread awareness about climate change to Ugandans who rarely sail in the digital space by displaying these messages on big visible advertising boards in different parts of the country, especially the remote areas.
Although he is ringing a crucial alarm to the public, he believes that in Uganda, many graphic designers still face a huge problem in marketing their brands and work, businesswise, this is also an opportunity to showcase his professional ability in creating strong and visible graphical images and urges fellow creatives to follow the same track.
Climate change is a global crisis, and its effects are visible all over the world but still given less attention, just like Bujjadda, everyone should do whatever they can in their capacities to unite and stop this crisis before it is too late.
BLACK EAGLE 