Areje: Changing Narrative In Embossed Aesthetic Materials

Bosun Olalekan Areje is an artistic person, CEO of Ensign Creations, and has carved a niche for himself in creating memorable embossed aesthetic materials to adorn the house and celebrate memorable moments for clients.

Though, he studied Computing at the University of Greenwich in United Kingdom, his love and talent for the arts and crafts took the better of him.

“I am a software developer and studied computing abroad. Though I still practice this, my passion and inspirationally-driven talent in aesthetic designs has taken more time from me and has become a career that is putting food on the table for me.

“Aesthetic designs are very relevant now and I have added my own brand to it and was a God-given inspiration. We create changes in the ambience of your space giving your place a unique crafted design pattern and the material used are durable which can last long for 30 years and above,” says Bosun Areje.

The world of aesthetic design gets better and there are different designers and players in the industry. For Bosun Areje, it’s a call to contribute his quota to the creative design subsector. He shed more light on the creative process.

“The inspiration to craft aesthetic designs is divinely acquired from my maker, God almighty because what is created is dropped in the realm of my mind and afterwards re-sketched before they are created. We make wall frames, floors, street designs and beautifully crafted designs and portraits that glaze and shine combining technology with it. The creative process is about five stages from inspiration to completion. And it can be challenging.

“One of the main challenges was balancing the dream with my academic and career pursuits, which delayed execution for years. We also faced limited resources and had to build everything from scratch, which required patience and creativity. Overcoming these challenges taught us persistence and resourcefulness, which have become the backbone of the company today,” he pointed out.

Ensign Creations, founded and build by Bosun, is a registered company and is less than 4 years in the creative industry. Though the passion for the arts and crafts and a dream to give it expression has been on his mind, for about fifteen years, the steps in its creation started after Covid-19 in year 2020.

“Our company, Ensign Creations, was born out of a need we noticed in the art and crafts space. We introduced irregular patterns, embossment, diverse shapes, glazed surface, as well as small and door sized wall frames design concepts thereby bring uniqueness to it in all.

“The dream took shape in 2009, and by January 2010 we felt a strong pull to bring it to life by creating the first set of design categories. However, due to academic commitments, its full realization was delayed until 2020.

“We started small, using personal savings, family, friends and reinvesting profits back into the business. Over time, we focused on providing consistent value to customers, building a strong brand and using word of mouth and social media to grow.

“Our first big break started when we created our large wall frame of about 3 by 7 feet golden edge taped frame which was crystalized. The comments from customers were positive in terms of the product finishing. Due to duplicate product creations when customers request, we duplicated every request for about 2 years so we could have samples in our gallery which has affected the million mark profit.

“While we haven’t made our first million in liquid cash yet, we’ve built a business that’s currently worth millions in assets. It’s been a journey of gradual growth, reinvestment, and long-term planning. For us, it’s not just about hitting a number in the bank. It’s really about building real value that lasts longer,” Areje stated.

Ensign Creations’ brand is growing fast and being built gradually as customers laud the ingenuity and paying attention to details as he readily gets referrals from clients based on what he and his team have done for others.

Bosun Areje who is in his 40s noted that, for every business and industry, the support of the state and federal government must be felt through policies and creating of an environment for such business to thrive.

“The Art and Crafts industry needs support from government and investors because of the vast ideas and innovation in the creative industry. While ideas are enormous it is the acquisition of resources to setup these ideas that requires funding, from land to machineries, training, automation, raw crafts materials and others,”says Areje.