Edinah Chewe | Freelance Visual Designer

My name is Edinah Chewe and I currently work fulltime as a freelance visual designer. Online I go by the name Wildlogic. To me it’s a design mantra dedicated to the exploration of wild and free ideas.

I’m originally from England and my background is in fashion—I have a fashion degree from the University of West London. 

Unfortunately, when I graduated I realized that the fashion industry just wasn’t for me. It’s very GO! GO! GO! I found it mentally disruptive, because there’s no pause. There’s no time to sit by yourself and consider what you’re doing. My mental health was very important to me so I decided to find my own way.  

After working for two years as a visual merchandiser in Toronto, I took a leave from my employment and took my first Skillcrush course in web design. What drew me to Skillcrush was that it was a women-owned company—Adda was the first female that I had seen who worked in tech. 

Taking that class made me realize for the first time that it was possible to be creative in a field outside of fashion or the arts. 

The following summer I enrolled in my second Skillcrush course, Visual Design, and that was the course that really changed my career trajectory. Taking that course put me on a creative journey that I truly didn’t know could exist.

The Visual Design course overall, is such an explorative course. It gives you the tools for every aspect of what it means to be a freelancer, whether you end up becoming a freelance artist or a freelance illustrator. We were creating icons at one point, and I remember thinking, “Oh my god, this is amazing!” 

The Visual Design course really spearheaded the change of what Wild Logic is. Since then, it’s become a platform for me to build value, impact other people, and inspire them too. 

I’m lucky to be able to spread my work and connect with other creators on Instagram, and I’ve gotten most of my clients that way. 

I didn't know I could create a career from nothing, I didn't know a creative career in tech could exist, and without connecting with Skillcrush, there's no way that I would be doing what I’m doing.

A few months after I enrolled at Skillcrush I volunteered at a Girlboss Rally. Shortly thereafter their art director reached out to me via email and said “we’ve been following you for a while, and we’d love to collaborate on some illustrations” for an event they had. 

Then a few months after that, Refinery29 reached out to me about participating in a collaboration they were doing with Giphy for Black History Month. They asked me to create an illustration to empower black women. It was so great to be a part of something that wasn’t just for me, it was for black people, for women of color, to allow them to see themselves represented in art and know that they do matter, too.

For me, connecting with Skillcrush has been about freedom. I wanted to be free, feel free and not stuck in the entrapment of the education system or feel that I can’t exist in the world of digital design because I don’t have a traditional formal training. 

Skillcrush is more than just an online course, it’s a community, and it’s a stronghold of women who are creating and cultivating a life for other women to exist in. It’s more than just an online course, it’s an experience that will forever change your interaction with yourself. 

I didn’t know I could create a career from nothing, I didn’t know a creative career in tech could exist, and without connecting with Skillcrush, there’s no way that I would be doing what I’m doing.

But I do it because it makes me happy and to show someone else that they can do it too.