Documented by Ezra Ejigu and AddisAlem Mulat.
Beyond Boundaries: The visionary journey of Zerihun Asefa in media and Graphic Design.
Zerihun Asefa, a visionary and trailblazer in the world of media and graphic design, has left an indelible mark on Ethiopia’s publishing landscape through his dedication, creativity, and unwavering commitment to excellence.
Cheerful childhood
Born in 1978, in the scenic town of Jimma, his journey towards becoming a pioneering figure in graphic design, publishing and communication began at a young age.
Growing up in a household where radio broadcasts, magazines and books were cherished, he developed a keen interest in media and the art of storytelling. His early experiences with his father’s work as a telegram operator and exposure to his mother’s telecommunications job with her monthly “Tele Negarit” magazine by the then Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. It was bilingual (Amharic and English), led in him a fascination for how messages were conveyed through various mediums and platforms. These formative experiences laid the foundation for his future endeavors in the world of media and communication.
As he navigated through his educational journey, from kindergarten, high school to university, his academic excellence and natural talent for design and innovation began to shine through. Despite facing personal challenges, the difficult decision to drop out of university with good grades, he never wavered in his pursuit of his dreams.
Zerihun, as a layout designer
It was during his time in 2003, the Editor-In-Chief of Fortune business weekly newspaper; Tamirat Gebregiorgis gave Zerihun the opportunity to start his career as junior layout designer. Tamirat proposed the opportunity that he sent Zerihun to attend theoretical and practical courses of editing, graphic design and writing for newspaper and magazines, conducted by Addis Abeba University Graduate School of Journalism and Communications and financed by Noregian Embassy in Ethiopia. They were two renowned personalities, Norwegian graphic designer, Bugustto; who gave him in-depth analysis on typography rules, layout design, picture editing and cover design accents; Aisha Labby, Editor from TIME Magazine; she provided with the ability to analyze sources effectively becomes paramount, for amazing cover story narratives, editing, news productions, investigative journalism and feature story writing.
In that same year, he left out Fortune by personal reasons then he joined Capital weekly newspaper He, uplifted the newspaper into competitive disposition of creativity and met the standards in picture quality, cover design and formidable arrangements of the paper’s website posts; he proposed a new look of Capital in a research analysis of work flow, printing time and deadline procedures in collaboration with Sam, a Britain fellow, Editor of the paper with inevitable help of the General Manager, Teguset Yilma that Zerihun’s creative genius truly blossomed. His role as a layout designer provided him with the platform to showcase his skills and make a significant impact in the field of media.
Book and package designing
Later on, in 2006, he began his book designing career working on “Principle of Marketing” by Alazar Ahmed, lecturer at Addis Abeba University School of Commerce. It was the first teaching material in marketing that used in Addis Abeba University, Mekele University and other universities in Ethiopia. He prepared the most successful package designs “University Days 2006” celebrations (“The bridge” gazette, posters, lecture series, banners, calendars, new year cards, visiting cards etc.) organized by Ethio-German Engineering cooperation, GTZ (Ecbp) projects, hosted by Addis Ababa University Science faculty and Engineering School.
The way for a new era of weekly publications
It was 2007; Endalkachew Tesfaye, Managing Director of “Rose” magazine invited Zerihun to join the dynamic team of journalists as creative graphic designer, to publish “Rose”Amharic, an entertainment magazine, leading monthly magazine in nation. It was bimonthly magazine with the same flag name too. While “Rose” was changing its flag name into “AddisGuday” he played significant role by research proposal to transform the magazine from entertainment platform into political economy with investigative social stories with a new look of cover page, layout design and advertisements; through his groundbreaking work on the “AddisGuday” Amharic magazine that Zerihun truly cemented his legacy as a creative force to be reckoned with. His determination to transform a monthly publication into a weekly full color “AddisGuday” magazine, he paved the way for a new era of weekly publications in the country.
“Tenaystilign” health magazine
Zerihun had interests to publish a health magazine beyond the political and entertainment magazines to convey health issues. For those insights, he designed magazines for different health and wellness issues with Managing Editor Dr. Selam Aklilu and Negash Abebe, Editor-In-Chief from First Chiropractic Rehabilitation and Wellness Clinic, the first clinic by the fields in Ethiopia.
Design consultancy
In 2014, he was approached by an American, USAID (RTI), and educational support projects for the job of design consultant and head graphic designer to lead the team of layout designers in educational books (Grade 1 to Grade 4). There were a group of high profile language experts from Ethiopia and United States of America; they were preparing illustrated educational arts and stories to publish books for seven regional states in Ethiopia. In which they perceived and passed their inherited language with local stories and tribal knowledge to make their education easy for children lived in their localities. Zerihun performed remarkable layout design achievements by scoring 120 pages in a day.
Zerihun, Ezra and “MezgebAemiro”
Zerihun met with Dire Tube Media founder and Managing Director, Biniam Negessu M. in 2015. They were planning to publish a monthly magazine “Minaddis”. While he and the teams were preparing articles and other attributes for the “Minaddis” magazine, they introduced him with Ezra Ejigu. By the time Ezra was assigned to conduct interviews and different articles for the publication. That moment created the best coherence with the die hard, Ezra. Since then Ezra and Zerihun made a promising collaborations for the successful paths in media and communications. Ezra Ejigu, CEO and owner in Tewedaje Media and Communication made amazing achievements by believing Zerihun’s creative enunciations as his friend and backroom operators. They conducted successfully preordained stage events, book launching ceremonies. He designed more than 40 cover designs for audio books and more than 10 different books. Later on, he took the privilege of preparing the first Amharic encyclopedia “MezgebAemiro”with Ezra and the team who challenged the introvert’s behaviors of Ethiopian media personalities (being an introvert means you gain more energy and a sense of fulfillment from solitude or quiet, low-stimulation environments) and communication careers. He encouraged Ezra to achieve his dreams. Then, he designed the two volumes books of “MezgebAemiro” No. 1 for 180 Media and other Communication personalities and “MezgebAemiro” No.2 for 208 Media, Literature, Film, Theaters and Communication personalities books as creative cover designer and inside layout designer. Zerihun performed well in several designs works that Tewedaje undertook with other multimedia productions and further highlighted his versatility and innovative spirit.
Platforms and landscapes for children
Through his visionary approach to graphic design, tireless dedication to his craft; and his deep-rooted belief in the power of media and communication, Zerihun has left an indelible legacy that continues to inspire and shape the future of publishing landscape and social media platforms with a new way of visual communications. He set his company, MAIGUS Design and Communications in 2023, with a mission to formulate educational platforms and supportive landscapes for children under the age of 12, a new standard for creativity, professionalism, and passion in Ethiopia and beyond.
“Burgata Bumefiten”
Zerihun’s dedication to excellence and attention to detail with an aphorism “Burgata Bumefiten” meaning “Gradually then Suddenly” in which he imprints God’s grace, which is not only a disposition or a quality or an inclination in the nature of God, but is an influence or a force or a power or an acting of God. Furthermore he comprehends Aristotle’s guide, “Between the lines is the golden mean road” were evident in every project he undertook for the last 20 years, signaling his unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo.
Family and children
He married to Mesrak Arega, had two daughters, Nebay Zerihun and Amen Zerihun.
