Studio Practice
People and craft
The name Moonlight is inspired by two things: the word “moonlighting” and “Tales by Moonlight”, the famous NTA show about Nigerian stories. Both ideas - in different ways - encapsulate what the studio represents.
I think everyone should work in a studio practice of some kind. By this I mean a small team of people where the main focus is apprenticeship and craft. Commercial goals are important, but a studio is a critical space for personal/community development.
The Moonlight studio is centred around play - the highest form of research, and craft - refining our ability to bring people together to make exceptional art, software and businesses.
Most of all, it’s about telling stories.
As we look towards next year, I've been working out how best to operate the studio given our various interests and limited funding.
I ended up with three pillars:
Craft: Our main ethos is the development of people and craft. We do this through technology internships (Helloworld) and a support system for artists (IA).
Consulting: We bankroll the studio by making software for artists and non-technical founders. We aim for 1 - 2 projects a year and carefully select clients we can build a long-term relationship with.
Products: While consulting is great for cashflow, we hope to make long-term income with successful digital and consumer products.
For the first three years, the studio was focused solely on craft. We worked with dozens of artists and made projects like Hanky Panky, Cover Bank, Ludo by Yadi, Feel Good and E Dey Happen. Later, I started the Helloworld Internship program to work on technology projects like Friends of 16 and Tix.
Next year, our focus is shifting to products and consulting. We recently launched Main Squeeze and signed a contract to build a travel app for a client. Both projects are aimed towards consumers in the UK and US.
With this ahead of us, I’m looking to set up a more stable team for 2025. I’ve put together a standard competency framework so that salaries are paid according to responsibility levels. I’m also working with accountants to clean up our books.
Come January, Moonlight will finally be operating sustainably. We have limited runway and need to do some business development to extend it. But otherwise, the structure works. Friends, we have a studio!
A studio is more or less artful to the degree that the artist who occupies it is committed to the continuing education in his or her formal discipline. It is a structure for building sets of skills which require a continuity of practice to achieve growth and mastery. A versatile and creative mind will embrace the opportunity of such practice to innovate, experiment, and develop their artistic expression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio