Ndop
Etoffes des cours royales et sociétés secrètes du Cameroun
Book Design
Client: Fondation Jean-Félicien Gacha
Creative Direction: Thibaut de Longeville
Art Direction & Design: Alexander Wise
We were commissioned by the amazing team at Espace Culturel Gacha to manage creative direction, lay-out and production coordination of the first book dedicated to the art, design, culture and history of the traditional “Ndop” fabric from Cameroon, West Africa.
“Ndop” is a traditional fabric which results from a century-old craftsmanship process involving the hand drawing of symbolic icons, the dyeing and the sowing of a rich fabric made out of local hand-picked cotton.
The book, titled “Ndop - Fabrics of the Royal Court and Secret Societies in Cameroon” is a groundbreaking initiative lead by Ly Dumas, a pioneer stylist who has significantly contributed to popularizing the usage of African fabric in fashion as early as the 1970s and throughout the 1980s-1990s, and now runs Espace Culturel Gacha, an outfit leading many initiatives dedicated to the legacy of Cameroonian culture as well as other African cultures. A proud inheritant of Cameroon's “Bamiléké” legacy, Ly Dumas also holds the prestigious title of Queen of Bangoulap, a village with a rich history of craftsmanship located in the mountains of North West Cameroon.
We worked with the team at Espace Cultural Gacha to define the book's visual direction and coordinate editorial and visual input between the team of authors, the photography / iconography team and our own graphic design team.
One of the highlights of this experience for our creative studio was working on the many symbols characteristic of the Ndop fabric, which bear powerful symbolic meanings.
Working from sources ranging from designer sketches to high definition still photographs of fabrics pulled from Ly Dumas' personal collection, we digitized every one of the symbols we came across, and created a vector file for each, enabling each of the symbols to be faithfully reproduced at scale at will, both for this project and for future reference.
Through this endeavor, we have created the first comprehensive digital collection of Ndop symbols, which will allow future craftspeople and legacy holders to reference traditional designs, transmit this precious savoir-faire and perpetuate this unique tradition.
The book is 200+ pages and features two central fold-outs highlighting key pieces.
The book is available at Espace Culturel Gacha. It's a fabulous gift and a great resource for anyone who has an interest in African fabric history, powerful graphic symbolism as well as design, fashion, craftsmanship and legacy.
