I was halfway through covering the Untitled Designers Conference 2025 when I decided to take a break. Regal Hall in Ikeja was alive; bright lights, laughter bouncing off the walls, and designers networking like they were pitching their next startup. I spotted an empty chair beside a guy quietly scrolling through his phone and sat down.
“Hello, are you enjoying yourself?” I asked.
“I feel like fighting everybody here. Designers are so full of themselves,” he said, straight-faced.
Before I could laugh, he snapped a photo of the current speaker and posted it on his WhatsApp status with the caption: “Designers are so full of themselves, MY GOD!!”
That was Marcel, a developer hiding in plain sight at a design event. By the end of that chat, he had become my accidental friend, and the reason I spent the rest of the day investigating one of Lagos’ funniest tech rivalries: designers versus developers.
Designers Speak Their Minds
So, I began asking designers what they really thought about developers. The answers came fast and fiery.
“Developers no sabi work,” one said loudly, like he’d been holding it in for years.
“If I catch any developers outside, they should just watch out,” another shouted, sending everyone nearby into laughter.
“They have a lot to learn,” a third added with a dramatic sigh.
By the time I got to the seventh designer, I’d heard about missing pixels, broken layouts, and the endless back-and-forth over what “centre” really means.
Then came Olubunmi, the most expressive of them all.
“Why will I give you a design with #191919 and you’ll give me back #000000? Do they look the same to you?” he asked, clutching his head like someone betrayed. The crowd around us erupted in laughter, but underneath it, you could feel the pain of every designer who has ever opened a deployed site and gasped.
Let Love Lead (According To Kanayo)
Between the jokes, Kanayo offered a softer take.
“I’ll let love lead,” he said with a grin. “Developers are humans too.”
He explained that developers often appear less expressive because their work demands structure and precision. “They’re not always difficult,” he added. “They just communicate differently.”
And the truth is, through all the rants we could see it isn’t really hate. It’s frustration wrapped in banter. And it’s not exclusive to UDC2025 alone, it’s everywhere. Designers want perfection. Developers want performance. Somewhere between colour palettes and padding, affection gets lost in translation.
A Peace Treaty (Sort Of)
After the event, Marcel found me again, still convinced that “designers are full of themselves,” but he admitted he’d met some amazing people that day. “Maybe they’re not that bad,” he said, laughing.
I laughed too. Because at the end of the day, this feud is really just tech love language, playful and chaotic as usual.
As for me? I’m the writer for the techies. I can’t take sides.
But don’t worry, we’ll be infiltrating a developers’ event soon. For balance, of course.
