colosach

from epiphany to mvp

in april 2021, sometime past midnight, i hit a wall. i was working on a brand identity project, and although the logo and color palette came easily, i got stuck when sourcing photography. the brand’s primary color was purple, and i needed photos with matching hues.

hours went by, and i found nothing that worked. i wasn’t in the mood for manipulating stock images. i wanted something else: to build.

that night, the idea for colosach was born; a platform where you could search for images by color. i sketched the logo; a magnifying glass in a negative space circle. i named it colosach (pronounced “color search”) and built a prototype in figma before falling asleep.

two hours from spark to concept.

over the next two years, i’d revisit the idea in bursts. i built a version in webflow; visual only, no logic. later, i learned framer and rebuilt it there. again, static. i kept talking to developers, hoping to find collaborators. most were busy, uninterested, or unskilled.

initial prototype created in webflow

an updated version in framer

in 2023, i found two incredible people: Ikwechegh Ukandu, known as Bontus Mayor (backend) and Ugochukwu Okeke, also known as TheCavyDev (frontend). we became a team.

we shipped the first working version of colosach. it could extract image color data, run searches by hue, and display color-themed results. but soon we asked ourselves: what now?

we had built something cool, but cool isn’t always useful.

the pivot

in time, the fun faded and the focus sharpened: who needs this? what problem are we really solving?

we started looking beyond the novelty of color search.

that’s when the pain point became personal again.

as a designer, i constantly struggle to find afrocentric imagery; photos that reflect real african contexts. even with growing platforms for black and african visuals, many still lean on western aesthetics, lack cultural nuance, or are just hard to navigate. we had a tool. why not reshape it for that?

so we pivoted. colosach became an afrocentric image repository but still with a twist. we didn’t want to replicate existing platforms. we wanted to build:

• a color-sensitive, brand-friendly search engine for creatives

• a platform where african photographers can submit, license, and earn

• a community-powered, culturally-rooted image bank

in 2024, we joined a web3 hackathon and built a solana-based version. it came with a print-on-demand feature and crypto integration for attribution and royalties. we didn’t win, but we gained clarity.

where we are now

colosach is live at colosach.com. we’ve added authentication, submission tools, and we have a growing database.

but development is paused. we want real feedback.

we’ve spoken to photographers and designers. there’s interest, but we’ve learned that interest doesn’t always mean product-market fit.

what we’ve built so far proves we can execute. but now, we need to prove that it matters.

we are shifting from building what’s exciting, to building what’s essential. that means getting outside our heads, and into the minds of users.

what’s next?

we’re exploring a shift: what if colosach wasn’t just an image repository, but a storytelling platform for hardcore african creatives and photographers?

a place where photographers can publish essays, explain the context behind a shot, or even serialize visual journeys.

think:

• a photo taken in kano during eid, with a backstory.

• a portrait shot in soweto, with the subject’s own words beside it.

we’re curious:

• what do photographers wish they had space to say?

• what do creatives want to feel when they use platforms like this?

• what tools would help african creators tell their stories their own way?

we don’t know yet if this is the right direction but we know the next mvp won’t be built in isolation.

if you’re a creative, a photographer, a storyteller and this vision sparks something in you, good or bad, we want to hear it. our ears and our hands are open.

email: colosach.app@gmail.com
follow us on twitter/x: @colosach