by Uno de Waal (@Unodewaal) In a jam-packed edition of Design Annotator, we’re taking a look at:
Striking photographs examining the first mining operations in South Africa- The upcoming six-month journey of three photographers, celebrating two decades of democracy in SA
- Dystopian landscapes created by Justin Plunkett
- B&W images by recent graduate and documentary photographer, Paulo Menezes
- Highlights from The Winter Sculpture Fair 2014
- The 12th Portfolio Night, taking place on 21 May
- An interview with Brandt Botes on going solo to found his own design studio
- A book of 100 GOOD IDEAS and a film depicting 12 of them #WDC2014
- What would happen if the online conversation surrounding the elections was the actual vote?
- #TasteTheRainbow — but only if you can smuggle your skittles
- The best entries from the Grolsch ‘Design A Swingtop’ competition
- A humorous ad for Bobtail that might help you save your winning lottery ticket
PHOTOGRAPHY
‘For What It’s Worth’ by Dillon Marsh
In the first set of a broader series of images dealing with the extraction of precious metals, stones and possibly coal, photographer Dillon Marsh presents five images which examine the first mining operations in South Africa, namely, removing copper from the arid Namaqualand region.
The striking images combine photography and computer generated elements in an effort to visualise the output of a mine.
Read about Marsh’s series titled ‘For What It’s Worth‘.
Twenty Journey | Three photographers, one campervan, six months
As South Africa reaches two decades of democracy this year, three young photographers (Sipho Mpongo, Wikus de Wet and Sean Metelerkamp) are embarking on a journey across the land to ask important questions and document their findings. Their mission? To feel the pulse of South Africa.
Titled ‘Twenty‘, the project and the photographers’ experiences will be presented regularly through an online visual journal consisting of audio, video and photography.
Find out more about each young photographer and what they plan to focus on during the ‘Twenty‘ Journey.
Con/Struct | By Justin Plunkett
Ever restless for new creative challenges, Cape Town-based graphic designer Justin Plunkett has just released a new series of digitally manipulated photographs, ‘Con/Struct’.
Using his own photographs as a starting point, he has reworked the images to create new dystopian landscapes which explore the themes of empowerment and imagination.
View the full collection of images that make up ‘Con/Struct‘.
Black and white photographs by Paulo Menezes
Although only a recent graduate from the Durban University of Technology, the talented Durban-based documentary photographer Paulo Menezes is already building a name for himself through his involvement in a series of high profile exhibitions in the city over the last two years.
In an interview with Menezes, we find out more about his craft, what he’s been up to and the one question he’d love to be asked.
EVENTS
A fine weekend in the country: The Winter Sculpture Fair 2014
The Nirox Sculpture Park in The Cradle of Humankind has once again provided the picturesque setting for The Winter Sculpture Fair, presented by MasterCard. This year’s sculpture exhibition took a year to plan and realise, and includes new works by more than 50 artists.
Mary Jane Darroll, who curated the show, describes it as a “diverse resonance, a multi-valency of form and content” interrogating how we perceive the present through the veil of history. “Art has a way of making us think anew”, she says, “I hope that the show can awaken contemplation in all who pass through it”.
See The Winter Sculpture Fair 2014 in pictures.
Portfolio Night 12 | South Africa
PN12 South Africa: McCann from Portfolio Night on Vimeo.
Portfolio Night is the largest and most-anticipated advertising portfolio review and recruitment event on earth. Now in its 12th year, Portfolio Night provides an opportunity for aspiring young advertising copywriters, art directors and designers around the world to meet with several renowned advertising creative directors in a fast-paced evening of career-shaping advice, networking, and for some, recruitment offers.
The second South African edition is taking place in Johannesburg AND in Cape Town on Wednesday 21 May, hosted by McCann. Find out more about Portfolio Night 12.
GOOD TO KNOW
Self-starters: Studio Botes
Equipped with nearly a decade of agency experience, Brandt Botes went solo in order to found his own enterprise ‘Studio Botes’ in 2011. The boutique design shop, based in Cape Town, specialises in corporate identities, packaging, design and illustration.
After graduating with a degree in fine arts from the University of Stellenbosch, Botes went on to work at both Orange Juice Design and Lowe Bull in Cape Town. Most recently, he served as head of design at The Jupiter Drawing Room — a worthy precursor to becoming head of just about everything at ‘Studio Botes’.
We spoke to Botes to find out what it took to found ‘Studio Botes‘.
What If x 100 GOOD IDEAS | #WDC2014
Together with Bell-Roberts and the GOOD IDEAS team, Cape Town Design NPC selected 12 ideas from the book and asked the contributing individuals in a short film, “What if you re-imagined Cape Town 20 years from now through a transformative design lens?”
Learn more about 100 GOOD IDEAS.
What if the online conversation was the vote? | BrandsEye
Over this year’s general elections, BrandsEye was curious to compare online conversation around the various political parties to the actual votes counted.
It asked: “What if the online conversation was the vote? What would it indicate about the outcome of this year’s election?” and created an infographic to display what its research had revealed.
See the entire BrandsEye infographic and a summary of its discoveries.
ADVERTISING
Skittles relaunches in SA with a campaign to #SmuggleTheRainbow
To mark its relaunch in SA, Skittles are rallying South Africans to participate in its new campaign: “Smuggle the Rainbow. Taste the Rainbow.”
Through an interactive website, users are tasked to follow in the footsteps of the lead character Leon by keeping a straight face while attempting to smuggle Skittles past one very mean-looking customs officer.
Find out how to #SmuggleTheRainbow.
Our top 10 entries to Grolsch’s ‘Design A Swingtop’ competition
The brief for Grolsch’s ‘Design A Swingtop’ Competition was sent out a few weeks ago and, by the time the deadline rolled around on Wednesday last week, the response had been so incredible that we had to share the highlights.
A total of 50 entries have been submitted across the three categories of the contest; these are our 10 favourite swingtop designs.
Bobtail | When they won’t let go
Bobtail is positioned as the dog food for strong SA dogs. It’s a well-known canine truth that when a strong SA dog gets hold of something they like, come hell or high water, they won’t let go. However, when tempted with something as delicious as Bobtail Biscuits, they will.
This campaign depicts the moments when you really need them to open up — an oxygen supply, the last piece of a huge puzzle and a winning lottery ticket — to demonstrate that for a strong-minded dog, a Bobtail Biscuit trumps anything.
For more South African advertising, see our most recent roundup of ‘Ads This Week‘.
Design Annotator is a regular column on MarkLives featuring the top design work from South Africa’s biggest online creative showcase, Between 10 and 5, which is curated by publisher Uno de Waal (@Unodewaal), inaugural South African winner of the British Council South Africa‘s Young Creative Entrepreneur (#YCE) Digital Publishing Award in March 2014.
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