My approach to work, design, art and life, is simple, I believe that there is always more than one way to achieve something. This belief is the motivation to my continued learning and expansion of my skillset within the creative world, to be able to bring out-of-the-ordinary solutions that are best meant for the client at hand, the job i'm working on, the piece of art I am creating, or one of life's never-ending challenges.
Final Subjects: English, Afrikaans, Mathematical Literacy, Life Orientation, Geography, Dramatic Arts, Design
I began my creative journey by choosing to complete my matric year work based learning at a one month internship, job-shadowing the agency Founder and Chairman Nathan Reddy, and his creative team. At this point I was more than certain that design and advertising was what I loved, and what I wanted to do in life.
During my gap year I wanted to gain more industry experience and better my skills by applying them in the workplace. I worked on Digital Print and Design solutions for a multitude of clients across Africa, honed my design skills, and learnt important Desktop Publishing skills for real world large-scale print media application.
I packed my bags and moved to Cape Town to begin my degree. Three of the most fun, challenging, and eye opening years of my life. Throughout this degree I took the idea of freelancing quite seriously and was able to gain a good amount of clients to service in the evenings after studies, and over the weekend and holidays. My skillset and results travelled by word of mouth which led to more work and more clients, a lot of which I am still servicing today!
As a second year assignment we were challenged to a real world, live-client brief, servicing a non-profit group dealing with breast cancer survivors in South Africa. The brief was to conceptualise and design the name and logo for their Breast Prosthesis Program. My concept and design won first place and has been implemented and used since its conception.
In order to get even more work experience, as well as make some extra money while studying, I took up a part time position at a local design and print shop where I was responsible for everything from initial concept and designs, right through to DTP and finished art and production of all print media, for a wide range of clients including GigaShare, Active Sushi, Contemporary Creations, Grande Kloof Hotels and more.
As a third year assignment we entered into a competition with a live-client and were briefed to design a brand new wine brand with its signature variant. My design for 'Swartslang Pinotage' won Bronze.
As a final part of my degree, I entered into a University Moderated one-month Internship at a studio which was at the time relevant to the field of design in which I wanted to specialise in, namely Motion Graphics. This internship was very well recieved on either end, and ended up lasting 3 months. I worked up brands such as the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series and WeChat. During this internship I was put in touch with a large and very successful agency, which is where I went next.
After graduation and having completed the three-month internship at Lucan Visuals, I began working full time at Geometry Global under Ogilvy & Mather. I was on permanently on call for British American Tobacco as our main client, working on brands such as Peter Stuyvesant, Dunhill, Rothmans and Vogue, but was called on at various times to service the likes of Volkswagen, Revlon, CTI Pearson Education Group. my scope of work throughout this period was rather large and ranged from full print campaigns, product launches and upgrades, activations, point of sale, trade communications packages, competitions, billboards, vehicle branding, 3D pack rendering, final art and DTP, audio visual, editing, retouching and motion graphics.
After a brief two month break taken to re-establish where I wanted to be in the industry, I was head hunted by a lead creative at Digitas Liquorice who had seen my work online, and brought in as a Multimedia Designer to work on digital executions, animations and social media content for various brands including Amarula, Tropika, Vaseline, Hellman's, Crosse & Blackwell, Nederburg Winery, Rajah, OMO and more.
Having completed my degree, multiple internships, work based learning experiences, side hustles, freelance gigs, and now two stints at large and well known agencies, I realised something that I wish I had figured out much earlier, and this was that I wanted to be my own boss, make my own rules, work my own way and get my own clients. I decided in September 2018, after having quit my job at Liquorice, that I wanted to take my formal education, as well as years of self-taught skills and put them to their most practical use as an independent Designer for hire.
Since this epiphany I have had the pleasure of working with amazing private clients, local and international brands, small businesses and studios, and larger agencies. I strive to bring my sense of independence, unorthodox way of working, and inherent resourcefulness to every single job I take on, to ensure my clients get the very best results.
