Muir College 1822–2022
The vision of the establishment of the Uitenhage Free School was realised by James Rose Innes, who became its first head in 1822. Almost 200 years later, Muir College, approached us to create a book for them te celebrate its 200th year of existence. They wanted the book to reflect the rich history form its humble beginnings to the modern, well-resourced institute. It needed to be more than a record of events and achievements, but capture the spirit and ethos of the school.
Jannie Marais
The client wanted a coffee table book to commemorate Jannie Marais’s Stellenbosch legacy. This history and heritage are steeped in riveting stories and visual memories: how Jannie made his money in Kimberley during South Africa’s diamond rush, and how he is giving back to Stellenbosch to this day. The trusts he created back then still supports Stellenbosch University and many other noteworthy causes today.
Layout
The layout needed to depict a chronological and factual timeline from when Jannie was still digging for diamonds in Kimberley to painting a picture of his continuous legacy today. I incorporated various textures and designs from paper and photographs from his past to create decorative design elements. Most of the images were very old and needed quite some work to ensure optimal print quality.
Dine with locals
Stellenbosch 360, now Visit Stellenbosch, commissioned a book showcasing Stellenbosch’s many characteristics in order to promote the Town of Oaks to both national and international tourists. The organisation hosted four events to celebrate hospitality and cuisine true to Stellenbosch and themes included Xhosa, Cape Malay, Khoisan and Cape Dutch. Each section featured bits about the host, a recipe and short interview with local artists.
My role: photography director and book designer.
Layout
To create four different sections, I choose four patterns and textures to set the themes apart while being mindful of a golden thread tying the book together as a whole. For the Xhosa evening, I used ethnic patterns, and a textile design for the Cape Malay theme. For the Khoisan section, I photographed one of the skins on display at the event, and incorporated a Delft pattern to illustrate the Cape Dutch pages.
Mozambique Sustainable Tourism
Mozambique Tourism wanted a visually pleasing and informative booklet they could use to attract more investment for local tourism. The booklet highlights different areas in Mozambique and why these are unique tourism hotspots. It also includes areas particularly attractive to potential investors. This information piece will be used at a tourism expo hosted in Dubai scheduled for 2022.
Layout
For this booklet, I had to design a template to make all the information easily accessible to the reader. Images needed to attract attention and convince the reader to discover Mozambique. Information included text on wildlife and plants in the different areas interwoven with essential tourism messaging aimed at potential investors.
