LOCAL IS LEKKER*: THE SOUTH AFRICAN DESIGN STEW

'Lekker' is a popular Afrikaans word favoured by most South Africans to describe enjoyable experiences and tasty food.
Africa
is not generally perceived as a global centre of significant design
activity. However, for those in the know, South Africa is a vibrant
laboratory of experimentation and innovation. Graphic design in South
Africa is not just alive and well - it is vibrant and increasingly
becoming globally competitive and locally more representative. In
September 2001, South African designers will share their experiences
and knowledge with their international peers when they will host the
first ever world congress of the International Council of Graphic
Design Associations (Icograda) on African soil.
The
Kenyan academic Odoch Pido once described afrocentric creativity as a
stew where all the ingredients are stirred into a big pot. Pido s
description serves as an apt summation of South African graphic design.
In a spacious country blessed with natural beauty, a population of
almost 45 million composed of multiracial and diverse cultures who
speak 11 official languages and consisting of dramatically disparate
levels of socio-economic development, the stew being cooked by local
designers can only be described as spicy, colourful and lekker .
In
the pre-democratised South Africa the Modernist Bauhaus approach found
a comfortable home where designers were trained according to the form
follows function design philosophy. The country had more than 15
tertiary graphic design schools that produced competent graphic
designers who compared favourably with international standards. Their
work mostly conformed to the Western aesthetic and they drew upon
Europe and North America for creative inspiration with little regard
for uniquely local references. One of the few exceptions was a
fascination with the natural beauty of the country and its fauna and
flora were favourite subject matter, even though it was executed in the
international style. The socio-political situation in the country
favoured the wealthy White communities and disregarded the cultural
needs and aspirations of the majority Black population. Blacks we often
excluded from the design industry and until the early 1990s, only three
design schools accepted non-White students.
Then 1994
arrived ... Nelson Mandela became president and introduced radical
socio-political change that catapulted the country onto the
international stage. Local designers grasped the opportunity to
transform with the newly created society, aptly titled by Desmond Tutu
as the rainbow nation . They embarked on a quest to reflect the
country's diversity, challenged the Modernist conventions and produced
graphic design that became uniquely local whilst also being
internationally competitive. This became an ongoing process and graphic
design in South Africa is playing an important role in building the
nation by reflecting its past, present and future on behalf of all of
its population.
South African graphic design is unique
and often surprises international audiences. It is simultaneously
bright and bold, sensitive and subtle, challenging, contradictory and
compromising, reflective and receptive, representative of local
cultures and internationally appropriate, crude and sophisticated. It
often finds beauty and satisfaction not in perfection but rather
imperfection.
Graphic designers in the post-Apartheid
South Africa draw their inspiration from a vast body of uniquely local
as well as international sources. The rock art of South Africa s oldest
inhabitants, the Koi and San (Bushmen), is characterised by
free-flowing calligraphic lines, stylised figurines and natural forms
and have become favoured themes in contemporary graphic design.
Traditional African tribal craftwork stands out as another important
source of inspiration. The brightly coloured geometric patterns of the
Ndebele tribe s beadwork, embroidery and homestead painting made
internationally famous by artists such as Ester Mashlangu - the first
African to design a BMW Art Car has become a favoured design reference.
In addition, the Zulu tribe s basket weaving and pottery, the
decorative textiles of the Swazi people, and the colourful eclecticism
of the Indian community adds a spicy multicultural dimension to the
local design stew and set the tone for exploring alternatives to
Modernist design sensibilities.
The dynamic local music
industry is another important source of inspiration for designers. The
retro influences of 1950s township life, symbolised by the suave
costumes, good life iconography and the rhythmic music performed by
Miriam Makeba and Thandi Klaasen from Sophiatown, and Dollar Brand from
the Cape Flats, is often the focus of design concepts. This is
juxtaposed by contemporary Pantsula and Kwaito music styles, with its
subtle references to American rap, as well as the international
influences of techno and trance music.
On the opposite
side of the spectrum inspiration is found in contemporary township and
downtown city life with its vibrant pace, spontaneity and inhabitants
innovative ways of earning a living. It is not uncommon to find hawkers
displaying fruit and vegetables on brightly coloured plates packed out
on sidewalks, caterers selling runners (chicken feet) and tripe from
makeshift stands, self taught hairdressers advertising their services
on naively painted signboards, or herbalists displaying their muti
(medicines) wrapped in newspapers. It is also in these environments
where designers find ample inspiration for developing new fonts. The
hand drawn letters on makeshift advertising boards and signage is
crude, bold and spontaneous, and is often appropriated by professional
designers for use in radically different contexts such as annual
reports for major corporates.
The buzz of South Africa s
township and city life is radically different from another important
source of inspiration, the indigenous Afrikaner culture. It is often
jokingly described as Boere Baroque - an eclectic combination of
colonial settler cultures, which is characterised by kitsch
sentimentalism. The heritage of several European expatriate communities
add additional interesting flavours to the local design stew and one
often sees references to Portuguese ceramics and Italian art in South
African graphic
design.
Local designers continue
to be inspired by the spectacular landscape, animals, plants, natural
textures, vibrant colours and the ever-present sunlight. This is often
applied in innovative ways - a leaf and a thorn becomes the logo of a
wedding function venue or a swallow is used as an icon for a
transformation programme of a multinational mining giant.
It
is almost impossible to provide a representative reflection of what
South Africa offers as design inspiration in a few pages of text. The
land, its people, multiple languages and cultures offer an overwhelming
array of stimulating experiences and South African designers are
uniquely privileged to be working in such an inspiring environment.
To
appreciate South African graphic design, one needs an open mind,
flexibility to acknowledge that that rules are made to be broken, the
ability to cross the barriers of divergent cultures and often a good a
sense of humour. South African graphic design needs to be explored in
person.
Woza! Come. Engage.
About the Author
Jacques Lange qualified with a BA(FA) Information Design degree from
University of Pretoria (1988) and is currently enrolled in an MA
programme at the same institution. His professional experience includes
corporate and editorial design, strategic consulting, human resources
communication, education and profession management. He is a partner at
Bluprint Design, a corporate design consultancy based in South Africa.
He is the President of Design South Africa, a founding member of the
academic journal, Image & Text, and a member of the Design
Education Forum of Southern Africa. Jacques was the second winner of
the Design Achievers Awards and has been actively involved in the
scheme's planning since 1997.
About the Image
The newly developed national Coat of Arms for South Africa, designed by
Iaan Bekker from FCB Johannesburg draws inspiration from various
cultural local sources including the primitive Koisan (Bushmen) art,
nature and indigenous tribal cultures. The motto, `!ke e:/xarra//ke ,
meaning `diverse people unite , is written in the extinct language of
the /Xam people, breaking from the convention of using Latin phrases
for heraldic symbols.
Visit www.woza2001.co.za for more information on the Icograda Congress.